Back to the BYU Cougars Newsfeed

Nelson makes history with his choice of Mormonism’s first Asian-American and Latin American apostles

On the morning of his first General Conference as the top Mormon “prophet, seer and revelator,” 93-year-old Russell M. Nelson named the faith’s first Asian-American and Latin American apostles.

Then, for an evening encore, he announced a major reorganization of adult male priesthood quorums in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. High priest groups will be dissolved and combined into elders quorums in Mormon congregations around the world.

Nelson chose Gerrit W. Gong, an Asian-American born in California to Chinese converts, and Ulisses Soares, who hails from Brazil, to fill vacancies in the Mormon apostleship left by the deaths of church President Thomas S.