Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt

General Authority Seventy

Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt says “availability” is what he brings to his calling as a newly sustained General Authority Seventy.

“That’s all we have,” he said. “What a broken heart and a contrite spirit mean is that you just put your heart on the altar and allow the Lord to do His will from there.”

Elder Schmitt added, “The Lord can give us the strength, the talents, and the gifts we need to accomplish His work. But if we don’t make ourselves available to Him, then we are self-selecting and not giving Him the opportunity to bless us in our efforts to serve Him.”

Jonathan Stephen Schmitt was born April 16, 1973, in Mesa, Arizona, USA, to Robert Edward and Dianne Lyda Schmitt. He grew up in Yuma, Arizona. On July 21, 1995, he married Alexis Swain Udall in the Mesa Arizona Temple. They are the parents of four children.

Elder Schmitt received a bachelor of science degree in agricultural and resource economics in 1997 and a juris doctor degree in 2000, both from the University of Arizona.

After serving as a law clerk for the Arizona Supreme Court, he worked as an attorney for the international law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Later he worked as attorney and litigation counsel for Baker Hughes Incorporated. In addition, he worked as an assistant vice president at Arizona State University.

Elder Schmitt was serving as an Area Seventy in the North America Southwest Area when he was called as a General Authority Seventy. His previous callings include serving as president of the California San Diego Mission from 2014 to 2017, stake president, bishop, stake presidency counselor, high councilor, elders quorum president, ward executive secretary, counselor in a stake Young Men presidency, high priests group leader, stake missionary preparation teacher, and full-time missionary in the California Fresno Mission.