Elder Ronald A. Rasband was born Feb. 6, 1951, in Salt Lake City and sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 3, 2015. He served as a young full-time missionary in the Eastern States Mission and attended the University of Utah. He married Melanie Twitchell in 1973. They are the parents of five children.
In 1976, he joined Huntsman Container Co. as sales representative, and in 1987, he was appointed president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Chemical Corp. He and Sister Rasband were mission leaders for the New York New York North Mission from 1996 to 1999.
Prior to his call as an Apostle, Elder Rasband served as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. He served as a counselor in the Europe Central Area presidency, president of the Utah Salt Lake City Area, executive director of the Temple Department, and supervised the North America West, Northwest and three Utah areas as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
In honor of his 73rd birthday, here are nine quotes from Elder Rasband over the past year.
1. Be of good cheer
“To be of good cheer is to trust Him when things don’t work as planned. It means to carry on when difficult twists in life take us in unexpected directions or when tragedy and hardship shatter our ideals.
“Christ’s enabling power is manifest in the simplicity that He is there for us — always. Come what may, He will be with us, He will comfort us, and He will heal us if we come to Him and draw upon His power to save us.”
— Facebook post, Feb. 4, 2024
2. Miracles have not ceased
“My thoughts today are about miracles. Miracles are divine acts, manifestations and expressions of God’s limitless power. You, every one of you here, is a miracle. ... Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His Church and gospel, and in our Father in Heaven’s eternal plan brought you here. That is a miracle wrought by divine design.”
— Thanksgiving Day address at the Provo Missionary Training Center, Nov. 23, 2023
3. A personal love and affection for the people
“None of us who are ever assigned to dedicate a temple know why we were chosen — it just happens by divine design. As I walked through the temple, I was just overwhelmed with emotion, having quite a personal love and affection for this people, the country and the leaders I’ve worked with here.”
— Bangkok Thailand Temple dedication, Oct. 22, 2023
4. Changing nations, hearts and lives
“Spending time with these wonderful followers of Jesus Christ has reminded me of how the gospel of Jesus Christ has the capacity to change nations by changing the hearts and lives of the individuals who live there.”
— Ministry in Vietnam, Oct. 19, 2023
5. Invitation to serve a senior mission
“A mission might be the greatest chapter in a couple’s life. A good title might be ‘My Lord Will Have Need of Me.’ You may be on unfamiliar ground; however, the power of the Spirit will make you feel right at home.”
— “How Great Will Be Your Joy,” October 2023 general conference
6. The house of the Lord
“Perhaps of all the holy places that we stand in, the house of the Lord is the most sacred and special place. The temple is an important part of Pathways and education. Remember it was the Lord who said, ‘The glory of God is intelligence.’”
— Latin American devotional, Sept. 17, 2023
7. Mission leaders can exemplify ‘finding’
“Dear presidents and sisters, you can help your mission be most effective at finding as you focus on the missionary purpose, help missionaries exercise faith to find through goals and plans, and open their mouths and talk with everyone. ... [This] truly is ‘a more excellent way’ to accomplish the Lord’s work.”
— Seminar for New Mission Leaders, June 23, 2023
8. Do not be troubled
“[Y]ou should not be troubled, because your life is built on promises to the Lord. You make them in your homes, you make them in sacrament meeting. You make especially eternal promises in the temple. It’s because of these promises, these covenants made between us and God, that we can be not troubled.”
— Ministry in Paris, France, April 16, 2023
9. Embrace, act, seek
“Embrace prophecy and prophetic teachings, act on promptings of the Holy Ghost, become a true disciple and seek the healing power of our Lord’s Atonement.”
— “Hosanna to the Most High God,” April 2023 general conference
