Russell M. Nelson has become the first prophet-president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to reach 100 years old.
To mark the faith leader’s momentous birthday Monday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox issued a proclamation, declaring Sept. 9, 2024, “President Russell M. Nelson Day,” to honor the church president’s “dedication to kindness, love and welcoming spirit.”
The governor and his wife, Abby, presented the proclamation to Nelson in person on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, according to a church news release. Others present included apostle Gerrit W. Gong; general authority Seventy Matthew S. Holland; Mark Woodruff, the president’s personal secretary; and Sheri Dew, executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corp.
In the proclamation, Cox noted some of Nelson’s long list of accomplishments, including: being valedictorian at Salt Lake City’s East High School, receiving undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Utah, serving honorably in the U.S. military and becoming an “internationally renowned surgeon and medical researcher.”
In his church work, the proclamation stated, Nelson has called upon people to “be peacemakers” and to open their hearts “to those whose lives are different from [their] own.”
It also cited the centenarian’s “tireless efforts to build bridges of understanding,” pointing to his receiving the inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize from Morehouse College, a historically Black school in Atlanta.
Later Monday, the worldwide church of 17.2 million members will salute Nelson with a special birthday broadcast at 4 p.m. MDT.
The 75-minute show — which will be livestreamed at Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and the church’s YouTube channel — will “celebrate the life and teachings of this latter-day prophet whose life and ministry,” according to a church news release, “continually exemplify God’s love for each of his children.”
