Elder Gary E. Stevenson was born Aug. 6, 1955, in Cache Valley, Utah, and named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 3, 2015. He served a full-time mission in the Japan Fukuoka Mission and attended Utah State University, later earning an honorary doctorate of business.
He married Lesa Jean Higley on Aug. 20, 1979, in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, and they have four sons. Elder Stevenson was co-founder and president of Icon Health & Fitness Inc. and traveled for work to places around the world.
Elder Stevenson was called to lead the Japan Nagoya Mission in 2004. The Stevensons moved back to that area of the world when Elder Stevenson was called as a General Authority Seventy. Before his call to be an Apostle, he served as the Church’s presiding bishop.
In honor of Elder Stevenson’s birthday today, here are nine of his quotes from the past year.
1. Pray, read, obey
“An invitation that Sister Stevenson and I extended to the Saints during our trip was to focus on three traits of discipleship: (1) praying over and over, (2) reading the scriptures time after time and (3) obeying the commandments again and again.
“In short, pray, read, obey.”
— Ministry in the Philippines, May 31, 2024
2. Peacemakers
“A peacemaker must consider the needs of the other as much or more than their own. This perspective of a peacemaker not only calls for individual responsibility, but it also underscores the interconnectedness of all people.”
— Ensign College commencement, April 11, 2024
3. Building a bridge of faith and devotion
“So the question for each of us is this, how do we build our own bridge of faith and devotion — erecting tall bridge towers of both loving God and loving our neighbors? Well, we just start.”
– “Bridging the Two Great Commandments,” April 2024 general conference
4. Magnificent Easter scriptures
“We as Latter-day Saints are endowed with a most remarkable Easter gift. A gift of unique witness, another testament of the Easter miracle that contains perhaps the most magnificent Easter scriptures in all of Christianity.”
– Easter video message, March 21, 2024
5. ‘The gospel is strength’
“We are all faced with challenges in this chaotic world. But we have the gospel to keep us close to Jesus Christ. The gospel is strength. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are given power through prayer, faith, priesthood blessings, companionship of the Holy Ghost and patriarchal blessings.”
— Ministry in Africa Central Area, February 2024
6. ‘Our hope is in Jesus Christ’
“It is really encouraging for us to realize that we can always rebuild and refine. I think that suggests that we can always have hope, and our hope is in Jesus Christ. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we can always strive to deepen our conversion.”
— Worldwide discussion for youth on discipleship, Jan. 28, 2024
7. Blessings from the house of the Lord
“Think about the blessings that are coming to those people on the other side of the veil that have been anxiously awaiting and looking forward to a time when a temple would be part of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in Okinawa.”
— Okinawa Japan Temple dedication, Nov. 12, 2023
8. Listening and acting
“As we listen and act on spiritual promptings, the Holy Ghost magnifies our abilities and capacities to far exceed what we can do on our own.”
— “Promptings of the Spirit,” October 2023 general conference
9. ‘Zion is here’
“Zion is here. Zion is in this place where you are. And so, I am grateful to be with you gathered in Zion together.”
— Ministry in Iceland, Scotland and England, September 2023
