Elder Keith K. Hilbig

Of the Seventy

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“I’m very much a believer in President J. Reuben Clark’s statement that in the Church one neither seeks nor declines a position, and it matters not where one serves but how,” says Elder Keith K. Hilbig, recently called to the Second Quorum of the Seventy. “That holds true with every opportunity to serve in the Church.”

Elder Hilbig’s feelings about Church service began their development in his childhood. He was born on 13 March 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Karl and Mildred Hilbig. The example that his parents and other members set in accepting callings was a key factor in his spiritual development. Watching them serve, he recalls, shaped his attitude toward the Church and spiritual things.

Elder Hilbig served as a full-time missionary in the Central German Mission, then went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Duke University. After working as a trial attorney in Los Angeles, he established his own firm, then in April 1998 became International Legal Counsel for the Church. In that capacity he presently works with the Europe West and Europe Central Areas.

He married Susan Rae Logie in the Salt Lake Temple on 1 June 1967. They are the parents of six children and the grandparents of eight. Of his wife’s influence, Elder Hilbig comments: “She has been a wonderful example to me in gospel study and application. I watch her and learn.”

Prior to his call to the Second Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Hilbig was called in 1995 to be an Area Authority and in 1997 to be an Area Authority Seventy. He has also served as Gospel Doctrine teacher, Young Men president, elders quorum president, bishop, stake president, and president of the Switzerland Zurich Mission.

“I have a testimony of the divinity of the Savior and am increasingly awed by the Restoration and the work that is being accomplished through the Spirit today,” Elder Hilbig observes. “It is wonderful to look back on how much has been accomplished and to look forward and contemplate how much yet will occur. These are wonderful times in which to live and to contribute.”