In his first public address as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Dallin H. Oaks spoke to Church members Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 14, in a live broadcast from the Conference Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
President Oaks said that after his extended period of fasting and prayer, the Lord had revealed that he should call President Henry B. Eyring as first counselor and President D. Todd Christofferson as second counselor.
Of his setting apart that day to be the Prophet and President of the Church, President Oaks said, “I accept with humility the responsibility that God has placed upon me and commit my whole heart and soul to the service to which I have been called.”
He also bore testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ. ”I testify of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of this Church, and invoke His blessings on all of us.”
In addition to naming his counselors, President Oaks also announced that President Jeffrey R. Holland is the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“I am grateful that each of these men that I admire and know so well have accepted these sacred callings,” President Oaks said.
President Henry B. Eyring
During his remarks, President Eyring expressed the gratitude he feels for the trust from the Lord and the trust from President Oaks — who he said he knows is now leading the Church by inspiration.
“I have seen the power of God come upon him,” President Eyring said. “It has been a reassuring thing to me to know that just as in the days of old when Peter and others would lead the church, that the people would be able to recognize that that was the Lord’s servant to lead His Church.”
President Eyring said he is grateful “for the people whose faith I know will sustain us in this great work of the Restoration and the final preparation of the Lord’s Church for His coming.”
For President Eyring, this is his fourth consecutive call to the First Presidency. He served as second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor to President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor to President Russell M. Nelson and first counselor now to President Oaks.
President D. Todd Christofferson
President Christofferson said the calling was not what he expected, but he is deeply honored by the calling and the trust that it carries.
“At the same time, I recognize that I am not called to be honored but called to serve,” he said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve at the side of President Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring.”
He recalled how years ago, he slipped into a meeting in Washington, D.C., because he wanted to hear President Oaks speaking. He said he was impressed with President Oaks’ qualities and his intellect but most of all his spiritual depth.
“And I bear witness as one who has been part of the process that he is called of God in this current position, this weighty responsibility,” President Christofferson said. “My prayers, my wife’s prayers are with yours for him in his success and the Lord’s constant blessings upon him.”
President Jeffrey R. Holland
As president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Holland said he was thrilled to speak for the quorum, the Presidency of the Seventy, the Presiding Bishopric and the organizational heads who were in attendance at the announcement, “all of whom support and sustain unequivocally President Oaks as the president, prophet, seer and revelator leading this Church for its next moment in time.”
During the previous administration of President Nelson, President Holland had been serving as the quorum’s acting president while President Oaks — the most senior apostle after President Nelson — was the first counselor in the First Presidency.
“We love him. We have known him,” President Holland said. “We have watched him be prepared and have had the confirmation that that is the Lord’s will this day. That has been a unanimous and a very, very moving experience to see that mantle come fully and completely on President Oaks.”
President Oaks’ testimony
In his concluding message, President Oaks said, “I know beyond any certainty in my life that this is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, restored with the fullness of the gospel that God has chosen to reveal in this dispensation of the fullness of time and led by His prophets to the present day.”
He expressed appreciation to President Eyring and President Christofferson for accepting their new calls and to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“I testify that the Lord speaks to the Apostles of His Church and through the Apostles of His Church according to the organization that has been revealed to serve us in these latter days.”
Of President Nelson, President Oaks said: “Most recently, we have been led by a magnificent Prophet. … We have much work to do to fulfill the challenges he has given us. And there is more yet to come."
Saying “the Lord still speaks through His servants,” President Oaks added: “There is much to be done, for our ministry is a ministry to all the children of God on the face of the earth. We pray for all, we seek to serve all, and we invoke the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ upon all who seek to serve Him, to do so in worthiness and commitment and optimism.”
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who conducted Tuesday’s announcement, said the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had met together and set apart President Oaks as President of the Church earlier Tuesday morning.
“This revelatory experience again confirmed to each of us in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that Jesus Christ directs His Church,” Elder Stevenson said.
