- Joseph B. Wirthlin
LDSApostleshipinfo
English name =Joseph B. Wirthlin
birth_name=Joseph Bitner Wirthlin
birth_date=birth date and age|1917|06|11
birthplace=Salt Lake City ,Utah
death_date=
deathplace=
president_who_called=Ezra Taft Benson
apostledate=death date and age|1986|10|09|1917|06|11
ordination_reason=Death ofSpencer W. Kimball and reorganization of First Presidency
end_date=
end_reason=
reorganization=Joseph Bitner Wirthlin (born
June 11 ,1917 ) is an American businessman and religious leader and is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was sustained to the Quorum onOctober 4 ,1986 , and ordained an apostle onOctober 9 ,1986 byThomas S. Monson , following the death of Church PresidentSpencer W. Kimball . As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Wirthlin is accepted by the church membership as aprophet, seer, and revelator .Born in
Salt Lake City ,Utah , Wirthlin is the son ofJoseph L. Wirthlin , who was also an LDS Churchgeneral authority . He is a half-first cousin of late Church PresidentGordon B. Hinckley ; the two cousins attended the same LDS Church congregation as children. Wirthlin playedAmerican football as arunning back for theUniversity of Utah .As a young man, Wirthlin earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the
Boy Scouts of America . As a standout high schoolquarterback , Wirthlin was offered a football scholarship at the University of Utah, but deferred it and served as a missionary inGermany ,Austria , andSwitzerland from 1936 to 1939, returning to Utah just before the outbreak ofWorld War II . He played halfback for Utah following his mission. Before his call as ageneral authority , Wirthlin was a prominent business leader inSalt Lake City . He was also president of a trade association in Utah.For over nine years (
May 25 ,1955 –June 7 ,1964 ) Wirthlin was the bishop of the Bonneville Ward in Salt Lake City. The same day he was released as bishop he was called to serve in the stake high council, being set apart byJoseph Fielding Smith . OnDecember 6 ,1964 , Wirthlin was set apart byLeGrand Richards as second counselor toRussell M. Nelson in the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake Presidency; Wirthlin was Nelson's counselor until Nelson's release in June 1971. Wirthlin's call to the Quorum of the Twelve came very shortly after his call to serve in the presidency of the seventy. Wirthlin became ageneral authority of the church in 1975, when he was called to serve as anAssistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles . He was the last individual called as an Assistant to the Twelve before the position was discontinued in 1976. With the death of Hinckley in 2008, Wirthlin became the oldest living apostle.Wirthlin married Elisa Young Rogers on
May 26 ,1941 , in theSalt Lake Temple . She died in August 2006 of causes incident to age.ee also
*
Council on the Disposition of the Tithes References
* [http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=aa83790fbf69f010VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD LDS Church biography]
*cite book
author=Searle, Don L.
year=December 1986
title= [http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/elder%20joseph%20b.%20wirthlin%20finding%20happiness%20serving%20the%20lord.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0 Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: Finding Happiness Serving the Lord]
publisher="Ensign"
pages=p. 8–9External links
* [http://www.gapages.com/wirthjb1.htm Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Joseph B. Wirthlin]
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