When Elder James O. Fantone was a teenager preparing to serve a mission, his bishop invited him to read the Book of Mormon before going to service. Elder Fantone had studied the Book of Mormon in seminary, learning doctrines and scriptures.
However, reading it daily and cover to cover became a foundational experience for him as his testimony deepened. And that study continued as he served as a full-time missionary in his native Philippines.
“I fell in love with the Book of Mormon as a young missionary, and it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ,” he said, noting that it has helped him learn about the Savior throughout his life. “Every time we read the Book of Mormon, it will help us understand the Lord’s Atonement.”
Elder Fantone was sustained as a General Authority Seventy at the April 2026 general conference.
“We can see the hand of the Lord in everything that we have experienced,” Elder Fantone said of the experiences, including lessons and blessings, with his wife, Sister Cynthia Fantone.
Legacy, testimonies of their fathers
James Gilwell Osorio Fantone was born in Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 11, 1972, to Jose Velasco Fantone and Angelita Osorio Fantone.
Elder Fantone was a young boy growing up in the Metro Manila community of Mandaluyong when his father, Jose Velasco Fantone, met the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their family was Catholic, and young James attended a Catholic school.
“It took one year for him to study and read and pray about the Church,” Elder Fantone said of his father, who was baptized in 1976. Each Sunday, his father would invite young James to come to Church with him. His older sisters were living with grandparents, and he had a younger brother.
“That’s where I really fell in love with Primary,” he said. Young James was baptized at 8 years old.
It was several years later, when Elder Fantone was about 12 years old, when his mother agreed to meet with the missionaries and was also baptized. Elder Fantone later learned it was his maternal grandmother who encouraged his mother. His grandmother, a lifelong Catholic, said, “I have seen changes in the life of your husband, and there’s something special in the church that he joined,” Elder Fantone recounted.
His younger brother was also baptized at 8 years old, and his older sisters eventually joined the Church as teenagers.
“I’ve seen how they truly went through that conversion process of change,” he said of his parents, including transitioning their home traditions, too.
When he was 15, Cynthia Caseres Uy’s family moved to their ward — and he described it as “love at first sight.” She was also impressed by him. But he wasn’t the only young man attracted to her in their large and active youth group.
When she was a young girl, Sister Fantone’s father met the missionaries and turned down their initial invitations. After experiencing a stroke and during his recovery at home, Cesario Ernesto Miguel Uy saw missionaries passing by their street and invited them in. Both of her parents and four of her older siblings were baptized.
“Little did he know that six months after his baptism, he would pass away,” said Sister Fantone, who was 4 years old when her father died. She added, “His best legacy to us was the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Her mother, Alejandra Caseres Uy, was very active in the Church, attending Sunday School and serving as a Relief Society teacher, Sister Fantone said of the stories she heard from her siblings. Two years after her father’s death, her mother also died. Young Cynthia is the youngest of eight children and was eight years younger than the next oldest sibling, and the oldest was 20 years older.
“I fell in love with the Book of Mormon as a young missionary, and it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. ... Every time we read the Book of Mormon, it will help us understand the Lord’s Atonement.”
— Elder James O. Fantone, recently sustained General Authority Seventy
“The Church anchored them,” she said. Her siblings — the oldest were young adults — cared for her, making sure she had food and opportunities for school. And young Cynthia would go to Church with her brother and sisters who were members. She was baptized at 8 years old.
“I’m really very happy that they did bring me to church. And it became something that I looked forward to,” Sister Fantone said, adding that as she grew older, the Church “became a refuge.”
When she was 15, her family moved from Marikina about 9 miles (14 km) south to Mandaluyong, to live in a home owned by a cousin.
There were about 20 young men and young women in their age group and a program with weekly activities and supportive leaders, the Fantones recalled.
“Those youth days were really foundational for us,” Elder Fantone said.
Stepping stones
Since he was a boy, Elder Fantone always knew he was going to serve a mission and was assigned to the Philippines Cagayan de Oro Mission on the southern island of Mindanao, serving from 1991 to 1993.
As a missionary, his testimony deepened as he studied the scriptures and learned more about the gospel. Elder Fantone said he learned how to work and developed practical skills by living away from home as well as learned the importance of obedience. Through his mission, he also improved his English and developed leadership skills.
As the Fantones served as mission leaders in the Philippines Antipolo Mission from 2022 to 2025, they would encourage the missionaries to “take your mission seriously because it’s going to change your life,” Sister Fantone said, noting the changes weren’t just spiritual growth.
A mission can “give you balance and abilities that you probably did not know you had before. But if you continue to obey and serve God with all your heart, might, mind and strength and focus on your purpose, you will turn out to be a different, a better version of yourself,” she said.
Of her husband and his mission, she added: “I saw that in him.”
Reconnecting when he returned from serving a mission, they dated and were married on Aug. 23, 1994, in the Manila Philippines Temple.
She had finished her degree and was a manager for a pharmaceutical company, and he was pursuing a degree while working at the Philippines Missionary Training Center. On the advice of their doctor due to her schedule and travels, she resigned from her job and began a less-stressful one with a Montessori school. She had also wanted to be a stay-at-home mother — something she didn’t have growing up.
Two years later, they had a little daughter, and Elder Fantone was graduating with his bachelor’s degree and looking for a full-time job. Elder Fantone was serving on the high council when he was assigned to speak in the local branch of expatriate Latter-day Saints — and speak in English. It was his first time speaking in a Church meeting in English to an international audience. “I just spoke from the heart.”
The branch president asked to meet with him the next day at his company’s office — and offered him a job as a sales manager.
“And that became a stepping stone” to other professional opportunities, he said. “It was a spiritual and temporal blessing together.”
The Fantones say that they can see how throughout their lives, they’ve had experiences and responsibilities and met people that have put them in position to progress professionally and start their own businesses. They’ve also seen challenges with employment and other times where businesses haven’t succeeded as they’ve hoped.
“We both decided from the very beginning [of our marriage] that we would never say no to the Lord,” Sister Fantone said. “It’s not because everything is always perfect in our lives. There were a lot of challenges.”
Elder Fantone was called to be bishop when their family was young. Sister Fantone would bring lunch to him at the Church building so he could magnify his calling and they could spend time together. When they moved south to Cebu and he was called to be in the stake presidency, she did a similar thing with their growing family.
Testimony of eternal families
While they were still living in the Metro Manila area, they had their second child, a son named Jose Miguel after his grandfathers. Diagnosed with a congenital heart condition, he needed heart surgeries to correct the heart defects. During their planned vacation in the United States, where the Fantones’ family members were living, their son underwent surgery. Baby Joemig, as they called him, died at 18 months old.
Elder Fantone said, “Our testimony of eternal families sustained us and continues to sustain us.”
Since then, they’ve also helped support and comfort other families who have also had a child die.
Sister Fantone said it was easy to blame themselves and look at different “what ifs.” As they look back at the experience, they can see how they’ve grown and learned lessons during that difficult time.
She added of their young son: “And he has always been a sweet reminder to us that we need to do better in life.”
They had two more daughters. Their oldest is now married, their middle daughter is engaged to be married, and the youngest is in high school.
Elder Fantone said: “This is truly the Lord’s work, and we are just fortunate to be a small contributor to whatever God would want us to do. And we are willing, and we’ll give our very best.”
About Elder James O. Fantone
Family: James Gilwell Osorio Fantone was born in Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 11, 1972, to Jose Velasco Fantone and Angelita de Leon Osorio Fantone. He married Cynthia Caseres Uy in the Manila Philippines Temple on Aug. 23, 1994. They are the parents of four children and were residing in Cebu City, Philippines, at the time of his call.
Education: He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Rizal Technological University and took additional guidance counseling studies at the University of the Philippines.
Employment: He has worked in multinational companies in sales and leadership positions, including as the country manager for the nonprofit Academy for Creating Enterprise, and as a training and business consultant. The Fantones have also had their own businesses.
Church service: At the time of his call as a General Authority Seventy, he was serving as an Area Seventy in the Philippines Area. He is a former Philippines Antipolo Mission president (2022-2025), stake and ward Sunday School president, stake presidency counselor, high councilor, stake Young Men presidency counselor, bishop and institute teacher, and served in the Philippines Cagayan de Oro Mission.
