Primary General President Susan H. Porter was born on July 31, 1955, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and grew up in western New York. She was sustained as the Primary general president in April 2022 general conference and began her service on Aug. 1, 2022.
President Porter married Bruce D. Porter on Feb. 2, 1977, in the Washington D.C. Temple. They have four children. Elder Porter was a General Authority Seventy when he died in 2016.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Brigham Young University and worked as a lab assistant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a part-time math teacher, a piano teacher and a volunteer with various community organizations.
In honor of President Porter’s birthday today, here are nine of her quotes from the past year.
1. New songs teach about the Savior
“We are so grateful for the digital release of new hymns and songs that will be included in the new hymnbook. This is an amazing opportunity to start learning these songs now — a few at a time — as they are released every few months. ... We hope you start teaching these songs in your Primaries. We hope you start singing them in sacrament meeting. And we hope you enjoy the Spirit that will come as you sing about the Savior.”
— Social media post, July 5, 2024
2. Invite children to speak and pray

“When children are invited to speak and pray, their own testimonies of the Savior are strengthened. They will feel part of the body of Christ, and we will recognize them as such. We will see them with new eyes, having been taught by their witnesses of the Savior.”
— “What baptized Primary children can do,” Church News, June 4, 2024
3. New hymnbook and sacred music

“[W]e’ve heard children’s sing ‘I Will Walk With Jesus’ in every imaginable language. In a world today where loneliness is on the rise, to have children and all of us picture ourselves walking with Jesus, that we can choose to walk with Him. He will walk with us. He’s going to accompany us to our heavenly home. We need never feel alone. We can always feel His support and strength with us.”
— Church News podcast, May 30, 2024
4. The power of God
“We will feel the power of God working in us as we do things we could never do on our own and will receive the joy of feeling ever closer to our wise, eternal Friend.”
— BYU Women’s Conference, May 3, 2024
5. Sincerely ask
“Share with Heavenly Father what is in your heart. As you sincerely ask for His help, you will receive His Spirit to guide you.”
— ‘Pray, He Is There,’ April 2024 general conference
6. The strength of covenants with Christ

“No force of wind can break the bonds of the covenants we have made with Heavenly Father and His Son in baptismal fonts and in holy temples. When we strive to honor those covenants by living His commandments, we invite the Savior to uphold us in our storms.”
— BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional, April 2, 2024
7. Teaching children about Jesus

“We talked about how we spend time teaching our children about Jesus and what He did, which is to love and serve others. Her follow-up comment was, ‘I bet the children from your Church are a great blessing in the schools they attend,’ which was very gratifying to hear.”
— Meeting with the Philippines vice president, Nov. 11, 2023
8. Faith and sacrifice of early Saints

Being in Nauvoo, Illinois, was a blessing “to be where so much of the early Church history is and to be reminded of the great faith and sacrifice of the Saints in building the temple despite persecution, receiving their temple covenants, and having the courage and strength in Christ to go forward.”
– Ministry in Illinois and Iowa, Oct. 13-15, 2023
9. Serving in the vineyard

“We’re all members of Relief Society, and we’ve been called by the Lord to serve in different places in His vineyard.”
— Devotional in San Diego, California, Sept. 15, 2023