While living with his wife and their young, growing family in Boston, Massachusetts, Elder Clark G. Gilbert listened to a speaker in a Church meeting talk about the New Testament story of Jesus Christ inviting a young man to leave behind his many possessions to follow the Savior and gain eternal life.
Elder Gilbert was considering an opportunity that would require moving his family away from Boston, and the decision weighed heavy on him and his wife, Sister Christine Gilbert.
Recalling during a news media interview on Friday, Feb. 13, the story from the Church meeting, Elder Gilbert said the speaker taught that the Savior’s invitation was to receive something better than all the young man already had.
“Every time we have made a sacrifice for the kingdom of God, Christ was always pointing us to something better,” he said.
A call to ‘something better’
Elder Gilbert was with President Dallin H. Oaks on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Brigham Young University as the President of the Church delivered a devotional at the Church’s flagship university. The following day, they participated in meetings with the Church Board of Education, and President Oaks invited Elder Gilbert to meet with him privately in his office in the Church Administration Building.
Expecting to hear about a new project or other similar type of work within his role as a General Authority Seventy and Church commissioner of education, Elder Gilbert said he was surprised to be there for a different reason. President Oaks extended the call to serve as the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and fill the vacancy created by the death of President Jeffrey R. Holland on Dec. 27, 2025.
Elder Gilbert said President Oaks taught him about what this new calling would require of him.
“He talked about the responsibilities of the calling — of course the responsibility to be a witness of Jesus Christ to all the world,” Elder Gilbert said.
A sacred surprise
After receiving his new calling, Elder Gilbert stepped away and called Sister Gilbert from the quiet privacy of his car.
“There was a lot of surprise,” he said of that phone call. Surprise was also met with a feeling of sacredness for the trust he was being shown. Elder Gilbert said he and Sister Gilbert stayed up late Wednesday reflecting on what they have learned from each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“They are all different. They all have different talents and backgrounds. But they all have the special witness of the Savior, Jesus Christ,” he said.
The Gilberts shared the news about the calling with their eight children and their families just before the announcement was officially made on Thursday, Feb. 12.
Disruptive spiritual innovation
Elder Gilbert’s professional career included working with the late Elder Clayton M. Christensen and Elder Kim B. Clark at Harvard Business School. He also worked at Deseret Management Corp., where he guided journalism entities like Deseret News and KSL.
His work with young adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes time serving as the president of BYU–Idaho and BYU–Pathway Worldwide before the assignment to serve as Church commissioner of education, where he worked closely with all the Church’s institutions of higher education and the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion program of the Church.
When he first arrived at BYU–Idaho, Elder Gilbert was excited to bring his experience and ideas to the Church’s university in Rexburg, Idaho. He was confident and hopeful.
“I thought I knew a lot — until I got to Rexburg,” he said. “And I realized I was just a novice.”
He recalled writing a talk there, “Innovating in the Lord’s Way.” At the time, his team was working on the predecessor program that later became BYU–Pathway. In that talk, he explained the importance of making the Lord a partner in the work individuals and teams are working to accomplish because He is the one teammate who really does know everything.
“He knows all of this. He knows how technologies are going to evolve. He knows what policies are going to change. He knows what is happening in the world. He knows when He will return.”
Working with the Lord in His way also requires something from those who want to partner with Him. Elder Gilbert said the characteristics needed on that side of the partnership can sometimes be harder to develop.
“When we innovate in the Lord’s way — which requires greater humility than most of us have, a frugality and a respect for the Lord’s timing, a willingness to trust in Him and then a desire to seek revelation — He can do so much more.”
Elder Gilbert said he learned along this path that the Lord had a lot more to teach him about innovation than anything he had learned from his academic or professional work. He said the Lord uses the education and experiences individuals have to help them learn what He needs them to learn.
“The spiritual side of revelatory insight that can come really makes innovating in the Lord’s way the right way to do it.”
A growing global Church
Elder Gilbert quickly moved from talking about the way to involve the Lord in personal revelation and innovation to talking about the fact that the world is in a time foreseen by prophets throughout history.
“The world is in commotion, and people are struggling. Good is being called evil, and evil is being called good,” he said.
The anxiety, stress and polarization that come with living today present opportunities that haven’t been seen before, he said.
“It is much harder in this climate to do things without the Lord, but when you involve Him and make Him your priority, all of those things calm.”
As challenges emerge in the world, Elder Gilbert said, the gospel light is able to stand out even more and provide more clarity to those who need and seek it. He credited young adults in the world with being able to see that in increasing numbers.
He cited scriptures from the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 28), the New Testament (2 Timothy 3) and Doctrine and Covenants (Section 45) to show that prophets have seen this day and these challenges.
“Ancient and modern prophets have prophesied of the last days before the return of the Savior that there would be increasing darkness, but it would make the light stand out even more than ever before. And people are flocking to that.”
Testimony of the Savior
Ready to move forward and serve in his new calling, Elder Gilbert shared his testimony and invited individuals to find peace in following the Savior’s way.
“To people who are worried about whether they can stick to their faith and be committed disciples of Jesus Christ, I would say to them, ‘Christ is always pointing you to something better.’ If you will follow Him, you will find greater joy and happiness. And it is never a sacrifice if you are following what the Savior would ask you to do.”
Many of the moments of his life that strengthened Elder Gilbert’s testimony were tied to the Book of Mormon, he said.
“In every one of those moments, that witness was also tied to the Savior. I had a witness that the Book of Mormon was true and that its purpose was to testify that Jesus is the Christ,” he said.
Elder Gilbert said he knows the Savior lives and provides the way to forgiveness, strength and immortality.
“I know He lives. I know He loves us. I know He can help us repent and that we can be forgiven when we fall short. I know that because of Him, we will live again. As we are taught in Alma 7:12, He will comfort us in our afflictions, and He will strengthen us in our infirmities, and He will succor us when life is not fair.”
Notable life moments
Elder Gilbert, 55, was born in Oakland, California, and grew up largely in Phoenix, Arizona. He was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 2021 and has served as the commissioner of the Church Educational System since August of that year.
He and Sister Gilbert were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1994.
Elder Gilbert received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in international relations in 1994, followed by a master’s degree at Stanford in Eastern Asian studies in 1995 and a doctorate at Harvard in business administration in 2001. He later joined Harvard’s faculty.
Elder Gilbert is the second Apostle called by President Oaks since the latter was set apart as the Prophet and 18th President of the Church on Oct. 14, 2025. Elder Gérald Caussé, who previously served as the Church’s presiding bishop, was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by President Oaks on Nov. 6, 2025.
