Elder Sean Douglas

General Authority Seventy

As a young missionary serving in the Chile Concepción Mission, Sean Douglas began his service in the rural backcountry. His “wonderful first Chilean companion and trainer spoke Spanish at lighting speed.” After three months in the South American country, Elder Douglas still struggled with Spanish.

Discouragement and homesickness plunged him into doubt and drove him to his knees. “I am not doing any good,” he prayed. “I do not seem to be impacting anyone.”

His heart filled with a burning question from above: “Are you here for Me, or are you here for you?”

At this moment he resolved with God to forget himself and keep trying. “That very night I dreamt in Spanish,” he said.

The following day everything was easier. “I could speak a little better. I could understand a little more,” he said. “The mission catalyzed my testimony of the power of prayer and that when you go and do what the Lord commands, He always provides a way for you.”

That philosophy has guided the rest of his life.

Sean Douglas was born on May 1, 1964, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Barbara and Leo Douglas. Raised on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley, he married Patricia Ann Dickson—his high school sweetheart—in the Salt Lake Temple in June 1985. They have four children.

Elder Douglas graduated in accounting from the University of Utah and worked as an auditor before spending three decades with Huntsman Corporation, ultimately serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

His faith and trust in the Lord, cemented during his youth and mission, guided him during career moves to England, where he served as a young bishop, and Houston, Texas, USA. He served as president of the Peru Lima South Mission from 2012 to 2015. Elder Douglas was serving as an Area Seventy prior to his recent calling.