Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was born in American Fork, Utah, on Jan. 24, 1945. He graduated from high school in New Jersey, earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a law degree from Duke University. He served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica from 1972 to 1974 during the trials and other proceedings known as Watergate.
As a young man, Elder Christofferson served a full-time mission in Argentina. He met Sister Kathy Jacob Christofferson at a BYU football game, where she was on the Cougarette dance team and he was helping with crowd control, and they were married within a year. They have five children.
Prior to being sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in April 2008 general conference, Elder Christofferson served in the Presidency of the Seventy, as executive director of the Family and Church History Department and as president of the Mexico South Area. He was called as a General Authority Seventy in 1993 and has also been a bishop and a stake president.
In honor of his 79th birthday today, here are nine quotes from Elder Christofferson from the past year.
1. Being refined in the temple
“We now see that what had seemed overwhelming and impossible can, with the Lord’s help, find resolution, and we are more certain of His help. ... In short, with our time in the temple we have been refined, even if only in a small degree, and heaven is that much closer.”
— Orem Utah Temple dedication, Jan. 21, 2024
2. An offering of a broken heart and contrite spirit
“The offering of a broken heart and a contrite spirit is an offering of repentance and obedience to the Lord. It is not an offering of things that we possess and then give to Him. It is not an offering of things at all. It is rather an offering of ourselves, of what we are and what we are becoming.”
— Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple dedication, Jan. 14, 2024
3. Stewardship
“Knowing the ultimate purpose of creation, we measure what we do by that standard, asking ourselves, ‘Would it help or would it hinder God’s divine plan?’ For example, we should use our earthly blessings to minister to the temporal and spiritual needs of others in a way that enables them to come to know and serve God and eventually inherit eternal life.”
— Seminario SUDamericano 2023 conference in Florianópolis, Brazil, Oct. 20, 2023
4. The sealing power in the gathering of Israel
“The power to validate all priesthood ordinances and make them binding both on earth and in heaven — the sealing power — is crucial for gathering and preparing a covenant people on both sides of the veil.”
— “The Sealing Power,” October 2023 general conference
5. Armed with righteousness
“To me, ‘Together in Christ’ suggests that our individual commitment and loyalty to Christ quite naturally draw us together. ... Being ‘armed with righteousness’ (1 Nephi 14:14), we want to gather others likewise ‘armed with righteousness’ and invite everyone who will to come together with us in Christ.”
— Utah Area YSA conference, Aug. 20, 2023
6. The power of the Book of Mormon
“Use the Book of Mormon to help people have spiritual experiences, especially a witness from the Holy Ghost that the book itself is the word of God. When you teach the gospel using the Book of Mormon, your teaching will resonate with power and clarity in the heart and mind.”
— 2023 Seminar for New Mission Leaders, June 23, 2023
7. Moral agency
“In the years ahead, work hard to preserve and wisely exercise your own moral agency, and work equally hard to preserve and provide that same blessing of moral agency to others. Let us all be agents rather than objects.”
— BYU graduation, April 27, 2023
8. One in Jesus Christ
“I say again that it is only in and through our individual loyalty to and love of Jesus Christ that we can hope to be one — one within, one at home, one in the Church, eventually one in Zion, and above all, one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.”
— “One in Christ,” April 2023 general conference
9. Assigning missionaries
“We receive an impression from the Spirit which mission he or she should go to. In that process, I feel strongly every time how perfectly the Lord knows and loves each one.”
— Ministry in Ghana, Feb. 19, 2023
