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SALT LAKE CITY — Dig just an inch deep into President Russell M. Nelson's life, and it's clear where his priorities lie.
A world-renowned heart surgeon who pioneered medical technology, has traveled worldwide and now leads a worldwide church, remains the picture of health at 93.
"Talk about somebody who doesn't look or act like he's 93. He just depresses all of us," Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently quipped.
He also takes time to write notes to his family— all nine children, 57 grandchildren and 115 great-grandchildren. For birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas.
His children never thought of him as busy. In fact, he was around enough that his daughter thought it was normal to call traffic jams "thrombosis," (which, medically speaking, is when a clot restricts blood flow through vessels).
"He just loved to be home," said daughter Sylvia Webster. "He taught us how to ski between his legs up in Utah. Taught us how to ride a bike, he taught us how to drive, he read a lot to us. He was very hands-on."
In a similar vein, it's nearly impossible to separate his love for his God and religion from any other aspect of his life. The incoming president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seems to have a fully integrated life.
For instance, on one ski trip, he saw the need of a perfect stranger and stepped in to help.
He and Elder W. Craig Zwick, a member of the Seventy (an LDS general authority who works under the direction of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,) had gone skiing on a flawless powder day, and shared their delight with the brilliance of the day with the young man on the lift with them.
"'Yes, but my life is in shambles,'" Elder Zwick recalled their ski lift companion saying.
The young man then recognized President Nelson and gasped.
"In about four minutes, President Nelson taught that young man the importance of the Book of Mormon and if that he would read it every day, his problems wouldn't go away but they would be alleviated," Elder Zwick said. "We went our separate ways. That's how he taught."
President Nelson is a leader who family and loved ones are confident is uniquely positioned to understand. In fact, his ability to listen and understand others' needs is top on the list of traits his loved ones admire.
"He listens with such an intensity. I've never seen it matched by anyone. You have his undivided attention when you're talking to him. His questions show that he knew exactly what you were saying," Sylvia Webster said.
President Nelson has a gift for trying to understand others' points of view and seeing them as fellow children of God, according to Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer, a former physician and an LDS general authority who works under the direction of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
"Once he's connected with them on that level, then they can talk about the essential things, about working through differences, coming to common agreement, all of the things that are necessary for true diplomacy," Elder Schwitzer said. "He has that ability, and it comes to him very naturally."
Even though the church has about 16 million members, Elder Holland is confident that its leader will find means to understand and hear others' concerns.
"We hope those are tolerant, kind and compassionate voices because he's going to be a tolerant, kind and compassionate listener," Elder Holland said.
President Nelson's life has been one of insatiable curiosity, and a desire to share his knowledge with others.
"First of all, he wanted to know how a heart ticked and so he learned how to make them tick better. Really, I mean, he just got into that and learned what you could do with a heart, what you couldn't," Elder Holland said. "That idea of what makes things tick has just come on over to the church, to the gospel, to people. He'll want to know what makes you tick."
His curiosity ranges from the complex — languages and ancient scripture — to the fine details of life. President Nelson is fascinated by nature and its intricacies, and is often found pointing out the phases of the moon or other observations of nature to loved ones, according to his son-in-law David Webster.
"We'd open the orange up and he'd look at it and say, 'See how the Lord provided a way to provide juice to people that won't spill. It's right there and you can drink from it, but it doesn't spill. It's in these little encapsulated things,'" David Webster recalled.
"I think he can teach people important truths through commonplace kinds of things, because to him, nothing's commonplace or ordinary. Everything has an extraordinary side to it."
This curiosity has led to a keen intellect and a heart that is patient and kind.
"In just about every gathering he finds himself, he's the smartest man in the room. That would be a hard thing to do without letting your head get big, but he doesn't," David Webster said.
His hunger after knowledge "keeps him young," granddaughter Katie Owens said.
And his ability to teach also extends over to the tech world. A few years back, he took some pictures that Owens wanted to access.
"Just text it to me," she said, to which he replied, "'Oh, there's this great way that we can just AirDrop it.'
A few button clicks later, the photos were on her phone.
"I just thought, 'How amazing,'" she said. "'That is my grandpa, my grandfather, that's here teaching me how to use my iPhone.'"
President Nelson likes to bond with people one-on-one, whether on the ski lift, a bike ride or a walk.
His son, Russell Nelson, Jr., said when the two have had occasion to travel together, their plane would land, they would have an hour between events and his father would want to go on a walk.
In short, President Nelson has a hard time just sitting around. After family dinners, he would immediately begin cleaning things up, his son recounts. He also shovels driveways, works in the garden, water skied up until about a decade ago and, as recently as last year, hit the ski slopes.
This year, his son even got his father a ski helmet for Christmas. But that was before his dad was ordained president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The man who would quip at times to not "mention to President Packer that I've been skiing. He doesn't like to have me go skiing," has admitted his skiing days may be over.
"I asked him actually on Monday. I said, 'Are you OK with all these changes?' He goes, 'I had a time and a season for all of those things. I loved it, I enjoyed it, but this is a new time and a new season, and I'm ready to move on.' So, plain and simple. He is so sweet," Sylvia Webster said.
His willingness to "lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better," is nothing new.
Once, while a general authority, President Nelson received a letter from someone seeking his medical opinion. His response to the letter was "telling about where his mind was," according to Elder Schwitzer, who was familiar with the letter.
"'You know, when I made the decision to accept my responsibility and my ministry as an apostle, I left that behind and embraced my new role. I would encourage you to seek confident medical advice from those who still do that procedure,'" he said, according to Elder Schwitzer.
"I thought, 'Oh, how competent. How focused on the right thing to tell someone,'" Elder Schwitzer said.
President Nelson decides things quickly and understands well when something warrants more discussion or should be decided instantly, according to Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
"He is very good at thinking through what will be the impact of this decision or this policy, or how do we apply this doctrine and its impact on members of all ages, experiences and levels of spirituality," Elder Oaks said.
One carryover trait from his career seemed to be his ability to delegate, Elder Oaks said. Just as a successful surgeon needs to delegate tasks of a surgery, so does an effective leader.
President Nelson also teaches by the life he lives, which is one of compassion. His family notably saw this years back when he lost his 37-year-old daughter — their sister — who was a mother of five.
"I remember just watching him scoop up her children at the funeral and carry them out, just like he was going to scoop up and carry us and help us just come to terms with this," Owens said.
Afterward, he continued to invite his daughter's husband to family activities, and when his son-in-law got remarried, he led the family in accepting his new wife, indicative of his inclusive nature, according to daughter Sylvia Webster.
During his nearly 40 years as a surgeon, President Nelson was held in high-esteem by those he worked with and taught. Elder Schweitzer said he was "inspiring, dedicated, competent and highly consistent," in addition to being "creative" and "an innovator."
President Nelson also taught the need for a physician to connect with those in their charge.
"I have never met a surgeon who was trained under Russell M. Nelson, who didn't have the highest accolades for the training he received and the human side of him in terms of understanding, in terms of teaching them what you might call 'the unwritten laws of medicine,'" Elder Schwitzer, said. He added that President Nelson had a way of "caring for the individual, looking into their heart figuratively as well as literally."
This combination of technical expertise, compassion and spiritual awareness played out throughout his career.
One instance of this left an impression on a 10-year-old boy whose grandmother had a major heart condition and was preparing for surgery. Before the procedure, President Nelson came to her home to administer a priesthood blessing to her, which Latter-day Saints believe can bring comfort or healing to recipients through faith and power from God.
This was the first time Elder Zwick had met the President Nelson.
"Now, how many surgeons take time with their patient to go to their home and even participate in a blessing, which he did?" Elder Zwick asked. "It was meaningful to me and has always stood out as a defining time in our lives. It defined, for me, the greatness of the man, way before he had the pure apostolic calling that he has now. It was just so him."
