Russell M. Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of the last days, died on Saturday at the age of 101 in Salt Lake City, Utah, said the church.
Dr. Nelson was the oldest employee of the church and was revered as a Prophet. He was attributed to the leading broad changes in politics in the last decade of his life.
“His time as a prophet will forever be remembered as one of the global ministry, increased construction of the temple and deep changes,” the church said.
Dollin X Oux, who is expected to become the next president of the church, recalled Dr. Nelson as a man with an “extraordinary modesty for a person of his great achievements.”
“He is just the most gentleman and the sweetest person with whom you were hoping to connect. And they will always remember him like that, ”said Ouks in his statement.
US President Donald Trump also expressed respect to Dr. Nelson, writing about the truth, that he was “sharp and engaged in service to the end.”
“Russell had a wonderful life, innovative methods of saving heart surgery and, of course, his service for many decades,” Trump wrote. “He was a doctor, literally and spiritually, and will really miss!”
Dr. Nelson, who was a trained surgeon, was called the Apostle of the Church in 1984 and became his president in 2018. He visited 32 countries and territories of the United States and declared 200 new temples, the church said.
In 2019, the church took an unexpected step under the wheel of Dr. Nelson, promising to cancel the series of a politician against the LGBT, represented in 2015, which, as reported, led to the fact that 1,500 people left the church in protest.
It said that he will no longer forbid children to be baptized by the children of the same -sex parents, and will no longer consider same -sex marriages as a crime worthy of exile.
Under the leadership of Dr. Nelson, the Church also broke its long -standing connections with America’s boyiskauts in favor of developing its own youth programs and conducted a campaign for eradicating the nickname, such as Mormon, to name faith.
The term, however, is still used in the name of the scripture of faith, the book of Mormon.
Before he became president, Dr. Nelson was part of the team that developed a machine to support an open heart. At the age of 31, he became the first person who completed the procedure in Utah.
He died less than a month after his 101st birthday, and his wife Wendy and eight of his 10 children survived him.
