President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Elder Gary E. Stevenson, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will visit New Zealand and Australia this weekend (18-21 May).
They will be accompanied by Elder Carl B. Cook of the Presidency of the Seventy.
The visitors will meet with leaders, missionaries, members and friends of the Church in Wellington and Sydney.
Members of the Pacific Area Presidency of the Church—Elder O. Vincent Haleck, Elder Craig A. Cardon and Elder Ian S. Ardern—will accompany the visiting leaders.
President M. Russell Ballard has served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since October 6, 1985, traveling throughout the world to encourage Church members as a special witness of Jesus Christ. On January 14, 2018, he was sustained and set apart as acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Read more about President Ballard here.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson became an Apostle on October 3, 2015. He was serving as the presiding bishop at the time of his call to the Quorum of the Twelve. In April 2008, he was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy and served as a counselor and later as president in the Asia North Area Presidency. Read more here.
Elder Carl B. Cook was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 2, 2011. He was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on March 31, 2018. At the time of his call to the Presidency of the Seventy, he was assigned to Church headquarters. Elder Cook has also served as president of the Africa Southeast Area. Read more.
Watch or read addresses by President Ballard, Elder Stevenson and Elder Cook.