A Look at the Past 5 Years for Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson and Elder Renlund

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By Megan McKellar, Church News

Elder Ronald A. Rasband

In March 2016, Elder Rasband and his wife, Sister Melanie T. Rasband, visited members of the Church in Nigeria and Ghana, accompanied by members of the Africa West Area Presidency.

Elder Rasband met with missionaries of the Mexico Tampico Mission and conducted a priesthood leadership conference and a special stake conference for the Tampico Mexico Bosque Stake in April 2016.

Prompted by the Spirit, Elder Rasband added a meeting with the members of the Church in western Ecuador, the area hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake two months earlier, to his South American trip itinerary in June 2016. In the meeting, he offered one of his first apostolic blessings since being called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Rasband met with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in a 12-day visit to Central America. He was joined by Sister Rasband; Elder Craig C. Christensen, a General Authority Seventy; and Bishop Dean M. Davies, then the first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric.

A former full-time missionary and then mission president in New York, Elder Rasband participated in the 20th anniversary celebration of the Church in the Harlem, New York, community in October 2017.

Elder Rasband visited Brazil in November 2017 and was joined by his wife and the Brazil Area presidency.

During his visit to the Philippines in March 2018, Elder Rasband addressed Filipino members of the Church in a Facebook live event.

In a historic visit, Elder and Sister Rasband met with members of the Church in Germany, the Netherlands and Cape Verde in April 2018. On two of the Cape Verde islands Elder Rasband visited, it was the first time in history that an Apostle had been there.

Elder Rasband and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles led a virtual tour of the Rome Italy Temple in a video released in March 2019.

Accompanied by Elder Patrick Kearon of the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder and Sister Rasband visited the Church in Eastern Europe in May and June 2019.

During a trip to the Pacific area, Elder and Sister Rasband spent 14 days in three different countries in November 2019, holding conferences and devotionals with members and missionaries. He also met with Dr. Mustafa Farouk, president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, and Tim Macindoe, member of parliament for Hamilton West.

In February 2020, Elder Rasband dedicated the Durban South Africa Temple. Because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and precautions, it is the last temple to date to have been dedicated, and Elder Rasband referenced the dedication during his October 2020 general conference address.

Elder and Sister Rasband addressed young adults in a Face to Face in September 2020 focused on the Restoration of the gospel and the bicentennial proclamation read by President Russell M. Nelson during the April 2020 general conference.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Elder Stevenson and his wife, Sister Lesa Stevenson, visited Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and Macau in February 2016, accompanied by Elder Gerrit W. Gong, a then-member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, as well as members of the Asia Area presidency.

Elder Stevenson participated in the Japan Sapporo Temple dedication in August 2016. He served as a young missionary in the Japan Fukuoka Mission, returned to Japan many times on business, and then served as the president of the Japan Nagoya Mission and as area president of the Church’s Asia North Area.

In September 2016, Elder and Sister Stevenson visited members of the Church in Sierra Leone and other West African countries and called them “vibrant wonderful people.”

During his travels to the South America South Area in January 2017, Elder and Sister Stevenson visited with members, missionaries and priesthood leaders in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

Elder and Sister Stevenson’s visit to the Pacific Area in August 2017 included meetings with members, missionaries and local Church leaders in Vanuatu; Adelaide, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Tahiti, French Polynesia.

Elder and Sister Stevenson visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi, Rwanda, during their visit to Southeast Africa in February 2019. He also presented a donation from the Church to the genocide memorial.

On a visit to Brazil in April 2019, Elder and Sister Stevenson spent nine days visiting with thousands of members and missionaries across the country.

During the BYU Management Society Gala Award Ceremony in May 2019, Elder Stevenson honored the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for the organization’s commitment to advancing equality and justice in society.

As keynote speakers on RootsTech Family Discovery Day in February 2020, Elder and Sister Stevenson offered ideas to help members of the Church invite the Spirit of Elijah into their homes and fortify their families.

Elder Dale G. Renlund

In November 2015, Elder and Sister Renlund traveled on assignment to meet with members of the Church in the Philippines, accompanied by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Richard J. Maynes, then-member of the Presidency of the Seventy.

Elder and Sister Renlund visited members of the Church in the Caribbean and Mexico in January 2016, stopping in the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago, before concluding in Mexico.

Elder Renlund and his wife, Sister Ruth Renlund, participated in RootsTech Family Discovery Day as keynote speakers in February 2016.

A former practicing cardiologist, Elder Renlund spoke to members of Collegium Aesculapium, an organization for Latter-day Saint physicians and health professionals, in September 2016.

At a religious liberties symposium in San José, Costa Rica, in June 2017, Elder and Sister Renlund focused their remarks on the foundational contribution of religion to society.

Elder and Sister Renlund addressed youth in Africa in a Face to Face event held in the Accra Ghana Missionary Training Center in August 2017.

In a historic visit, Elder and Sister Renlund visited members of the Church in Sweden in May 2018. It was the first time a Swedish-speaking Apostle has been to Sweden and spoken in Swedish.

Elder and Sister Renlund traveled on assignment to Asia in May 2018, meeting with members and missionaries in Japan and Korea.

The Church released a set of videos focused on suicide prevention in July 2018. Four of these videos featured Elder Renlund talking about suicide prevention and giving advice to families who have suffered from the effects of suicide.

In September 2018, President Russell M. Nelson and Elder Renlund participated in a Caribbean Area member devotional in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Elder and Sister Renlund spoke to young adults in a worldwide devotional broadcast in Janurary 2019 from the Brigham Young University–Hawaii campus.

Accompanied by Sister Renlund and members of the South America South Area Presidency, Elder Renlund visited members of the Church in remote areas of Chile and Argentina in February 2019.

Elder Renlund dedicated the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple in April 2019.

During his 10-day visit to the Philippines in May 2019 with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and members of the Philippines Area Presidency, Elder and Sister Renlund attended missionary meetings, conferences and devotionals. He also met with Bishop Efraim Tendero, the president of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and Bishop Cesar Vicente P. Punzalan, III, chairman of interfaith relations for the WEA.

Elder Renlund spent 10 days in the Caribbean in February 2020 with Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the Presidency of the Seventy; Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric; the three General Authority Seventies composing the Caribbean Area presidency; and the wives of the General Authorities. Stops included Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and smaller islands where an apostle has never visited the people before, including Dominica, Martinique, and Turks and Caicos.

In an article and accompanying video posted on ChurchofJesusChrist.org in August 2020, Elder Renlund talked about accessing the power of the temple during COVID-19.

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