By Suzanne Briggs
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a member of the Council of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will focus his talk on improving prayer at the devotional Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Elder Wirthlin was born June 11, 1917 in Salt Lake City to Joseph Leopold and Madeline Bitner.
'Since early childhood I have never doubted nor had a question as to the divinity of the church,' Elder Wirthlin said in the Nov. 1986 Ensign. 'My faith and testimony have grown ever since.'
As the quarterback on his high school football team, Elder Wirthlin was given the name 'Mr. Touchdown'. He later played halfback on the University of Utah''s football team before he was called on a mission to the German-Austrian and Swiss-Austrian missions from 1937 to 1939.
Upon returning home from his mission, Elder Wirthlin continued his studies at the University of Utah where he graduated with a B.A. in business management in 1941. He married Elisa Young Rogers that same year in the Salt Lake Temple. They have eight children.
Sister Wirthlin was drawn to Elder Wirthlin because he was 'kind and gentle' and, 'I liked his spirituality,' she said in the Dec. 1986 Ensign.
While still a college student, Elder Wirthlin took over Wirthlin''s Inc., his family''s wholesale and retail food business, when his father was called to serve as a second counselor to Bishop LeGrand Richards in 1938. He managed the business until he was called to be an assistant to the Council of the Twelve in 1975.
Elder Wirthlin was called to be first counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency in 1971 and served as Executive Administrator for the Southeast Area of the United States, Caribbean Islands and Brazil.
Elder Wirthlin has always lived as he has taught.
'What people think and believe and plan are all very important, but what they do is the thing that matters most,' said Elder Wirthlin in the Nov. 1980 Ensign.
He was called into the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy to be executive director of the Curriculum Department and editor of Church magazines in August 1986.
When President Kimball called him to be a general authority, his response was, 'I give you my life and my service. I will go where you want me to go, and I will do my best to build up the Kingdom of God here upon the earth.'
On Oct. 4, 1986 he was sustained as a member of the Council of the Twelve.
'My goal is to live as much as possible an exemplary life and to truly walk in the paths of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,' said Elder Wirthlin in the Nov. 1986 Ensign when he was called to be an Apostle.