The world’s oldest religious leader had a big year.
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints turned 100 in September. Newsweek reported that he was the oldest living leader of a major religion.
Pope Francis turned 88 this month. The Dalai Lama is 89.
President Nelson is closing out his seventh year as the church’s president and prophet. He has had busier years, but not by much. To be fair, he wasn’t a century old then.
“We have never had a prophet have a year like this,” said Richard E. Turley Jr., a Latter-day Saint historian writing an upcoming biography of Joseph Smith. “We’ve never had a modern prophet who has had a 100th year, and therefore it’s unprecedented.”
Most centenarians aren’t leading global organizations, guiding the spiritual lives of 17.2 million people at major international conferences, receiving ambassadors from at least eight nations, dedicating major buildings, chairing the boards of education for four universities and colleges or overseeing $1 billion in humanitarian aid efforts.
“I think you’d be hard pressed to find not just a religious leader but a leader of any kind in the world who’s 100 years old and functioning at that level,” Turley said.
President Nelson is serving his 41st year as an apostle, a calling that came while he was still at the height of a landmark career as a pioneering heart surgeon.
In 2024, President Nelson finished his 100th year and began his 101st. Here’s a quick-read look at what he did.
His 100th birthday set an official world record long before Sept. 9 became “President Russell M. Nelson Day” in Utah by declaration of Gov. Spencer Cox.
On Aug. 3, participants in a young single adult conference set a Guinness World Record for “Most Contributions to a Greeting Card.” The official counting for the record stopped after 31,384 people had written in-person and virtual birthday messages to President Nelson.
His 100th birthday wish, however, had been for others to look outward instead of at him. The record-setting birthday card directed attention to his request in June, when he asked those who wanted to commemorate his birthday to follow Jesus Christ’s teaching about the shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep. He asked them to give a gift of their love to “the one” in their life who they’ve noticed was feeling lost or alone.
In March, the First Presidency led by President Nelson announced the purchase of the historic Kirtland Temple and other historic buildings and artifacts from Community of Christ for $192.5 million.. The temple, finished in 1836, was the first constructed in Latter-day Saint history.
“We are deeply honored to assume the stewardship of these sacred places, documents and artifacts,” he said in a statement. “We thank our friends at Community of Christ for their great care and cooperation in preserving these historical treasures thus far. We are committed to doing the same.”
Later that same month, the First Presidency named Derrick Porter the new voice for “Music & the Spoken Word,” the famed weekly radio and TV program of the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square.
In May, President Nelson supervised the release of the first batch of hymns for the church’s new global hymnbook.
In July, the First Presidency delivered a stunning announcement that Brigham Young University will launch a new medical school.
In October, a month after turning 100, President Nelson became the first Latter-day Saint prophet to give a conference talk in his second century.
He made concessions to his age, sitting in a chair and using a desktop teleprompter in a prerecorded message because, he said, “my eyes are getting older.”
His message was robust.
“The best is yet to come … because the Savior is coming again,” President Nelson said. “The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening his work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.”
He said God had instructed Latter-day Saint leaders to build temples at an unprecedented pace — President Nelson has announced 185 new temples over the past seven years — because temple blessings prepare people for Christ’s second coming.
“Here is my promise to you: Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find him in the temple. You will feel his mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of his gospel,” he said.
He also called his decision to follow Jesus Christ the most important decision in his life. And he urged listeners to rededicate their lives to Christ and devote time each week to understanding his Atonement.
In his April conference talk, President Nelson told Latter-day Saints that the temple is “the gateway to the greatest blessings God has for each of us.”
“My dear brothers and sisters, here is my promise,” he said. “Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshiping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!”
President Nelson made a surprise appearance to rededicate the pioneer-era Manti Utah Temple on April 21. The event had great personal meaning because his mother and father were born in the Sanpete Valley, where the temple can be seen for miles. His four grandparents also lived there after all eight of his great-grandparents were part of one of the earliest settlements in the very center of the state.
“We pray also that this may be a house of peace, a house of comfort and a house of personal revelation …,” he said in the rededicatory prayer.
On Nov. 10, he dedicated the church’s 200th temple. This one was 30 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
“When I contemplate the privilege of dedicating the Deseret Peak Utah Temple … I am filled with awe at all the Lord is doing for his people,” President Nelson said. “When I was born, there were just six operating temples in the church.”
He also noted that the 100th temple was dedicated in 2000.
“Now, just 24 years later, we are dedicating the second 100,” he said. “The Lord is truly hastening his work. I am filled with gratitude for the Lord’s mercy in guiding us to bring temples closer to members of the church throughout the world.”
On Jan. 18 President Nelson hosted Bergdís Ellertsdóttir, Iceland’s ambassador to the United States at church headquarters in Salt Lake City. On Nov. 14 he welcomed Georgi Panayotov, ambassador of Bulgaria to the United States.
In between, he met with the ambassadors to the United States from Australia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. He also received visits from the president of the Navajo Nation, the special envoy to the Middle East for the president of Indonesia and the chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Cuba.
A great pleasure to call on the President & Prophet @NelsonRussellM in Utah at the global HQ for @Ch_JesusChrist. The Church has more than 150,000 members across some 300 Australian congregations, and provides humanitarian aid & community service around the world. pic.twitter.com/4CqRvGAd2I
President Nelson assigned other church leaders to dedicate 15 other new temples during the year. The total of 16 new temples dedicated and opened in a single year is more than any other year in church history except one. In 2000, the church dedicated 34.
President Nelson also announced plans to build an additional 32 temples in the future during the faith’s two international general conferences in 2024.
At the end of the April conference, he announced 15, including the first temples for Scotland and Iowa.
At the October conference, he announced 17, including the first temples for Ireland, Uganda, New Jersey and Wisconsin.
President Nelson will be remembered for temple building. In all, he has announced 185 temples in seven years. When all are built, the church will have 367 temples.
“Most people who reach their 100th year have declined to the point at which they cannot function very well, but he’s been remarkably bright, capable and continuing to function in his role as president of the church, giving great conference messages, announcing new temples, encouraging everyone to draw closer to Christ, including by attending the temple,” said Turley, a former assistant church historian and recorder and retired managing director of the Public Affairs Department.
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