“Elder D. Todd Christofferson Of the Seventy,” Ensign, May 1993, 99
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Of the Seventy
Todd Christofferson was fifteen years old when his family moved to New Jersey. Born on 24 January 1945 and raised in Pleasant Grove and Lindon, Utah, Todd found experiences and people in his new East Coast location that created some favorite memories.
“It was during that time that my faith matured into a full-blown testimony,” recalls Elder Christofferson, one of the newly called members of the First Quorum of the Seventy. “I grew up with faith among family and friends and others who influenced my life; I don’t recall a time when I didn’t have that belief that the gospel was true. But in New Jersey I became conscious of knowing that it was true and that it mattered.”
It mattered enough that he served a mission (in Argentina) and resolved ever after to do his best as a member of the Church. He married Katherine Jacob in the Salt Lake Temple on 28 May 1968, and the couple have five children. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a law degree from Duke University and then began working in his field. The family lived in the Washington, D.C. area; Nashville, Tennessee; Herndon, Virginia; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Elder Christofferson served as a regional representative, stake president, bishop, and stake mission president. Through the years Elder Christofferson found that the most significant thing he learned is how to pray effectively.
“It is through prayer that you can learn to maintain perspective and to build stability into your life. You find help through the one source that can truly offer it,” he explains.
Elder Christofferson offers two suggestions for effective prayer: gratitude and solitude. “One of the things that puts us in tune with the Spirit is prayer that is extensive in expressing gratitude for specific blessings,” he observes.
“Beyond that, I think a person needs to find occasions when he or she has unlimited time alone, without fear of interruption, to talk with the Lord. Those hours offer priceless opportunities to grow close to the Lord.”