Michelle D. Craig

First Counselor, Young Women General Presidency

When she was 16 years old, Sister Michelle D. Craig learned that her family would be moving from Provo, Utah, USA, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, so her father could begin an assignment to serve as a mission president.

She was happy to be with her family, but the move left young Michelle “lonely socially” during her junior and senior years of high school.

“Those were really formative years,” Sister Craig said. “Instead of relying on friends, I relied on my family and my testimony, and church became a lifeline.” She valued most her relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior.

Michelle Daines Craig was born on July 13, 1963, in Provo, Utah, and is the oldest of seven children born to Janet Lundgren and Robert Henry Daines III. She lived in Provo until her family moved to Pennsylvania. Two years later, Sister Craig returned to Provo to attend Brigham Young University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. In 1984 she accepted a call to serve in the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo Mission.

“I have always been a believer,” said Sister Craig, who was sustained as First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency on March 31, 2018. “From a young age, I knew that I was a daughter of God. But I remember [on my mission] that every time I bore testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, I would feel the Spirit. I had a beautiful confirmation that solidified my testimony.”

Just days after her return, Sister Craig’s brother told her she needed to go on a date with Boyd Craig, a friend from his mission. Eight months later the couple was engaged. They married on December 19, 1986, in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of three children, and they have six grandchildren.

She has served in many callings, including as a temple ordinance worker in the Provo Utah Temple and as a Gospel Doctrine teacher. At the time of her call to the Young Women General Presidency, she was serving on the Primary general board.