Elder Ulisses Soares was named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on March 31, 2018. He was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 2, 1958. He married Rosana Fernandes in October 1982. They have three children and five grandchildren.
Elder Soares studied at São Paulo Pontifical Catholic University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting and economics in 1985. He later received a Master of Business Administration degree. He was an accountant and auditor for multinational corporations in Brazil and director for temporal affairs in the Church area office in São Paulo.
Prior to his call, he had been serving as a General Authority Seventy since April 2005, being named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy in January 2013. He served previously in the presidencies of the Africa Southeast, Brazil and Brazil South areas. He and Sister Soares led the Portugal Porto Mission from 2000 to 2003.
In honor of Elder Soares’s birthday today, here are nine of his quotes from the past year.
Marriage partnership
“The restored gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims the principle of full partnership between woman and man, both in mortal life and in the eternities.”
— “In Partnership with the Lord,” Oct. 1, 2022
Lessons from his mission
“I learned how to love people, how to have an open heart for them, and how to not discriminate against anybody for any reason, but to understand and have more empathy for their challenges and offer my arms to embrace them and help them to feel the love of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
— Message to missionaries in Lyon, France, Sept. 17, 2022
‘Elevate the common good’
“What an audacious task we undertake — to elevate the common good above our own interests, to open our eyes beyond our own experience.
“We all belong to the same human race, share the same human nature and reach for the potential that God gave us.”
— Address to the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Sept. 14, 2022
Ordinance of baptism
“Being baptized by immersion and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by one having authority constitute two of the ordinances of salvation that are necessary for individuals to come into the fold of God and be called His people.”
— Seminar for New Mission Leaders, June 23, 2022
Walk in the light of the Savior
“Walking in the light of the Savior, Jesus Christ, prevents us from walking in darkness, because darkness and light cannot walk together.”
— Devotional in Auckland, New Zealand, May 21, 2022
Becoming like Christ
“As we genuinely and continually strive to learn of the Savior and follow His example, I promise you, in His name, that His divine attributes will be written in our minds and hearts, that we will become more like Him, and that we will walk with Him.”
— “In Awe of Christ and His Gospel,” April 3, 2022
Religious freedom
“My message is founded on this principle, that as we respect each other and live in peace with each other, at the same time we have the right to live what we believe and have other people respecting us. That is the foundation of a good society, a good ‘family,’ so we all can enjoy the beauty that Heavenly Father created for us, the world living in peace and to be able to worship our Heavenly Father the way we believe is right.”
— Religious liberty symposium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 23, 2022
The purpose of the temple
“My wife and I both started explaining how important and sacred a temple is for us and what is done inside. But for us the most important thing I need them to know is that this is the house of the Lord and it is a place where we learn more about God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the plan They have for us in this life.
“Everything else is connected with this foundation — the love of our Father and the Son for us, as children of God, and also what They promise to us if we are faithful to the principles we learn in the Church.”
— Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple tours, March 21, 2022
Family history
“Remember, family history isn’t all about the distant past. You can look to your own recent experiences and stories. It is a combination of the past and the present that makes you uniquely you.”
— RootsTech Family Discovery Day, March 5, 2022
