By Jared Jones
Elder Russell M. Nelson, the Devotional speaker Tuesday Dec. 10, understands the importance of living a life of service.
'You''re only happy in life if you''re rendering service,' said Elder Nelson in a Church News article. 'Whether I''m a surgeon or an apostle, all I need to know is that I''m doing what the Lord wants me to do. If I know that, what kind of title I have, doctor or Elder, really doesn''t matter.'
Elder Nelson was born Sept. 9, 1924 in Salt Lake City, Utah where he learned to search, love and appreciate truth.
'I''ve always wanted to know what truth is,' said Elder Nelson in a 1984 Church News article. 'That''s why I gravitated toward the exact sciences-math, chemistry and physics.'
Elder Nelson studied at the University of Utah where he graduated with his M.D. at the age of 22.
While studying at the University of Utah, Elder Nelson met his future wife Dantzel White. He was pressured into taking a role in the university''s musical production. When he arrived at the first rehearsal, he heard the voice of a dark-haired soprano.
When he inquired who she was, the director told Elder Nelson that she was the person he would be performing with.
'I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and sensed that she was the one I would marry,' said Elder Nelson in a 1982 Ensign article. They were married three years later on March 31, 1945 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Sister Nelson supported her husband through medical school at the University of Utah by working two jobs. However, money was still tight for them.
'Once we were in debt about $43 above our resources,' said Elder Nelson in a Church News article. 'To meet the debt, I picked her up after school, took her to LDS Hospital where we each sold a pint of blood for $25, then took her to work at the music store.'
After graduating in 1947 with his M.D., Elder Nelson served an internship and residency at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1954.
While studying at the University of Minnesota, Elder Nelson participated in the development of a machine that could take over the functions of a patient''s heart and lungs while the heart was being repaired. The machine was first used in 1951 during the open-heart surgery of a human being.
After receiving his Ph.D., Elder Nelson returned to Utah and in 1955 became the first surgeon to perform open-heart surgery in Utah.
In 1972 Elder Nelson performed heart surgery on Elder Spencer W. Kimball. Before the operation, Elder Nelson received a blessing by President Harold B. Lee.
'I was promised that the operation would be performed without error, that all would go well and that I need not fear for my own inadequacies, for I had been raised by the Lord to perform this operation,' said Elder Nelson in a 1982 Ensign article.
Elder Nelson said he felt like the man he had just operated on would become the president of the Church.
Elder Nelson has served as a stake president, general president of the Sunday School and regional representative. Elder Nelson was called to be an apostle on April 7, 1984 to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles left by the death of LeGrande Richards.
'I know this is going to be a very difficult assignment,' said Elder Nelson in his first General Conference address as an apostle. 'By myself, of course, I can do nothing. But I have the faith that the Lord has called me to do the work, and I''ll do it with his help.'