President Dallin H. Oaks was born on Aug. 12, 1932, in Provo, Utah. He was named the Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 14, 2025.
Before becoming the President, he had served as first counselor in the First Presidency since January 2018. He was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in April 1984.
President Oaks and his two siblings were raised by their mother after their father died. While attending Brigham Young University, President Oaks met June Dixon, and they married in 1952. They have six children. She died of cancer in 1998. President Oaks married Kristen M. McCain in 2000. He graduated in accounting from BYU and received a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.
President Oaks was a member of the Utah National Guard, Illinois National Guard and Army Reserve. He clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren at the U.S. Supreme Court, taught at the University of Chicago, was the president of BYU from 1971 until 1980 and was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court, on which he served until his call to be an Apostle.
In honor of President Oaks’ 94th birthday today, here are nine of his teachings about the family from the past year.
1. Following Jesus Christ in the home
“The family circle is the ideal place to demonstrate and learn eternal values, such as the importance of marriage and children, the purpose of life and the true source of joy. It is also the best place to learn other essential lessons of life, such as kindness, forgiveness, self-control and the value of education and honest work.
“As we follow Jesus Christ, our homes can become places of faith, love and belonging. I give thanks to my Heavenly Father for the wonderful family with which He has blessed me.”
— Social media post, July 12, 2026
2. Pull together as a family
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a family-oriented church, and that doesn’t just mean that we pull together as a family in our life on earth, but we began as a family — spirit children of heavenly parents. And the world was created for the benefit of the children of heavenly parents, and that’s everyone who’s born on this earth.”
— Olsen family reunion in Joe’s Valley, Utah, July 4, 2026
3. Highest destiny
“We lived as spirits before we came to this earth. This mortal life has a purpose. Our highest destiny is to become like our heavenly parents.”
— Seminar for New Mission Leaders, June 20, 2026
4. Marriage and children in God’s plan
“Knowledge of God’s plan gives Latter-day Saints a unique perspective on marriage and children. We look on the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God’s plan and a sacred duty of those given the power to participate in it.”
— Seminar for New Mission Leaders, June 20, 2026
5. Reconnect with family
“In an age of constant online connection, we may need to disconnect from technologies and other distractions to truly reconnect with our families.
“Families grow stronger when they set aside these distractions and spend meaningful time together — learning eternal values like the importance of marriage and children, the purpose of life and the true source of joy.”
— Social media post, May 15, 2026
6. Jesus Christ and love in families
“Truly, Jesus Christ is the way to peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come.
“He knows and loves each of us perfectly and invites us to walk with Him, abide in Him and follow His example of ministering to others one by one in charity and love. We have been reminded of the central role of marriage and families in our Heavenly Father’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
“May we demonstrate the pure love of Christ in our families, in our communities and in all of our interactions with God’s children.”
— “Closing Remarks,” April 2026 general conference
7. Peacemakers in families
“My brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ, let us follow Him by forgoing contention and by using the language and methods of peacemakers. In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful.”
— “Alive in Christ,” April 2026 general conference
8. The gospel’s help in raising children
“It is a gospel of happiness and growth and information about the purpose of life. And people who subscribe to its doctrine find that it makes their life more happy, more significant, more resistant to the difficulties we all experience in mortal life and more able to serve their fellow men and to raise their children.”
— First interview as president of the Church, Oct. 15, 2025
9. Heavenly destiny in a family organization
“The whole purpose of mortal life is to prepare us for a heavenly destiny in a family organization. And we are blessed when we take those as a given, as we said in ‘The Family Proclamation,’ not when we try to rewrite God’s plan but when we try to find where we fit within it.”
— First interview as president of the Church, Oct. 15, 2025
