Five Utah Natives Among the Current Twelve
With the addition of a third California native to the Quorum of the Twelve following the death of Jeff Holland, there are now five members of that quorum who were born in Utah. Looking at how that parameter has varied over the decades, the first native Utahn called to the Twelve was Heber J. Grant in 1882. A year before that Orson Pratt died, the last remaining of the Twelve called in 1835 with Thomas B. Marsh, Brigham Young, et al. The first time there were five Utah natives in the Quorum was 1898: HJ Grant, JW Taylor, MF Cowley, AO Woodruff, and R Clawson. Ten is the most there ever was, off and on between 1917 and 1931, and from 2015 to 2018. The number of Utahns in the Quorum of the Twelve dipped to a low of five in 1951. At that time there were four born in Idaho (AE Bowen, HB Lee, ET Benson, M Cowley), one from Norway (Widtsoe) one from Mesa (Stapley), and the newly called native of Colonia Juarez, Marion G. Romney.
Seven natives of Idaho have been among the Twelve, as many as four at any one time. From 1937 through 1945 four of out the seven new apostles called in that span were Idaho natives. The last Idaho-born apostle, Richard G. Scott, died in 2015. The only natives of California ever called to the Twelve are all currently alive and serving.
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Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
G.
February 14, 2026
Elder Gilbert has attracted a lot of angst among the progressive types but it is not clear to me why
My best guesses are
1) he’s CES and elder packer was also CES so it’s guilt by association
or
2) the gay dating thing at BYU
E. C.
February 14, 2026
@G,
It’s my understanding that he was one of those who put a stop to some educational shenanigans at BYU as the Commissioner of Education; basically, not allowing teachers to openly advocate for various things contrary to Church doctrine.
Whatever the case, every person in the Church ought to get their own revelation about the calling of a new Apostle!
Eric
February 16, 2026
Elder Gilbert’s efforts to root out the apostate faculty at BYU seems to be the main reason for the controversy around his calling to the Twelve. I haven’t forgotten when entries on this blog were given the tag of “What’s the matter with BYU?” and many of those entries preceded Elder Gilbert’s appointment as commissioner of Church education.
I knew nothing about Elder Gilbert before the announcement of his ordination was made. Then I saw a Salt Lake Tribune headline calling him “controversial” and I instantly knew I would like him very much. If the Tribune has a problem with him, that’s a ringing endorsement for me!
He and his wife also have eight children, which to me is another signal of what the Lord wants the Church to work on in this time of diminishing birthrates.