I am very happy to participate in this historic celebration honoring President Russell Marion Nelson.

In doing so, I represent all members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Nelson spent 31 years in our Quorum and two and a half years as its president. That has kept him uniquely close to the Quorum, letting him include the Twelve in so much that the First Presidency has undertaken.

In his very first trip following his call as President,

the Nelsons invited Sister Holland and me to accompany them on a trip to Jerusalem. That trip turned into a globe-circling course that took us around the world,

allowing him to announce new temples in many of the locations we visited.

President Nelson followed that up by taking extended international trips with the other members of the Quorum of the Twelve.

President Nelson has provided a life-changing opportunity for all members of the Quorum by taking us to the dedication of the Rome Temple.

He then delegated major temple dedications to each member of the Twelve

as those temples were finished. And so the list goes on and on and on.

Surely history will note that of the many marvelous characteristics visible in the Nelson administration, one quality that was almost invisible was the warm and productive unity that Russell M. Nelson maintained between the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. To put President Nelson’s 100-year life in some temporal context, we should note that his 1924 birth was the year

a little project called Band-Aid was introduced to the public.

They apparently were aware that a baby had entered the world who was destined for a singular medical career,

one that might call for use of those little strips from time to time.

On a more personal note, Pat and I have known the President and his family closely for nearly 50 years. One endearing event the Hollands have never forgotten was when our youngest son, David, was baptized in the river Jordan in the Holy Land.

At that precious experience, we needed a photographer to get a photo for the family record.

Well, this Ansel Adams of Judea was, of course, the multi-talented Russell M. Nelson, who not only took a dozen photos for us, but also prepared and delivered a second set to my beloved mother,

whom he knew from far off St. George, Utah.

When I came into the Quorum of the Twleve some two decades later,

my mother wept and hugged me and then told me I was her second favorite Apostle.

I don't have to tell you who was number one.

President Nelson is quite literally the Renaissance man.

In addition to that, photography and his world-renowned career as surgeon and medical scientist.

He's a gifted musician, as was his beloved mother, Edna Anderson Nelson.

Vocally, he carried perfect pitch,

even as a child. Later in life, already a talented pianist,

Russell decided he wanted to play the organ, which he then mastered and has used in Quorum of the Twelve activities for years. To facilitate both his surgical career and his Church callings,

he has mastered basic skills in 17 languages, including English and including Chinese.

Crowning all of that in his foreordained rise to service as the Lord’s senior Apostle are his personal spiritual qualities.

In his effort to hasten the work, he's been the Lord's mouthpiece in receiving and implementing

a veritable rush of revelation, as I once called it.

He is unfailingly kind and composed, gentle and forgiving.

Above all, he has embraced and personifies the counsel Paul gave to the Corinthians, “Do ye not know that they which minister holy things should live the things of the temple?”

President Nelson, in the spirit of the hundreds of temples you have announced, drafted, remodeled, completed, or dedicated, we celebrate the sweet, robust,

history-making 100 years of your life.

We have come to say we love you and we say it in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.