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By Sarah Jane Weaver and Sydney Walker, Church News
During the Saturday afternoon session of the 191st Annual General Conference on April 3, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, announced the call of eight General Authority Seventies and a new Primary general presidency.
Brief biographies about each member of the new Primary general presidency are included below.
Sister Camille N. Johnson, Primary General President
Camille-N.-Johnson
Sister Camille N. Johnson, Primary general president2021 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Camille Neddo Johnson has spent her life studying words, crafting them, and using them to help people solve problems during her more than 30-year career as a lawyer. And she has always found great peace in the words of the scriptures. She counts scriptural figures among her fondest friends.
Still, when she and her husband moved to South America to lead the Peru Arequipa Mission from 2016 to 2019—she longed for words. Having never studied Spanish, she prayed for the ability to communicate with her missionaries and the people so they would feel her love for them and her testimony of the Book of Mormon.
“I trusted in the Lord and relied upon the Spirit to communicate my love and testimony when words failed me. What a sweet and poignant lesson I learned to ‘lean not unto [my] own understanding’ (Proverbs 3:5) but to give it all over to my Savior.”
Along the way she relearned the simple truth of the gospel: “It is about loving the Savior, loving like the Savior, and letting the love and Atonement of Jesus Christ work in our lives.”
Sister Johnson was blessed with love for the mission’s 552 missionaries and now feels her heart expand to love the one million children for whom she has stewardship.
“I relish this opportunity to learn from the children who are a reflection of the pure love of Jesus Christ,” she said.
Camille Neddo was born September 12, 1963, to Hal and Dorothy Neddo in Pocatello, Idaho. She married Douglas R. Johnson on July 31, 1987, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three children. She graduated from the University of Utah in English in 1985 and from the University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law in 1989.
Sister Johnson has served as ward Young Women president, in ward Relief Society and Primary presidencies, and as gospel doctrine instructor.
Sister Susan H. Porter, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency
Susan-H-Porter
Sister Susan H. Porter, first counselor in the Primary general presidency2021 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.After losing her husband, Elder Bruce D. Porter, a General Authority Seventy, to a pulmonary infection in December 2016, Sister Susan Porter found herself alone at their home in Bountiful, Utah.
For the nearly two years prior to his passing, she traveled and served alongside him as he served as president of the Europe East Area.
As a new widow, she prayed for guidance. One day she saw a painting of the Savior talking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (see John 4:6–26). She felt the Spirit’s prompting to likewise “sit at the feet of the Savior and learn, and He will teach you.”
Sister Porter strived to draw closer to the Savior, and the Holy Ghost comforted her and led her forward.
“I know I was carried,” she said. “I had strength and peace beyond my own.”
As Primary children around the world face adversity, Sister Porter wants them to know that God loves them.
“If Jesus were with them now, He would take them one by one and bless them and pray for them, just as He did for the Nephite children long ago [see 3 Nephi 17:21]. I hope each child will pray for His help and ask to see His loving hand in their own life.”
Susan Holland was born in July 31, 1955, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, to Hans J. and Charlene Coleman Holland. Sister Porter graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She has worked as a lab assistant and math teacher.
She married Elder Porter on February 2, 1977, in the Washington D. C. Temple. They have four children.
Sister Porter has served on the Relief Society general advisory council since 2017. Her previous callings include counselor in a stake Relief Society presidency, ward Relief Society and Young Women president, Gospel Doctrine teacher and Primary music leader.
Sister Amy Wright
Amy-Wright
Sister Amy Wright, second counselor in the Primary general presidency2021 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Five years ago, Sister Amy Wright was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. The only way her family made it through her aggressive treatments, she said, was by focusing on the Savior, Jesus Christ.
“When it was all about me, the world became a really dark place,” she recalled. “But when my focus turned outward, when I would strive to serve others and walk the way Christ walked, there was light and joy, even during the greatest pain and suffering.”
Sister Wright described her battle with cancer as a “polishing and refining experience”—one that was “uniquely tailored” to help her come to know the Savior in a deeply personal way. It also taught her that additional strength comes in seeking to learn and understand others’ diverse challenges.
“We all serve in different parts of the Lord’s vineyard at different times in our life. But it’s the same vineyard with the same Master,” she said.
“Our hope is also the same, which is eternal life and exaltation. That’s what we desire for all of these precious little children, that the Savior will be part of their journey, and that they will return home to Him.”
Amy Eileen Wright was born January 6, 1972, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Robert and Joy Anderson. She married James McConkie Wright on June 24, 1994, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three children.
Sister Wright graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from the University of Utah in 1998. She has worked as a reading tutor and office manager and was a Parent Teacher Association volunteer. Recently she assisted with marketing and advertising for a dental office.
Sister Wright has served on the Young Women general advisory council since 2018. Previous callings include stake and ward Primary president, counselor in a ward Primary presidency, Gospel Doctrine teacher, and Cub Scout leader.