“Elder David L. Buckner,” Liahona, May 2024.
Elder David L. Buckner
General Authority Seventy
Elder David L. Buckner was born on September 27, 1963, in Ogden, Utah, USA, but “grew up” while he lived for three years in Sacramento, California, USA.
The youngest of Melba and E. LaMar Buckner’s five children, 11-year-old David moved to California with his family when his father was called to preside over the Church’s mission in Sacramento. Away from well-established friends in Utah, he learned how to make new friends and found “300 older brothers and sisters” among the full-time missionaries.
Most important, his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ took root. “That mission experience changed everything for me,” he said.
Later he served in the Ecuador Guayaquil Mission. Just three months into his mission, while serving as branch president in the town of Jipijapa, he mourned with branch members and others after an 11-year-old boy drowned while participating in a Church activity.
As he pleaded with Heavenly Father in the weeks and months that followed, he gained an unshakable testimony of the plan of salvation. He also witnessed the Lord’s compassion as others in the community embraced the gospel. Together they came to understand the sacred nature of life and the power of the Lord’s grace.
After his mission, Elder Buckner attended Brigham Young University, where he met Jennifer Romney Jackson. They married on August 30, 1990, in the Salt Lake Temple. Sister Buckner grew up in New York, USA, where the couple moved after their marriage. They raised their five children in Manhattan, where Elder Buckner represented the Church on the prominent Commission of Religious Leaders.
Elder Buckner received a bachelor of science degree in finance from BYU in 1988 and a master of business administration degree from Durham University in 1991. He also received a master of international relations from BYU in 1995 and a juris doctorate from BYU in 1996. He has been a college professor and, since 1999, president of Bottom Line Training and Consulting Inc. Elder Buckner has served as Area Seventy, stake president, high councilor, and bishop.