Elder Dale G. Renlund was sustained on Oct. 3, 2015, as one of three new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles named during October 2015 general conference. He was born on Nov. 13, 1952, in Salt Lake City and raised in Finland, Sweden and Utah, later returning to Sweden as a young full-time missionary.
He married Ruth Lybbert in 1977 in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of one daughter. Prior to being called as an Apostle, Elder Renlund served in the Africa Southeast Area presidency, was a General Authority Seventy and an Area Seventy.
Elder Renlund received bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Utah, with further training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was a professor of medicine at the University of Utah and the medical director of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals Cardiac Transplant Program.
In honor of his birthday, here are nine quotes from Elder Renlund in the past year.
1. Dynamite and the Savior’s Church
“Just as dynamite without nitroglycerin is unremarkable, the Savior’s Church is special only if it is built on His gospel. Without the Savior’s gospel and the authority to administer the ordinances thereof, the Church isn’t exceptional.”
— “This Is My Gospel — This Is My Church,” October 2024 general conference
2. On healing those who have been wounded
“Making multiple covenants with God enables the Savior to heal those who have been wounded, shattered or crushed by the rains, floods and winds of life. Jesus Christ can deliver us from metaphorical torrents and whirlpools that trap us. He can heap all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant on all who more fully take on themselves His name in the temple.”
— San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple dedication, Oct. 13, 2024
3. Testimony
“I know. I absolutely know that Jesus Christ lives. I absolutely know that.”
— Festinord Conference for young single adults in Sweden, Aug. 1, 2024
4. He is the reason
“Jesus Christ is the reason we are here. I absolutely know that He lives. He is your and my ‘kind, wise heavenly Friend.’ ... The real miracle happens in your life when you know it yourself. That is when your life is changed. That is what changes everyone’s life.”
— Relief Society sisters devotional in London, England, May 19, 2024.
5. God’s plan ‘provides perspective’
“We are reminded that God’s plan of salvation provides perspective for our questions. That perspective helps us distinguish core gospel truths from things that are not as essential.”
— Religious Educators Conference in Provo, Utah, June 18, 2024.
6. Multiple covenants bring closeness to God
“When we add the sealing to a spouse to baptism and the endowment, we further decrease our risk to separate ourselves from God because the bond is stronger and draws us closer. In other words, making multiple covenants along the covenant path helps us mature in our discipleship,”
— BYU devotional in Provo, Utah, March 5, 2024
7. Developing Christlike attributes
“As the Holy Ghost exerts a greater influence in our lives, we progressively and iteratively develop Christlike attributes.”
— “The Powerful, Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Christ,” April 2024 general conference
8. Why would God do something like this?
“There are some that say, ‘If there were a God, wouldn’t He have done something about this?’ And the answer is that He has. He has restored his gospel. He’s restored the sealing authority so that one can do something for these victims as one chooses to. And that’s part of making this right. The temple brings the hope and joy and resolution and even reconciliation of this into the lives of people and their families. The contrast of this heavy, heavy, horrible feeling that we right now have is a contrast with the joy and peace and comfort that can come in the temple.”
— Ministry in Cambodia, Jan. 23, 2024.
9. The light of the world
“I believe with all my heart and soul that Jesus Christ came to earth to be the light of the world.”
— Washington D.C. Temple lighting event, Nov. 28, 2023
