The last time apostle Dallin H. Oaks saw his longtime friend, President Russell M. Nelson, the latter was largely unable to speak.
Still, the 101-year-old leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a mere two days from death, managed to communicate at least one thing clearly.
“Words were difficult,” Oaks, who at age 93 is next in line to lead the church, said, “but his efforts and his smile conveyed the love he felt for us as his counselors and for each of you in this great work.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Senior apostle Dallin H. Oaks recounts memories of President Russell M. Nelson at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025.
This was the recurring theme throughout Wednesday’s tribute to the oldest man to ever lead the Utah-based global faith of 17.5 million members.
Speakers noted Nelson, who died Saturday night, had a remarkable ability to remember names, intuited the needs of individuals even in vast crowds, pushed through exhaustion to break bread with members and somehow, as a young father of 10 balancing a demanding career as a heart surgeon, found time to comb his daughters’ hair before church each Sunday.
Reflecting on a trip she accompanied Nelson on to Siberia, President Susan Porter, head of the worldwide children’s Primary organization, recalled the then-apostle blessing a gathering of Latter-day Saints with health and healing.
“As Elder Nelson came off the stand, he reached out and shook hands with one person among the hundreds gathered, a gentleman seated in the first row unknown to Elder Nelson,” Porter recalled. “This man had prayed fervently to receive a blessing of healing, as he had suffered with poor health for many years.”
To this day, Porter said she could still remember the member’s “joyful, tear-stained face” as he took Nelson’s outstretched hand.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Primary General President Susan H. Porter recounts memories of President Russell M. Nelson at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025.
He was, according to Oaks, who sat beside Nelson in meetings public and private for more than four decades, a “president and prophet of love.”
This same impulse was visible on the global stage as well, explained Oaks, who was named an apostle in 1984, the same year as Nelson.
Under Nelson, the former Utah Supreme Court justice said, the church’s global humanitarian efforts expanded to include nations with whom the faith previously had “frayed” or “nonexistant” relationships.
Dovetailing from this emphasis on love was Nelson’s focus on peacemaking, which Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé described as just one example of Nelson’s prescient leadership.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé reminisces of his time with President Russell M. Nelson during a tribute broadcast in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025.
“How timely was his instruction to transform our home into a sanctuary of faith just months before the pandemic began,” said Caussé, who oversees the church’s vast real estate, financial, investment and charitable operations. “And how needed was his goal, a few years later, for us to become peacemakers in a world yearning for peace.”
Few expected Nelson to be the dynamo he turned out to be as the church’s 17th president. There was, however, one item left on his to-do list that he did not get to check off.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland recounts memories of President Russell M. Nelson at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025.
According to 84-year-old apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, who approached and left the pulpit with assistance, Nelson had hoped to rededicate the Salt Lake Temple, currently undergoing a yearslong renovation project and set to reopen in 2027.
“But he’ll have a much better view of it all now,” Holland quipped. “And those in charge better do it correctly.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Crews use brand-new pulse laser technology to remove old varnish on the circular stairways in the towers of the Salt Lake Temple on Friday, May 9, 2025. According to apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, Nelson hoped to live to rededicate the historic building.
Closing out the meeting was 92-year-old apostle Henry B. Eyring, who served in the governing First Presidency alongside Oaks and Nelson.
“He had,” said Eyring, who remained seated while speaking, “the ability to make each person feel loved.”
After the faith’s fall General Conference — set for Saturday and Sunday — visitors of all ages can attend a public viewing Monday, Oct. 6, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Marjorie Lowder, daughter of the late Nelson, embraces an attendee at the tribute.
A public funeral is scheduled the next day, Tuesday, Oct. 7, at noon in the Conference Center. Free tickets will be required and will be available online starting Thursday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m.
The Conference Center will open at 10:30 a.m. for the funeral, a news release said, and attendees must be seated by 11:30 a.m.