Elder Patrick Kearon was born on July 18, 1961, in Carlisle, England, and has served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since Dec. 7, 2023.
First introduced to the gospel while working in Laguna, California, Elder Kearon later met missionaries on the streets of London, England, and was baptized on Christmas Eve in 1987. He married Jennifer Hulme Jan. 12, 1991, in the Oakland California Temple, and they have four children.
Elder Kearon attended schools in Saudi Arabia and England. Until his call as a General Authority Seventy, he and his wife owned a communication consultancy. Prior to his call as an Apostle, Elder Kearon was serving as senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy.
In honor of his 65th birthday today, here are nine of his quotes from the last year.
1. Missionary efforts
“I want to present myself, for good or ill, as Exhibit A of the outcome of countless goals and plans established and offered in prayer and fasting by missionaries and friends. And without those missionaries and without those goals and plans, I just would not be here today.”
— Seminar for New Mission Leaders, June 20, 2026
2. Making covenants
“The purpose of making covenants is to draw us closer to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We are beloved sons and daughters of God, and He desires that we experience joy in this life. Our covenants can serve as constant reminders of these sacred truths.”
— Facebook post, May 24, 2026
3. Callings
“Callings from the Lord are tailor-made for our growth, as we humble ourselves, look outward and learn that, indeed, when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are in fact in the service of our God.”
— “About His Business,” April 2026 general conference
4. Joyfully repent every day
“You will make mistakes. Remember that you can joyfully repent every day, and you can start again every day, and you can have a much better day tomorrow, if you will practice and remember who you are and turn to your Savior, Jesus Christ.”
— Ministry in Asia, March 2026
5. ‘Go and do’
“We are a people who go and do (1 Nephi 3:7). And I think there is great power in that. It keeps our faith alive, and if our faith has drifted a little bit, it can draw us back.”
— Worldwide devotional for young adults, Feb. 1, 2026
6. The Savior in family history
“I think a key invitation today is to put the Savior, to put Jesus Christ, in the middle of [family history]. To look to Him and to feel His love and the love of God as we embark on our next steps in this journey and beyond.”
— 2026 Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction, Jan. 22, 2026
7. A new beginning through the Savior
“To each leper, blind man and adulterous woman; to the lame, the deaf and the dumb; to every grieving mother, desperate father and mourning widow; to the condemned, the shamed and the suffering; to the dead in body and the dead in spirit, what He did was offer a new beginning.”
— “Jesus Christ and Your New Beginning,” October 2025 general conference
8. Reverence and purpose
“We know what a difference it makes when we approach our own personal interactions with the same kind of care we are taking with our historic temple. I am grateful for our shared striving — beyond the walls of temples, churches, synagogues and mosques — to treat the space between us with the same sense of reverence and purpose.”
— Eighth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan, Sept. 17 2025
9. The gospel is perfect
“The gospel is perfect. The love of God, exquisite and perfect. The atoning gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, equally perfect.”
— BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional, Aug. 1, 2025
