Early Life
What year and where was President Nelson born?
September 9th, 1924 in Salt Lake City, UT
If you were one of President Nelson’s family members, you could expect to receive a card from him on what special occasions?
Your birthday and your wedding anniversary.
What was President Nelson’s profession?
World-renowned heart surgeon and medical researcher.
What year did President Nelson become the Prophet of the church?
January 14, 2018.
What are some of President Nelson’s favorite hobbies and pass times?
-He’s an avid photographer
-He enjoys skiing
-Loves music. He can play the piano, organ and bugle.
-Gardening
-Fishing
-Puzzles
What grade did President Nelson skip?
5th grade. He was known to be very smart and academically advanced, which allowed him to skip the 5th grade and later earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees in the same year at age 22.
How many children does President Nelson have?
How many grandchildren?
Great grandchildren?
Great great grandchildren?
9 daughters and 1 son.
57 grandchildren
167 great grandchildren
1 great great grandchild
What schools did President Nelson earn his degrees (MD & PHD) from?
He earned his M.D. from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
When was President Nelson called to the Quorum of the 12 apostles?
President Russell M. Nelson was called as an apostle on April 7, 1984. He was sustained and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on that date, at age 59.
What is President Nelson’s favorite color?
He loves them all!
How old was President Nelson when he was baptized?
16 years old. His parents were not active in the Church, but he was inspired by gospel truths and attended Sunday School. (Or sometimes played football instead). He was baptized along with his siblings by a family home teacher, Jonas Ryser, who helped pave the way for the event.
What is the age difference between President Nelson and his wife Wendy?
26 years.
President Nelson operated on how many patients throughout his career?
Nearly 7,000.
How many years has President Nelson served as a general authority?
Over 40 years.
What special music ability does President Nelson have?
Perfect Pitch
How many siblings does President Nelson have?
He is the 2nd of 4. He has an older brother and two younger sisters.
What year did President Nelson marry his wife Dantzel?
President Russell M. Nelson married his first wife, Dantzel White, on August 31, 1945, in the Salt Lake Temple. They met while attending the University of Utah while cast members in a musical.
In the 1940s President Nelson worked to develop what machine/medical? And what animal operated on?
Heart-lung machine (1951) several dogs were operated on.
How many temples has President Nelson announced?
President Nelson has announced a total of 185 temples as of April 2025
*He has dedicated 25 temples
President Nelson collects what two items?
Stamps and coins.
How did President Nelson first learn about the Church?
He wandered into a Desert Book store and asked for more books to learn about the church. (age 4 or 9-10)
President Nelson would curl his daughters’ hair and get them ready for church. Why did he do this?
So his wife, Dantzel could sing in the Tabernacle Choir.
President Nelson served as president of what medical society?
Society for Vascular Surgery.
What major world wide change to the church did President Nelson introduce on October 6th, 2018?
He introduced a new worldwide two-hour Church schedule and new resources for daily at-home gospel study, creating a more “home-centered, Church-supported” model of gospel learning.
How many languages does President Nelson speak? Can you name some?
12 languages; French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Czech, and Romanian