This biographical sketch adapted from the "News
of the Church: Elder Earl M. Monson of the Seventy" in the Ensign,
May 1998.
Elder Earl M. Monson has a strong testimony of temples.
While serving as director of the Church’s Temples and Special Projects
Division, he was responsible for temple construction and design, under
the direction of the First Presidency. “It didn’t take long for me to realize
that there are powerful forces on the earth that don’t want temples to
be used or to be constructed,” he says. “But when the Lord wants them,
he will help us find a way to build and to use them if we put our trust
in him.”
Born on 26 July 1932 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Elder
Monson grew up in an active Latter-day Saint family. Even with that kind
of environment, he says, “You still have to gain a testimony of your own.”
One pivotal experience occurred when he received his patriarchal blessing
as a teenager. “I prepared myself beforehand, and I sought for several
important answers that the patriarch did address in the blessing,” he says.
“It was a powerful experience.”
Two years spent in the U.S. Army during the Korean
War, where he trained to be an infantry soldier, helped him appreciate
the gospel and his family. “Suddenly there was an awareness of all that
I had,” he says. “I hadn’t realized before how very blessed I was.”
Elder Monson earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture
from the University of Utah and his master’s degree in structural engineering
from Iowa State University. In 1954 he married Donna Mae Hill in the Salt
Lake Temple; the couple have 5 children and 12 grandchildren.
Elder Monson’s Church callings have included stake
Young Men president, bishop, high councilor, stake president, and stake
mission president. “Our lay leadership is one of the great things about
the Church,” he says. “A calling can be a stimulus to learn and to seek
for help, which strengthens our testimonies.”
Of his new calling, Elder Monson says, “My wife and
I have had many blessings and wonderful people come into our lives. We
share the feeling that any chance to further the work and tell people of
the Savior is very exciting and is a way to show our gratitude to him.”
Having completed the term of his calling, Elder Monson was honorably released from the Second Quorum of the Seventy in October 2002.
