The Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints works under the direction of the First Presidency to oversee the Church’s temporal affairs — or physical aspects.
Following Elder Gérald Caussé’s call to serve as the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church announced a new Presiding Bishopric on Nov. 14: Bishop W. Christopher Waddell as new presiding bishop, Bishop L. Todd Budge as first counselor and Bishop Sean Douglas as second counselor.
The new bishopric joins Church News reporter Mary Richards on this episode of the Church News podcast to discuss the spiritual purpose of overseeing the temporal affairs of the Church. This includes managing tithing and fast offerings, humanitarian aid, welfare and self-reliance programs, building and maintaining meetinghouses and temples, and producing and distributing gospel resources.
Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon,Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: I know in ways that I didn’t know before what a spiritual work the Presiding Bishopric has — temporal responsibilities with a completely spiritual purpose. And with that, I know that Jesus Christ will come again. I know that we are here to prepare the way for the return of the Savior. He will come again, and I’m grateful for that knowledge. I know that we are led by a Prophet who receives revelation and direction from on high. I know that we all receive revelation for our own particular responsibilities and that there isn’t anyone that’s gone so far off the path that we’re beyond the reach of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice. And I’ve experienced it in my life, and I’m grateful for it and grateful to know that His atoning sacrifice is not only infinite, but it’s incredibly individual, and that we could not be doing what we do without His help and support.
1:05
Mary Richards: This is Mary Richards, reporter at the Church News. Welcome to the Church News podcast. Today, we are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints works under the direction of the First Presidency to oversee the temporal affairs — or physical aspects — of the Church. This responsibility includes managing tithing and fast offerings, humanitarian aid, welfare and self-reliance programs, building and maintaining meetinghouses and temples, and producing and distributing gospel resources.
Following the call of Elder Gérald Caussé to be the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church announced a new Presiding Bishopric. Bishop W. Christopher Waddell was announced as the Church’s new presiding bishop on Friday, Nov. 14. Bishop L. Todd Budge is the first counselor, and Bishop Sean Douglas is the second counselor.
They join me now on Temple Square for this recording. Welcome to the Church News podcast.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Thank you.
Bishop Sean Douglas: Thank you.
2:17
Mary Richards: Bishop Waddell, you’ve served in the Presiding Bishopric since 2015, I believe?
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: That’s correct.
Mary Richards: Before that, you were a General Authority Seventy, and so you’ve had experience and assignments all around the world. Tell me now about being named the Church’s presiding bishop.
2:31
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Wow, this is something that I think, like most callings in the Church, they aren’t things that you expect, and so this was definitely not something that — you don’t grow up hoping to be called as the presiding bishop of the Church someday. And at the same time, you realize there’s a possibility, particularly when the presiding bishop was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and you’re serving as first counselor.
And so it’s, again, not something you expect. You recognize that you lack everything that’s needed. But you also recognize that the Lord doesn’t lack anything, and He makes you equal to the call. And that’s the hope and the prayer. I don’t think anyone is ever ready for any of the callings, really, that we have.
And so when you turn to the Lord, He will make you equal to the task. You think back to Nephi, “I will go and do” (1 Nephi 3:7), and he went and did not because he knew he could do it, but because he knew the Lord would help him to accomplish the task. And it also helps when you realize that you’re not alone. When you have two counselors like Bishop Budge and Bishop Douglas, when you have the support of family and loved ones and everyone else, it really takes some of that pressure off. And so it’s a remarkable experience thus far.
3:49
Mary Richards: When you look backwards, you can maybe see moments where you’ve been prepared, but you see the hand of the Lord there where He, like you said, He makes you equal to the call.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Absolutely. Whether it was in professional life before, never expecting to be called as a general authority in the first place. And so He uses talents and abilities. We all have them. We all have talents, we all have abilities, and they’re all things we lack. But He’ll take those talents and abilities and prepare you along the way and through lessons and through experiences to get you to where you need to be, and then He makes up the difference.
4:22
Mary Richards: And Bishop Budge, you’ve been the second counselor. Now you’re the first counselor. And you’ve spoken before about unity in this bishopric, that it’s not like dividing it into three, that you are working together.
So can you speak to that as your title has changed?
4:38
Bishop L. Todd Budge: Sure, yeah. Well, I think unity is essential in any presidency or in any council, and I know that’s something that has been taught time and time again. But unity doesn’t mean that we all necessarily are the same. We’re different. We have different opinions, we have different backgrounds, but we come together in unity. I recall in the 41st section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says that we “assemble ... together to agree upon my word” (verse 2).
And so unity, it’s not necessarily unity between the three of us, but it’s unifying ourselves with the Lord and His will, and we counsel together, and we share a common love for the Savior, a common desire to be His disciples and to magnify our callings. So we come together in that spirit of unity, seeking to know God’s will. And then we see miracles happen. Yes, and we see them all the time in this work.
But as you mentioned, we don’t divide the world up into three parts; we counsel together, and we make decisions together as a presidency, and we share this responsibility together as a unified bishopric.
5:57
Mary Richards: That’s encouraging for you to hear, Bishop Douglas, coming in brand new to this calling? You’ve come from the Mexico Area presidency, so I keep tripping; I want to say “Elder Douglas,” but now your title has changed.
And tell me about these feelings with this change.
6:11
Bishop Sean Douglas: It’s been an emotional week. Last Thursday in the morning, when I woke up, the furthest thing from my mind was that I would be a member of the Presiding Bishopric, that I would be in Salt Lake City today. We were running fast and furious and having just a wonderful time in Mexico. Everything in Mexico is great, even the tacos. But when an email came that I would be called to be on a phone call soon, a Zoom call, that immediately began to change my feelings and thoughts. And then the call was extended, and within four days, I was able to be here in Salt Lake City.
And I just want to comment on what Bishop Budge said, that at the minute I arrived in Salt Lake City and was able to meet with Bishop Waddell and Bishop Budge, I felt that unity that Bishop Budge is talking about. So grateful for the truthfulness of this gospel, because it makes it possible that you can make those changes so quickly. Feeling very inadequate, but knowing that, as President [Henry B.] Eyring said in this last conference, he said that we’re taken out of our comfort zone, and he remembers hearing one time in his life that “I am proving you, but I’m with you.” And I felt that this week, that He’s here and He’s helping and making it possible. So, thanks for the question.
7:36
Mary Richards: This may be because I have teenage boys — I keep thinking about what you’re saying really applies to the youth theme for this year and the youth theme for next year. This year, they’ve been learning: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36). Next year, they’re going to be saying, how the Savior said, “Walk with me” (Moses 6:34).
I feel that too, a little bit, in what you all are saying, that idea that you will walk with the Savior and He will walk with you in this calling.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: That’s absolutely essential. Absolutely essential. Whatever talents or abilities we’ve been blessed with, we have to rely upon Him.
8:08
Bishop L. Todd Budge: I’m kind of relating with Elder Douglas. It was five years ago, and I was in his shoes; called out of the blue, arriving from Japan, new. And I think about when Newel K. Whitney, the second presiding bishop in the Church, when Joseph Smith asked him to be a bishop. He said, “I don’t see a bishop in me.” And Joseph Smith said, “Well, don’t take my word for it. Ask the Lord.”
And so he did, and these words came to his mind: “Thy strength is in me.” And when feeling those words and that impression, he immediately went back to Joseph Smith and said, “I accept.” And so I think we all feel that inadequacy, that we can’t do this, but when we remember that our strength is in Him, then we have that confidence and faith that we can go forward and do His work.
9:01
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: And that confidence comes as well. We were studying this morning a little bit, and an article of faith came up. And we were thinking in article of faith No. 5, it talks about how we believe that we must be “called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands.”
And that adds confidence as well, recognizing that we have a prophet, and we trust him, and this is the call that came. We know it comes from the Lord. We don’t know exactly why, but we know it does. And we’re set apart. We were set apart yesterday, and a wonderful experience. Our wives were there with us when we were set apart and given the keys to accomplish what the Lord is asking us to accomplish. That helps a lot.
9:43
Bishop L. Todd Budge: Yeah, it was such a beautiful experience.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: It was remarkable.
Bishop L. Todd Budge: As members of the Presiding Bishopric, we’re set apart by the full First Presidency of the Church. And so it was a very spiritual experience for us to hear each other’s blessings and also just to feel that power as the First Presidency of the Church, all three of them lay their hands on your head and set you apart. It was wonderful.
10:11
Mary Richards: Wow. Oh wow. “Days never to be forgotten” is the saying that popped into my brain.
I’d like to help people get to know each of you a little bit better too. And so I thought I’d start with listing off a few facts that I know, and then we’ll go a little bit more into what you would like to share.
So, Bishop Waddell, I’ll share some basic facts about you to start. You were born in Los Angeles, California, to parents who joined the Church after they were married. Pioneers, really in your family, yes. And then for those who might have known you in your calling up until now, they might see you and know you’re very tall, and that might be something they think right of you right away.
But I bring that up because I love this story about how you played volleyball. You were excelling at volleyball and were faced with a decision about whether to serve a full-time mission as a young man. And tell me about how that decision — and then you served in Barcelona, Spain, and what that meant for your life at that time.
11:07
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Oh, thank you. Yeah, it was. I was offered a scholarship to play volleyball at the university that was kind of my dream school where I wanted to go. And the offer was made when my missionary papers were actually in. And they didn’t know that, and so they brought me to the school and offered the scholarship. And I had to explain, “Well, I have a slight issue. I’m going to be gone for a couple of years.” And they were aware of that. They had other members of the Church that they knew about, and so they offered to keep the scholarship until I was on the mission. And the coach changed, and they took back the scholarship.
And another school from a friend then offered this scholarship, which is how I ended up where I did, in San Diego, at San Diego State. And at first, it was disappointing, but then going and in having that experience, I realized that I can trust the Lord, because it all worked out. I ended up where I needed to be. By going to school where I did, that’s where we raised our family, that’s where I was able to serve in the Church, that’s where I had my career, right where I needed to be. And so that part of it helped me to trust the Lord.
But the other side of it is the mission itself — let alone forget the scholarship and everything else — the mission itself changed my life. I don’t think I was a bad person before, but the lessons that I learned, the testimony that was strengthened, particularly my testimony of the Book of Mormon increased, of seeing the Lord’s hand in various lives. Serving as a missionary, an experience that you can’t replicate in some other way, impacted my life in so many ways, much more than attending a particular school or having that scholarship. The nice thing is I was able to go back and continue to play and enjoy that experience, but that mission was absolutely crucial in my life.
13:01
Mary Richards: And your life since then. I think about your different callings and long list of ways that — we’ve talked about already that the Lord qualified you each time, whether it was in ward leadership or an Area Seventy or those kinds of things in your life, and your family’s been with you that whole time through this as well.
13:17
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: They have, they have. It’s a relatively young family. I was called as a relatively young man as a bishop with children and stake president, and so it impacts the family. And then serving a mission. We went to the mission. Bishop Douglas and Bishop Budge have both served as mission presidents and with families. And at first receiving that call as a mission president, you’re wondering, “Well, why now with children?” And it ended up being a remarkable experience for me; for my wife, Carol, as my companion and set apart as a missionary; and for our children as well. It’s been a part of our family since then, and what a blessing.
13:54
Mary Richards: I’m seeing some themes, too, with Bishop Budge’s life. Some facts for our listeners about you: You were born in Pittsburg, California.
Bishop L. Todd Budge: That’s right, so two California boys.
Mary Richards: Two California natives here. You worked in banking, and you have such strong ties to Japan and such a love for the country with all your time there, if you want to talk about that?
14:13
Bishop L. Todd Budge: Sure, yeah. I think I lived in Japan almost 24 years. So, a lot of my career was in Japan. We spent 17 years as a family there. And then, after completing my career, we were called back as mission leaders in the Japan Tokyo Mission. And then, when I was called to be a General Authority Seventy, we were called to the Asia North Area, which is headquartered in Tokyo. So we spent a lot of time. Four of our six children served missions in Japan as well. And so we have a lot of connections, a lot of friends, and just a deep love and affection for the culture and the people.
And I think just like Bishop Waddell, my mission changed the direction of my life. I didn’t know anything about Japan until I was called there as a young man, as a young missionary, and then developed a love for the people, the culture, the language, and studied the language and economics at BYU. And my first job out of school was back in Tokyo, and that kind of got me going there. And I look back now, and I can see the Lord’s hand in guiding and directing the things that I did in my career, and I can see how those experiences have prepared me for what I’m doing today.
15:27
Mary Richards: Wonderful. And Bishop Douglas, you also have these similarities, too, where you lived all over the world. So, you were raised in the foothills of Salt Lake City, right here in Salt Lake.
Bishop Sean Douglas: Just here locally in Holladay, Utah.
Mary Richards: Right, right. But then your career really took you and your family, young family, to countries all over the world. And your Church service, too.
15:48
Bishop Sean Douglas: One of the greatest decisions, I have to say, was certainly going on a mission. And before I went on my mission, I had a chance to meet the girl of my dreams, my wife, Ann. We met in high school, and she was very much a proponent of me going on my mission. That was always going to be on my list. She waited, and she dated and waited and dated.
Mary Richards: She dated or waited.
Bishop Sean Douglas: Thank heavens I won when I got home. But when I got home, she was there, and within eight months, we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. But one of the, I think, formative decisions that we made is we attended the school up here on the hill, University of Utah, and our bishop was a wonderful bishop. And it was a married ward, student ward. It was Bishop Ronald A. Rasband, and he was very instrumental in planting seeds of preparation for the future. He really tried to prepare the young people in that ward to be ready for whatever.
And we we found the blessing of being able to leave the campus and go immediately to England, where we lived there for four years and had our first two children there. And I was called to be a young bishop there, and that just became kind of like the incubator for the rest of our life of service. And so I look back on those as really wonderful days in our life, the treasured moments.
And we did live in England. We moved around a bit. I worked 30 years for a chemical company. Through that experience, I worked with some very good people who taught the importance of giving and the importance of exercising the human heart to lift others around you. And so I felt that was very important in our life. We have four children and 12 grandchildren now, and none of them are here in Utah. That’s unfortunate, but we’ll get a chance to see them.
17:43
Bishop L. Todd Budge: I’m the same. None of my six children or 22 grandkids are in Utah. So here we go.
Mary Richards: And what about you, Bishop Waddell, are they nearby?
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Three of the four are in Utah, and 10 of our 12 grandchildren are here.
Mary Richards: So you can do Sunday dinner when you’re in town, when you’re here. They’re like, “Grandpa’s not here. We’re here.”
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Exactly.
18:01
Mary Richards: Your families are so important too; your wives, we can talk a little bit more about them and their influence in your life. And that moment, that decision, to marry a good woman and to make your marriage strong. If you want to each take a moment to praise them or talk about them in any way, you can do that now.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Any particular order?
Mary Richards: We’ll start with you, with Sister Waddell.
18:21
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: OK. Carol and I met at a young single adult dance. I was home from school, and she was home from BYU, and we met and dated that summer, and then I went back to San Diego, and she went back to BYU. And we were able to be in touch a lot back in those days through long-distance phone calls, which were very expensive back then, anciently, and even letters and postcards and those kind of things.
But you date, I dated, like everybody else, and a number of different people and some wonderful young women. Something about Carol, it was, for whatever reason, being around her, I wanted to be a better person. And when I was around her, I found that I wanted to read the scriptures more. I wanted to pray more. I just wanted to be better because of how good she was and the good that I felt she brought out of me because she was so good.
And so, we were married two years after we met, and she has been just an incredible influence on my life. A remarkable wife, a remarkable mother, talented in so many ways. She’s an interior designer, but she decided to be home with the children, that was her decision, and has been such an influence in raising our children and supporting me while I’ve tried to support her and her callings and things. But so many talents and abilities, particularly spiritual talents and abilities, that have blessed me and our family in so many ways.
19:47
Mary Richards: That’s wonderful. I feel like I want to meet them all and be their friends, because I met Sister Budge in Elko, Nevada, for the temple dedication, where you were, Bishop Budge. And immediately I thought, “What a wonderful, lovely person this is too.”
So, tell me about meeting her.
20:02
Bishop L. Todd Budge: Yeah, it’s kind of funny, because she grew up in upstate New York, and I grew up in California, and we both decided to go to BYU, which is where we met. And it turned out she was my first date my first week, and we were inseparable ever since. I remember after our first date, I wrote in my journal, “This is the kind of girl that I want to marry.” I didn’t have the confidence to say, “This is the girl I will marry,” because I didn’t think I was good enough for her. But I thought, “This is the kind of girl that I’d like to marry someday.”
And she wrote to me during my mission every week, and we wrote back and forth. And also, within eight months, we were married. And I don’t think any of us would be sitting here had we not married the women that we married. And she’s just been such a strength and a blessing and a mother of six children, and just sacrificed so much — her willingness to go to Japan and live in Japan away from family and all that is just incredible, the woman that she is and the faith that she has and she keeps. She’s just helped me become the person that I’ve become.
21:14
Mary Richards: And Bishop Douglas, you shared some of your dating.
Bishop Sean Douglas: I already gave some of it away.
Mary Richards: The missionary writing is my favorite thing to hear about, because I have a missionary who just came home and girls that wrote him. It hasn’t quite worked out. So he’s on the hunt now at BYU.
Bishop Sean Douglas: It will work out.
Mary Richards: But talk about your life together and having a companion, being in the different callings you’ve had, for example, to have that support.
21:37
Bishop Sean Douglas: Yeah, I guess I echo what these two bishops have said, that she’s all in. She’s always been all in. When we had to leave Mexico, it was just a few days ago. She really had a hard time with this. She was willing to follow and go do everything, but she really invested her heart and soul into it all. She’s so full of life. She’s a happy person. I can be pretty serious at times, and she just helps me remember the things that matter most in life.
I just want to share one fun thing, is when I would travel quite a bit — and still do — I would find sometimes in my suitcase my white shirt packed. And in my pocket, I’d sometimes unpack my shirt, and there would be a chocolate kiss in it. That was her way of just saying, “I’m thinking about you.” She’s, as with our wives, she’s the better half. She’s far better than I am, and I owe so much to her goodness. So, I love my wife. She’s a great person.
Mary Richards: I might have you all back on Valentine’s Day for a new podcast episode.
22:41
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Something special, if I may, Bishop Budge mentioned we were set apart. We were talking about that a little bit. One of the things the First Presidency did — well, our wives were there with us — and they had us sit right next to our wives when we were being set apart and be able to hold hands as we were set apart.
Bishop L. Todd Budge: It was beautiful.
Bishop Sean Douglas: Yeah, it was nice.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: Yeah, it was really sweet. It was a nice touch.
23:02
Mary Richards: Oh, I love that so much. Thank you for sharing that. That is a really sweet, poignant thing, and that’s very tender. That’s very tender.
I think about each of your lives, you have such different backgrounds and things that you’re bringing in your experiences, but also similarities in the fact that you’ve each spent extensive time in multiple countries. You’ve served as mission leaders. You’ve been in area presidencies.
How have those things in particular prepared you for these roles? And then, how have you seen the Lord’s hand throughout that, in that work, in those callings too?
23:37
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: I don’t know how it’s been for other Presiding Bishoprics in the past; I wasn’t there. I know what I’ve experienced. And we are the second Presiding Bishopric — so the first one would have been with Bishop Caussé and myself and then Bishop Budge — so we’re the second where all three members of the bishopric had served as General Authority Seventy and had served in area presidencies, had served as mission presidents. Actually, this is the first that I’m aware of where all three had served as mission presidents.
And I think those experiences, at least for me, those experiences all build upon each other. And the fact that we work so closely with the temporal affairs responsibilities that we have, and working so closely with the Seventy and the Twelve and supporting them in their work, we understand it because we’ve been there — not where the Twelve is, but we’ve been where the Seventy are, and we’ve served in that capacity. And so we have a wonderful relationship, in particular working closely with the Seventy. We meet with them on Thursdays when they have their quorum meetings, and they invite us, and they’re very kind to include us. We have a very close relationship with the Presidency of the Seventy.
And so, again, we have perhaps different responsibilities, in general. We have the primary responsibility to be witnesses of Jesus Christ and to testify of Him — whether our responsibilities are temporal or not, that is our first primary responsibility. But we really work together in unity, speaking about unity, in that alignment of keys with the Presiding Bishopric keys and the Presidency of the Seventy and working together with them. In my mind, that really helps us, it helps me, where we are now, again, in building up to this point.
25:14
Mary Richards: You’ve been nodding, Bishop Douglas, alongside with that, yes. Coming straight from being — yeah, like you mentioned, each of you were General Authority Seventies before. I love how looking at how this work isn’t in silos, where we’ve got our temporal affairs over here and our spiritual affairs over here. They’re all together.
25:33
Bishop L. Todd Budge: I like that you make that point. I think sometimes there’s too much of a bright line separating ecclesiastical or spiritual and temporal, when it really is just one work. In the 29th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says, “All things are spiritual to me” (see verse 34). And we’ve had the ecclesiastical experiences, and now we’re on the temporal affairs side of the Church, but it’s really one work. It’s spiritual.
We see miracles doing this, just as we do, as we saw, as we were mission presidents and stake presidents and General Authority Seventies. And it really is one work. It’s God’s work. And when you’re engaged in it, it’s a spiritual work. And we’re not businessmen; we’re general authorities, and we’re doing the Lord’s work. It’s not a financial job or a business job. It really is, I mean, we’re disciples of Christ and doing the work of the Lord, and just focused more on the physical side of it.
26:34
Mary Richards: I love that everything is spiritual. The Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson has spoken about the Savior’s relief. And you find that in humanitarian aid, for example, which can fall under the Presiding Bishopric. Humanitarian aid is to bring the Savior’s relief. Building self-reliance is so that we can also become more spiritually self-reliant. All of these things, they are spiritual, the work that the Presiding Bishopric does and oversees.
26:59
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: There’s a temporal role, but with a spiritual purpose behind what we do. And I think there are times when people forget — when they think Presiding Bishopric, I think out in the world, they’re thinking and focus just on finances, that they think about the resources of the Church, and we’re just bankers at the Church. And there’s so much more than the finances. The finances are there to accomplish the Lord’s purposes. But you read off when we began, you talked about some of the roles of the Presiding Bishopric, and responsible for the finances of the Church is one small aspect. It’s an important aspect, but it’s only one portion of what we do as a Presiding Bishopric.
27:36
Bishop Sean Douglas: Can I make one comment?
Mary Richards: Oh, yeah.
Bishop Sean Douglas: One thing that’s often overlooked is I found that each one of us has found a personal ministry in the callings and assignments that we have. When we go out, we look for “the one,” and that’s where the greatest joy is found. I remember when I was first called as a general authority, it was Elder [Patrick] Kearon that said, “You’re going to be in a lot of meetings. You’re going to be going from meeting to meeting to meeting.” He said, “You’re not going to find the joy in that. You need to do that, but you need to find ‘the one’ and make sure you define your personal ministry.”
And these two brethren here have been examples to me in how they define their personal ministry and helping the one. And that’s where I have found such great joy, in finding the one, because there’s always one. You’re not there to preside at a stake conference. You’re there to find those that really are praying, and their prayers are connecting, and you happen to just be somebody at the time that can help, maybe relieve some of that pain and suffering that you were talking about.
28:39
Bishop L. Todd Budge: And you asked earlier, “How do we see God’s hand in the work?” For me, it’s been mostly in these personal interactions, in ministering visits and those types of things where we see God’s hand most profoundly in a very personal way. And it’s really strengthened my testimony that God knows each of us and He loves us and He uses the general authorities of the Church to do His work very personally.
Mary Richards: Yeah.
29:09
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: One way, in speaking about the ministering, as general authorities, we’re still general authorities, just not acting as Seventy. We receive assignments, stake conference assignments, for example. And I think all of us, when we have a stake conference assignment, we always begin with ministering visits, and we go and visit the individuals that we’ve asked the stake presidency to pray about who we should see. And it’s remarkable what takes place in those visits, and it’s one-on-ones and being able to share our testimonies with them and offer blessings, and in hearing back from them.
You shared an experience that you had, and I had a similar experience where a young couple — and they weren’t active, but they had faithful family — and so offered to extend the invitation to them to become active in the Church, to be sealed as a family with their little girl. And they did. And months later, they called, and I was able to perform that sealing for them. And you had a similar experience.
30:02
Bishop L. Todd Budge: Just recently. In fact, we were just on the phone planning the sealing today. And there’ll be a whole nother podcast to share that story sometime. But it’s kind of a neat story, where I was given an assignment back in my home stake where I grew up, and through God’s miraculous maneuvering, I was able to meet somebody that we had an instant connection, and they are now receiving their temple endowments and preparing to be sealed and looking forward to participating in that ordinance with them.
30:43
Mary Richards: Oh, that’s beautiful. I’ve been thinking about something that Elder David A. Bednar taught, from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I’ve been thinking about how I’ve heard him tell large groups of people, “You may think this gospel is for others, or it works for him, or it works for them, but it’s for you individually.” And you’ve seen that. You’ve seen how it’s individuals, that one-on-one ministry, those ways that the Lord is so mindful of His children individually. Also, do you ever kind of get overwhelmed by 17 million members of the Church? There are so many of us. It’s exciting, the growth, but it’s made up of individuals. The gospel is for them.
I do want to point people back to our Church News series called “Inside Church Headquarters,” where we did report more in depth, really, on what the Presiding Bishopric is and what it does, and we’ve mentioned some of those things. But I thought maybe this could be a chance to explain a little bit more about it in some of the things that I’ve seen with Bishop Waddell, for example.
So, the times that I’ve seen you — I thought about this before this interview — I thought, “I think I’ve seen him more outside of the continental U.S. than I’ve seen him inside here in Salt Lake.” And we work really close, just a block away or so. So, we’ve crossed paths in Puerto Rico; in Maui, in Hawaii; and Johannesburg, South Africa. And each was for a different purpose.
In Puerto Rico, you were there for the dedication of the San Juan temple, and I was covering that for Church News. In Maui, you were meeting with organizations on the ground after the fires, and you were seeing their efforts and the Church’s support and how that works together. And then in Johannesburg, I believe you had meetings at the area offices, or maybe with the director of temporal affairs.
And so, each time that I’ve seen you, it’s been for a different aspect, really, of what the Presiding Bishopric does, if you think about it. There was temples, there was humanitarian relief, and then there was temporal affairs in an area. So there’s a lot that you do and you’re sent around in the world to do.
32:41
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: That’s one of the fun things about serving in the bishopric. Bishop [Richard C.] Edgley, who served in the bishopric many years ago, I see him periodically. I’ve seen him a handful of different times and places. And invariably, he’ll pull me over, and he’ll say, “Chris, Chris.” I said, “Well, what is it, Bishop?” He said, “You know what?” I said, “What’s that?” He said, “You know what the best calling in the Church is?” I said, “Tell me. Tell me, Bishop Edgley.” He said, “The Presiding Bishopric.”
And it’s so varied and unique. Because you have the temporal aspects of things, and that brings in a little bit of our previous lives, careers and things, plus the spiritual aspect of the general authority and the gospel aspect of it. And so it really is a combination of — and so it’s varied. There’s so many different aspects to it that it’s fascinating. It’s interesting.
That’s also one of the challenging aspects as well, because there are things that perhaps we haven’t had experience in in the past. And so you’ll learn, but it keeps you on your toes, and it’s just a remarkable experience.
33:44
Mary Richards: You mentioned before the Presiding Bishopric working so closely with the Presidency of the Seventy, and you were each on councils, too, of the Church, the council system that’s so revelatory, really.
Tell me also about working with the First Presidency and those conversations and assignments and how that works.
34:01
Bishop L. Todd Budge: I think that’s maybe one of the most rewarding parts of being in the Presiding Bishopric, is that there is a special relationship, I think, between the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric. We work under their direction, and we meet with them at least once a week, on Fridays. And you just imagine having the opportunity on a weekly basis to sit with the prophets, seers and revelators with the whole First Presidency, and to just discuss matters, wide-ranging matters, affecting the global Church, and to be able to receive counsel and direction from them.
And it’s just an experience I never thought I would have ever in my life. I think prior to being called to the Presiding Bishopric, I had never met a prophet of God in person, or shaken the hand of a living prophet. And to go from that to them calling you by your first name and having a personal relationship has just been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, really.
35:07
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: I think I recognize that virtually every member of the Church would be thrilled to meet a member of the First Presidency once, and so it never gets old. Every week, it’s a pinch-me moment to be able to sit down with them and their kindness and their love and their direction, to see revelation take place at times as we’re sitting there meeting with them, as they’re discussing things. And it really is one of the highlights and responsibilities to take that seriously that we have. You’ve just recently had that opportunity.
35:43
Bishop Sean Douglas: I’m the newest member on the block here, but in one week, several times, I’ve had the privilege of being at their feet. And the feeling is really real and tangible, and to see in them the trust that God has. I guess I would just like to, if I can, at this stage, I just want to testify that Dallin H. Oaks is the Prophet of God, and the First Presidency is divinely appointed, and what a blessing. I agree. It’s something you have to pinch your cheeks and say, “Is this really happening?” They are truly capable men, extraordinary men, but they’re prophets.
36:27
Bishop L. Todd Budge: They serve an incredible sacrifice. For the first five years in the Presiding Bishopric, we had one First Presidency, and so this is the first time for me to experience that change. We went through this apostolic interregnum, if you will, and we were able to see that transition of the mantle from one Prophet to another, and to be up close and to witness that.
And I, too, every time I go out, one of the things I love to do is just bear testimony of living prophets and apostles, and to do that from a very close, personal relationship with them. And I’ve had just many members tell me how much that means to them to hear that testimony from someone who actually knows them. They’re not just people on a TV screen or that they see at conference, but someone who actually works and lives with them on a regular basis, and it’s just been a wonderful blessing.
37:28
Mary Richards: I’d love to learn more about how your testimony of the Savior has also been strengthened in your callings — in these particular callings in the Presiding Bishopric, and then also, Bishop Douglas, coming from serving just more recently as a General Authority Seventy.
But tell me about your testimony of the Savior and how it’s been strengthened.
37:47
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: There’s a passage in John where the disciples of John, in the first chapter of John, where John sends His disciples — John’s in prison, he’s heard of the Savior at that point — and he sends his disciples to ask Him, basically, “Are you the man, or do we look for another?” (see John 1:19-28). And I’m paraphrasing now. And the Savior tells these people, “Go and tell John what you see. The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk” (see Luke 7:22). He bore testimony of Himself by demonstrating how He blessed lives and how He cared for individuals one by one.
And I think in the Presiding Bishopric, one of the things that I’ve seen particularly working with the humanitarian side, with welfare, but in every aspect, you see the individual nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see the temporal side and how it relates to the spiritual side. And you see how the Savior loves His children. And to see that love and to be able to reach out to others, you see the impact He has had in their lives and in ours. And to be able to represent Him when you’re helping people that are in need, spiritually or temporally, you see His love for all of His children and how He wants all of His children to come back to Him. And to be able to participate in that work is a remarkable experience.
39:20
Bishop L. Todd Budge: I would share similar thoughts. I think there are three ways that I’ve seen my testimony of the Savior grow. One is just through my own personal experience with Him. This job stretches you in ways that you didn’t even know you could be stretched. And so you find yourself on your knees, and you feel His power, and you feel His love and His mercy and His forgiveness. And so just this personal closeness that I’ve felt and knowing that I could not have done that without Him, and seeing those types of experiences frequently.
And then, as Bishop Waddell mentioned, just seeing His love for the people that we minister to, and knowing that He loves them and He knows them, and seeing that in a very personal way. And then I think just through my association with the other men and women serving that we’re serving with and hearing their testimonies — we have a testimony meeting once a month as we gather in the temple — and just hearing those testimonies and feeling, seeing the miracles that they’re seeing has also strengthened my testimony as well.
And I know that He lives and that He stands at the head of this Church, and He directs it through revelation, and that He loves all of His children. My testimony of that has grown so much as I’ve seen His hand directly ministering to His flock.
40:59
Bishop Sean Douglas: I would just say amen to what’s been said. And recently, in Mexico, I was able to spend a lot of time with the younger generation of the Church. We spent a lot of time in FSY conferences, and we had some unique places where we could be with them, where a thousand would be there at once.
And as we’d finish, we’d bear our testimony, and we’d share how much the Savior loves them and knows them, and how important they are and why they were preserved for these days. And then they would line up afterwards, not to know me but to feel the love. And we would hug for an hour. There would be a line one after another, and I could just feel — not my love — I could feel a portion of His love for each one of them individually, and they felt it. I can’t deny. That’s not something of me; it’s something of Him.
42:06
Mary Richards: This leads perfectly to our last question on the Church News podcast, which is always: “What do you know now?” And we give our guests the last word on the podcast. We’ll begin with Bishop Douglas, if that’d be all right, and then Bishop Budge, and finally Bishop Waddell.
I would love to know: What do you know now about how the Lord directs His work on earth today?
42:30
Bishop Sean Douglas: He is in the very minute details of our lives. Each one of us has a very perfect plan that He has created, and we need to trust in Him. We need to be calm about it, even in the midst of turmoil and trial. But He’s there, and He hears every prayer. He may answer it at a different timing, in a different way than what we think.
This is a real small thing, but I was on the stand in church on Sunday in Mexico, knowing I was coming back, knowing that that would be my last sacrament meeting in Mexico. And I was not. I was sad. My heart was heavy.
And this little, teeny, 4-year-old girl from the back of the chapel, in the middle of a speaker, ran up to the stand — she doesn’t know me — she brings me a little paper that says, in Spanish, “Felicidades,” happiness, “Te amo,” I love you. And she reaches over and gives me a hug. And she says, “Bien viaje,” safe travels, good travels. It just melted my heart. This little child felt that I was suffering. Now, how does that happen?
And God is in the very details of every person’s life, but sometimes we have to open our eyes to see it, but He’s there.
43:56
Bishop L. Todd Budge: Well, I would echo the same thing. I think what I know now is that this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the earth and that Jesus Christ stands at the head of it and directs it in very personal ways, and He loves all of His children, and He desires to bless them, and He invites them all to come unto Him, and He won’t turn anyone away. That this Church is directed by prophets, seers and revelators who receive revelation from the Lord. And that Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer. He’s the resurrected Lord. And that He will come again. And that this is a great work that we’re involved in.
44:44
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell: What do I know now? I’ve had a testimony — I can’t remember when I didn’t. I realize that, and I feel blessed that I was blessed with a believing heart. I have never doubted. I know more than I knew when I was young, but I always believed.
I know — as my brethren, my friends — I know as they know that God lives, that this is His work, that Jesus Christ is His Son, that He gave His life, that He laid down His life voluntarily. He gave it. It wasn’t taken from Him. I know that He walked out of the tomb. I don’t know where the tomb was exactly, but it doesn’t matter. I know that He walked out of the tomb, and He lived, and He lives today. And I know that He directs His work through a prophet of God.
So many times we talk about coincidences, and to say I believe in coincidences, what that means is I know that God’s hand is in the details. Things happen that you just say that that couldn’t happen on its own. I’ve seen that so many times, in so many ways, as things we’ve already discussed.
I know in ways that I didn’t know before what a spiritual work the Presiding Bishopric has. Again, temporal responsibilities with a completely spiritual purpose. And with that, I know that Jesus Christ will come again. I know that we are here to prepare the way for the return of the Savior. He will come again. And I’m grateful for that knowledge. I know that we are led by a Prophet who receives revelation and direction from on high. I know that we all receive revelation for our own particular responsibilities, and that — I love the scripture, it’s in 3 Nephi, in chapter 9, where it’s talking about the Savior’s reach, and there isn’t anyone that’s gone so far off the path that we’re beyond the reach of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice.
And I’ve experienced it in my life, and I’m grateful for it and grateful to know that His atoning sacrifice is not only infinite, but it’s incredibly individual, and that we could not be doing what we do without His help and support. And I’m grateful for that knowledge. And I share that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
47:15
Mary Richards: Thank you for listening to the Church News podcast. I’m Church News reporter Mary Richards. I hope you learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had your faith in the Savior increase by looking through the Church News window as a living record of the Restoration. Please subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; to my producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and to others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates about the Church on TheChurchNews.com or on the Church News app.
