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See the latest accommodation LDS Church President Russell Nelson has made to his advancing age

The 98-year-old leader now uses a walker or a wheelchair as he encounters challenges with his balance “from time to time.”

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
A sitting President Russell M. Nelson speaks at General Conference on Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A sitting President Russell M. Nelson speaks at General Conference on Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023.

He leads a global religion of 17 million members. He oversees a worldwide operation worth, as we’ve been hearing so much about recently, billions. And he travels extensively, runs countless meetings, interacts with international leaders and delivers major sermons.

Oh, did we say yet that he’s 98 years old and will turn 99 in September?

Knowing that, perhaps it’s no surprise that Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever prophet-president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has had to make some allowances for his advancing age. Last October, he started sitting on a chair to deliver his highly anticipated and highly viewed General Conference addresses — an allowance, he noted, for those who “age on stage.”

Well, you can add a walker or a wheelchair to those allowances.

“You may have heard a rumor that someone saw me somewhere using a walker or a wheelchair,” Nelson wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “Well, it’s not a rumor.”

On the social media post, the smiling church leader includes a photo of him with a walker and explains that he encounters a “small challenge” with his balance “from time to time.”

“Gratefully, my heart is good,” adds the former renowned cardiac surgeon, “my spirit is strong as are my legs, and my brain still works.”

He closes on an optimistic note, stating that “little challenges with balance should be the least of our worries. Onward and upward!”

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