Called to Serve

“I know that when we are on the Lord’s errand, he will be with us, he will strengthen us, he will build our capacities. I have experienced it. I have felt his lifting Spirit.”

Elder Neil L. Andersen

“Any call, any service, in our Lord’s cause sanctifies us. Whether it is performed in the glare of the public eye or in a quiet corner known only to God is of no consequence. What matters is that we do serve, for by serving we keep our covenants with deity, and in those covenants is the promise of salvation.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

All of us have opportunities to serve, and in serving, to build the kingdom of God. As you fulfill your calling in your own ward or branch, you’re in the company of others doing their best to fulfill their callings, like the five new members of the First Quorum of the Seventy announced during April general conference. They are:

Elder F. Melvin Hammond, 59, who served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy since April 1989, and who before that was a professor of religion at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. He and his wife, Bonnie Sellers Hammond, have six children.

Elder Kenneth Johnson, 52, who served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy since March 1990, and who before that was a partner in an insurance brokerage firm in his native England. He and his wife, Pamela Wilson Johnson, have one son.

Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen, 57, who served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy since March 1990, and who, prior to that calling, was an independent farmer and potato shipper in Idaho. He and his wife, Jeanine Anderson Mickelsen, have nine children.

Elder Neil Linden Andersen, 41, of Tampa, Florida, former owner and president of an advertising agency. He and his wife, Kathy Sue Williams Andersen, have four children.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, 48, of Charlotte, North Carolina, who was associate general counsel for a banking corporation. He and his wife, Katherine Thelma Jacob Christofferson, have five children.