The First Presidency announced Wednesday, Jan. 17, two changes to the Presidency of the Seventy: Elder Carl B. Cook, a General Authority Seventy who has served in the presidency since 2018, will now serve as the senior president, and Elder Marcus B. Nash, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Missionary Department, has been appointed to the presidency.
The new assignments fill the vacancy created by the call of Elder Patrick Kearon to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in December 2023. Elder Kearon had served as senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy since 2020.
The Presidency of the Seventy oversees the work of the General Authority Seventies and assists the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in its work throughout the world, including traveling to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ; administering missionary, temple, family history, humanitarian and other efforts; meeting with members and missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; organizing Church units; and working and counseling with local Church leaders.
Learn more about Elder Carl B. Cook
Carl B. Cook was born in Ogden, Utah, to Bert E. Cook and Ramona Cook Barker. When Elder Cook was 6 years old, his mother was left to raise him and his four siblings, the youngest just 3 months old.
Watching his mother go to work, go to night school, juggle the demands of raising a family and faithfully fulfill her Church calling had a definite impact on him. Now when he is faced with a challenge or daunting task, he thinks about her example, he said.
Besides teaching him how to mow the lawn, saddle the horses and make home repairs, his mother taught him to “trust the Lord, work hard and serve others” — a lesson he’s applied in many Church callings through the years, including as a bishop, stake president, mission leader and general authority.
After serving a full-time mission to Germany, Elder Cook attended Weber State College, where he obtained a degree in business marketing. While there, he applied principles he learned on his mission to help him find a date.
Asking for a referral from a past mission companion, he set up a date with Lynette Hansen. The two dated for the equivalent of one transfer and were married in 1979 in the Ogden Utah Temple. They have five children.
He graduated from Utah State University with his Master of Business Administration and in 1985 became a partner with the Boyer Co., a real estate development firm in the Western United States, where he worked for 26 years.
He and his wife served as leaders of the New Zealand Auckland Mission from 2005 to 2008 and he became an Area Seventy in the Utah North Area until called as a General Authority Seventy in 2011. In 2014, he was assigned to preside over the Africa Southeast Area. He was named to the Presidency of the Seventy on March 31, 2018.
In many of his addresses as a general authority, Elder Cook has referenced his rural upbringing. In October 2016 general conference, he spoke of his Aunt Dorothy driving the old Dodge truck and “putting it in compound” to help his Uncle Lyman on their farm, which he likened to Church members serving together in ward, branches, quorums and classes.
“Just as gears combine to provide greater power in compound, we have greater power when we join together. As we unite to serve one another, we accomplish much more together than we could on our own.”
In 2017, Elder Cook spoke during a Brigham Young University devotional of putting off the natural man. Drawing from his experiences of transforming his horse Stubby from a wild horse to a trusted companion, Elder Cook encouraged listeners to submit their will to God’s.
Learn more about Elder Marcus B. Nash
Elder Nash has used his skills in diverse ways to serve in the Church. A General Authority Seventy since 2006, he has served in the South America West, South America Northwest, Africa West, North America Northeast and North America Southeast areas. He has also served in the Church History and Correlation departments and as a member of the Boundary and Leadership Change Committee.
At the time of his call to the Presidency of the Seventy, he was serving as the executive director of the Missionary Department. In that role, he oversaw the announcement in November 2023 that the Church is creating 36 new missions, as well as the release of the updated “Preach My Gospel” missionary handbook in June 2023.
In his latest general conference address, in October 2021, he invited Latter-day Saints to share the gospel. “Be you and hold up the light. Pray for heaven’s help and follow spiritual promptings. Share your life normally and naturally; invite another person to come and see, to come and help, and to come and belong. And then rejoice as you and those you love receive the promised blessings,” he said.
Elder Nash was born to Brent and Beverly Bell Nash on March 26, 1957, in Seattle, Washington. While his father was in dental school in Washington, the Nashes met another Latter-day Saint family from Utah, A. Lloyd and Melba Moffat Hatch, who had a daughter named Shelley about the same age as young Elder Nash.
The two grew up as neighbors and friends and began dating after Elder Nash’s full-time mission to the El Salvador San Salvador Mission. They were married on May 29, 1979, in the Salt Lake Temple and are the parents of five children.
Elder Nash graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and earned a law degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. He was a partner in a major Seattle law firm at the time of his call as a general authority.
