Elder C. Scott Grow

Of the Seventy

Elder Cecil Scott Grow of the First Quorum of the Seventy says his testimony began to blossom as a seven-year-old in Sunday School. While singing “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” (Hymns, no. 26), he received a witness that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

Since that time Elder Grow’s understanding of gospel doctrine has flourished, strengthening his testimony and giving him a firm foundation. “I have never had any doubt that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer,” Elder Grow says.

Elder Grow and his wife, Rhonda Lee Patten Grow, were married on October 10, 1969, in the Salt Lake Temple. Although they were both raised in the city, the couple followed advice given to them by Elder L. Aldin Porter (then a regional representative). They built a home on a five-acre (two-ha) property where they could raise horses, cows, chickens, and sheep in order to help their children cultivate an appreciation for work.

Later, Elder and Sister Grow moved with their eight children to Uruguay, where Elder Grow served as president of the Uruguay Montevideo Mission.

“He has been given the gifts of optimism and enthusiasm,” Sister Grow says. “He is warm and loving with people, and people respond to that.”

Elder Grow was born to Cecil Wood Grow and Elsie May Lee Grow on May 5, 1948, in Moscow, Idaho. He was raised in Boise, Idaho, and resided in Meridian, Idaho. He graduated from Brigham Young University in accounting and worked with major accounting and business consulting firms before establishing his own accounting partnership. Before his recent call to full-time Church service, Elder Grow served as an Area Seventy and as President of the Idaho Area. He also served as counselor in the North America Northwest Area Presidency, stake president, counselor in two stake presidencies, mission president, high councilor, stake Young Men president, bishop’s counselor, and full-time missionary in the Southeast Mexico Mission.