A Tribute to Russell M. Nelson

In this special mini episode, we share a heartfelt tribute to President Russell M. Nelson following his recent passing. We reflect on his remarkable life—his pioneering medical career, his humble service as an apostle, and his inspiring example as a prophet of God.

We also revisit an interview he gave shortly after being called as an apostle, where he spoke about the guiding principles that shaped both his medical and spiritual journeys.

Transcript

A Tribute to Russell M. Nelson - October 3, 2025

Clare Craner Welcome to sisters Latter-Day voices. I'm Claire.

Candice Buchanan And I'm Candice. And today in our mini episode, we are going to do a little

tribute to President Russell M Nelson, who passed away recently. a lot of our recent episodes

focus on him, and I'm really glad that we did those because he was a great man and a great

prophet, and we love and respect him. we are going to share a few highlights from his life, and

then review an interview he did right after being called as a general authority. just some fun

facts about him. He was born in nineteen twenty four and lived through basically a hundred

years of a lot of advancements. There were several wars and technological advancements. He

lived through the Great Depression, World War Two, the Cold War, Vietnam, many others.

There were radical changes made in society during his lifetime the evolution of commercial

flight and the automobile. Television. The internet. Social media. Three weeks after he was

born, the first general conference was broadcast by radio, and he was ninety three years old

when he became prophet. And unlike most people his age, he used social media brilliantly. He

was such a smart man that he seemed to adapt to change very quickly.

Clare Craner before you keep going, I'll

Candice Buchanan Uh huh.

Clare Craner add, when I heard about his passing and then right after his passing the next

day was the shooting, I was like, okay, I don't want to just flood my Instagram or think of what

things everyone is doing wrong. And so I'm like, okay, what can I do right now to be happy or

make me feel the spirit or just be in a better place? And so I was like, okay, I'm going to go

through and start reading all of President Nelson's talks. And so I started when he became an

apostle in the general authority. I started and it was in nineteen eighty four, so it was the year I

was born. And it's pretty cool because I've only read probably the first eight. So I have I

counted and there was like over one hundred. So I have a ways to go. It's only been like two

days. But the cool thing is how inspired these men are especially for their time. And after you

read that, like through the wars they're going through, I think it's cool to know what's going on

at that time, because in nineteen eighty four, I didn't know what was going on. I mean, I was

born that year, so it's cool to listen to these conference talks and be like, oh, wow, I bet this is

what was happening Or are you really focused on a certain thing? But I just feel that now all of

his talks are definitely what we need to hear for this day. And that just made me think how

inspired these men are. And they're definitely called from above.

Candice Buchanan Yeah.

Clare Craner but keep going. I just thought it was something fun to do.

Candice Buchanan No. That's great. I should do that too. So, he was at the forefront of

advances in heart surgery when he was in medical school. The textbook actually taught that no

one should ever attempt heart surgery. And if they did, they should lose the respect of their

colleagues. And he was later on, a research team developing a heart lung machine, which wasrevolutionary. He performed the first open heart surgery west of the Mississippi. It was the first

done in Utah. He was incredibly smart. He studied seventeen different languages, including

English. He wrote that in his book. He had a BA, an MD, and a PhD. I didn't know that he had

a PhD as well, He had a thirty five year career as a doctor. He was called to be in the quorum

of the Twelve Apostles at the age of fifty nine, and he was ninety three when he was called to

be a prophet. So he's been serving for a long time.

Clare Craner And

Candice Buchanan Um.

Clare Craner that's that also. That makes me think of, uh, the podcast that we did a couple

weeks ago where you're never too old to keep having,

Candice Buchanan Mhm.

Clare Craner like, to be important and be needed.

Candice Buchanan Yeah.

Clare Craner And he was called at fifty nine. And that makes me think, okay, like, I know I'm in

my forties, but I have a lot left in me.

Candice Buchanan I have a lot more to give.

Clare Craner Yeah,

Candice Buchanan I can improve.

Clare Craner it's

Candice Buchanan I'll

Clare Craner not

Candice Buchanan never

Clare Craner too

Candice Buchanan know

Clare Craner late.

Candice Buchanan seventy languages, but I'll study something.

Clare Craner Yeah, I can barely speak English, so we'll

Candice Buchanan You

Clare Craner start

Candice Buchanan knowClare Craner with that.

Candice Buchanan working on English and stop saying like so much. Um, so I found this

interview of Russell M. Nelson and it's a KSL TV interview from nineteen eighty four. it was

done right after he was called to be an apostle. And I really liked it because he's speaking in a

time of transition. And and that's what we're in right now. He was leaving behind his life as a

physician and starting his ministry as an apostle. Right now we're getting ready for the new

prophet, Dallin H. Oaks. he spoke about in the interview. He spoke about his time as a doctor

and he said, quote, someone once asked me how I have the faith to stop a heart every day.

And the answer is that it's faith in our creator and in his divinely created laws that operate for

all of us. If it weren't for that, then I would not have faith. I would have fear And there wouldn't

be the reproducibility we can get by obeying the law unquote. I love this because it gives me

comfort to know that God is a God of order. There are divine laws and blessings attached to

the obedience of those laws, and blessings and protections come from obeying the

commandments and staying true to covenants. And that is never going to change. And it's nice

to know that there are irrefutable truths. and I think it's comforting to know those truths. so

President Nelson went on in that interview to explain the driving force behind his success and

his quest for truth and a desire to serve others. He said, quote, medicine has turned out to be a

wonderful marriage. Of those two predispositions in my life. One, a desire for the truth and the

other is a desire to serve. Medicine and surgery in particular is a very demanding discipline. In

other words, there is no capitulation on what's really true and the opportunities to serve are

infinite. I couldn't possibly do what I've done if I didn't see that the two were absolutely

synergistic. If I felt at any moment that there was any competition or a choice that had to be

made between the discipline and the truth of category one and category two, it wouldn't work.

But to see that they are entirely compatible has made it possible to continue research in the

scriptures and in the research laboratory, knowing that they all fit together like fingers in a

glove. End quote. And I like that too, because Everything we learn educationally can help us

spiritually too, and vice versa. Like we're just learning more. Like the more education we get,

we're understanding more about God's creations and about those truths.

Clare Craner Yeah. And sometimes I feel like for people who are struggling with a certain topic

or just a part of something that maybe right now they're basing something on faith, but they

believe in everything else. But maybe there's just one thing that they're like, okay, I believe it.

But this part I'm choosing faith right now. Sometimes on hard topics, I look at these incredibly

brilliant people in the church like President Nelson, who is a genius. I mean, a doctor,

incredibly well educated and has the spirit so strongly in his life. And I think, okay, well, if he

believes, then I can also have the belief and faith right now to help carry me. And

Candice Buchanan Yeah.

Clare Craner I don't know, maybe that sounds stupid, but to me I feel like it helps.

Candice Buchanan I think that's fine. I think it's fine at moments like that to have a borrowed

testimony until you feel stronger in other areas. He had this one quote that I really liked from

the interview, and it just shows how humble he was because he was a world renowned

surgeon, and he was talking about stepping away from his medical career and going to be anapostle. And he said, quote, we need to recognize that there is no one indispensable in this

life. You'd like to think that you're a value, but never is it indispensable. There's always

somebody who will be prepared to take over. End quote. He was talking about how he isn't

indispensable in the medical profession, but it applies now as he's moving on to the next life

and Elder Dallin H. Oaks will become the next prophet. I love the humility in that statement. He

could have been very puffed up about his accomplishments and the importance of his

contributions in the medical field as a heart surgeon, but he happily set aside his career to

focus on being an apostle. I'm on

Clare Craner Impossible.

Candice Buchanan being on being an apostle. And

Clare Craner And

Candice Buchanan he said

Clare Craner it

Candice Buchanan that?

Clare Craner just shows what he truly values.

Candice Buchanan Yeah. I mean, he seemed completely at peace with the interview, and he

said that

Clare Craner Mhm.

Candice Buchanan the calling was a surprise to him. He said, quote, when the word reached

me that the prophets of God on the earth had received the inspiration, that this was where I

was to serve the rest of my life, the decision had been made. I just had to catch my breath and

recoil from the surprise and then just answer, well, my faith is strong, if that's what I'm to do,

then I'll do it. End quote. And so you just went on to the next calling happily. And I think for a lot

of people that could have been a very hard position to walk away from.

Clare Craner Yeah. And I also think it shows it's not like these people are, are gunning for this

job?

Candice Buchanan Yeah, I would think it would be a daunting calling for sure,

Clare Craner Yeah,

Candice Buchanan but.

Clare Craner I would think the

Candice Buchanan Yeah.

Clare Craner opposite, but they take it on.Candice Buchanan Yeah. In the interview, he exuded peace. and it could be difficult for me

anyway, not knowing what is around the corner. Like, I wish I knew what life would throw at

me, but I think

Clare Craner Oh,

Candice Buchanan this

Clare Craner that

Candice Buchanan story,

Clare Craner would be great.

Candice Buchanan it would be fantastic. I think this story is an example of peace that comes

from trusting God and knowing that if you're connected to him, he won't leave you alone and

he will help you with whatever you're facing. and that's all I have. Unless you want to add

anything.

Clare Craner I don't think so. My comments

Candice Buchanan Okay.

Clare Craner are always off centered and like need

Candice Buchanan No,

Clare Craner to just

Candice Buchanan I

Clare Craner be

Candice Buchanan think

Clare Craner deleted.

Candice Buchanan I think you have. Great. I loved all your comments. I think it was great.

Okay, so with that, we are looking forward to conference this weekend and looking forward to

hearing from our new prophet, Dallin H. Oaks. And, we hope you know God loves you.