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SALT LAKE CITY — Elder Patrick Kearon has been called to be the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church announced Friday.
He was called Thursday and ordained by President Russell M. Nelson, president of the church, and other members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, according to a news release from the church.
Elder Kearon has served most recently as the senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy, and has served as a general authority seventy since April 3, 2010.
He said the new calling is both daunting and humbling.
"I will need to place all my trust in the Savior as I seek to become what he needs me to be and share my witness of his love and light. The abundance and grace of Jesus Christ have brought immense joy into my life, as well as healing balm in times of trial. I love him. I will strive to serve him to the best of my ability," Elder Kearon, 62, said in a statement.
Apostles are responsible for being witnesses of Christ throughout the world, and have other administrative responsibilities in the church. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the second-highest presiding body in the church.
Elder Kearon was raised in the United Kingdom and the Middle East, and is a British and Irish national. He has worked in a range of industries, including communication consulting, in both the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
He joined the church on Christmas Eve in 1987, after living with a Latter-day Saint family in California and later meeting missionaries in London.
He married Jennifer Carole Hulme in January 1991, after meeting her in London when she was on a study-abroad program. They have four children.
First remarks as apostle
Elder Kearon gave his first talk as an apostle Friday afternoon during graduation ceremonies at BYU-Hawaii.
"As I prepared thoughts to share with you, of course I never imagined that I would be sharing them on the day when I would be named the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It's staggering to me even just to say that," he told graduates.
"This call ... came yesterday. I slept very little last night as you can well imagine," Elder Kearon said.
"To be an apostle is, amongst other things, to be a special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm keenly aware that I will need to grow in every conceivable good way to become the servant the Savior needs me to be. My inadequacies, weaknesses and lack are painfully clear to me. But I have faith in the patience of my Father, the grace of Jesus Christ and the tutoring of the Holy Ghost."
He told the students he now realizes the remarks he prepared for them "perfectly fit" this moment in his life as a new apostle. Elder Kearon shared a poem called "The Gate of the Year" by Minnie Louise Haskins, and encouraged graduates to trust in the hand of God to lead them into the unknown.
"If we strive to be led purely by the hand and not by any other influence, we will be empowered to face the unknowns of our future with sustaining faith and abiding trust," he said.
Elder Kearon told the graduates they are each loved in ways they cannot comprehend.
In his last general conference talk, Elder Kearon spoke about surviving trials and becoming a conqueror through Jesus Christ. He said abusive behavior is condemned by God.
"From the depths of his atoning suffering, the Savior imparts hope you thought was lost forever, strength you believed you could never possess, and healing you couldn't imagine was possible," he said in the church's April 2022 general conference.
He spoke in general conference in April 2016 about helping refugees and in October 2010 he shared a message of comfort and healing through Christ.
Elder Kearon is replacing President M. Russell Ballard in the quorum. President Ballard was acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and died at age 95 on Nov. 12. Elder Ballard had served as a member of the quorum since Oct. 6, 1985.
President Jeffrey R. Holland replaced President Ballard as acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a position based on seniority.
Typically, new members of the quorum are announced during the church's general conference during the first weekends of April or October, but there have been exceptions. The most recent exception was when President Holland was added to the quorum on June 23, 1994, shortly after the death of President Ezra Taft Benson.
Elder Kearon will be sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the church's April 2024 general conference.
