Russell M Nelson, Latter-day Saints president, dead at 101

Russell M Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, died on Saturday at the age of 101 in Salt Lake City, Utah, said the Church.

Dr. Nelson was the oldest church head of the church and was venerated as a prophet. He has been recognized for the main changes in scanning policy in the last decade of his life.

“His time as a prophet will remain forever memoirs as one of the world ministries, increased construction of the temple and a deep change,” said the Church.

Dallin H oaks, who is expected by many of becoming the next president of the Church, remembered Dr. Nelson as someone with “an extraordinary modesty for a man of his great achievements”.

“He’s just the sweetest and sweetest person you could hope to join. And we will always remember this way,” Oaks said in a statement.

President Donald Trump also paid tribute to Dr. Nelson, writing on Truth Social that he was “clear and engaged in service until the end”.

“Russell had a remarkable life, a pioneer in vital cardiac surgery techniques and, of course, his ministry of many decades,” wrote Trump. “He was a doctor, literally and spiritually, and we will miss a lot!”

Dr. Nelson, who was a trained surgeon, was called church apostle in 1984 and became its president in 2018. He visited 32 American countries and territories and announced 200 new temples, the Church said.

In 2019, the church made a surprise decision under the head of Dr. Nelson by committing to retreat a series of anti-LGBT policies introduced in 2015 which would have led 1,500 people to leave the church in protest.

He said he no longer prohibits the children of the same sex parents to be baptized and no longer treat homosexual marriage as an offense worthy of expulsion.

Under the direction of Dr. Nelson, the church has also broken its long -standing ties with the Boy Scouts of America in favor of the conception of its own youth programs, and campaigned for the eradication of nicknames as “Mormon” to label the faith.

The term, however, is still used in the title of the Faith Scriptures, the book of Mormon.

Before becoming president, Dr. Nelson was part of a team that developed a machine to support open heart surgery. At 31, he became the first person to carry out the UTAH procedure.

He died less than a month after his 101st anniversary and is survived by his wife, Wendy, and eight of his 10 children.