Elder David E. Sorensen of the Seventy, learned early
the importance of listening to the counsel of Church leaders. He remembered
his parents’ saving gas coupons during World War II so the family could
travel from their farm in Aurora, Utah, to attend general conference
in Salt Lake City.
“My father used to say that when you go to conference
you learn how to conduct your daily affairs, which is part of your religion,”
Elder Sorensen recalled.
Born 29 June 1933, Elder Sorensen said his family
would pray for Church leaders three times a day. “Before every meal we
would kneel around the table and pray. We always prayed for the First Presidency,
the Twelve, and other Church leaders.”
Elder Sorensen’s experience as president of the Canada
Halifax Mission reinforced the importance of praying for the success of
the Church and its leaders.
“Before my wife and I left, we were given a blessing
by Elder Neal A. Maxwell that if we worked,
prayed, and diligently exercised faith, we would see the organization of
a new stake in the area. A few weeks before we were released from our mission,
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin organized the Saint
John New Brunswick Stake,” he recalls.
In addition to serving as a mission president, Elder
Sorensen was a high councilor, a bishop, and a stake president. From
1954 to 1956, he served as a full-time missionary in the Central Atlantic
States Mission.
When Elder Sorensen returned from his mission, he
was met with a draft notice. He served two years in the army and gained
valuable leadership experience.
He married Verla Anderson on 29 December 1958. They
had seven children.
As a businessman, Elder Sorensen was honored
by the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management. While living
in California, he began a health services company, North American Health
Care, a hospital chain. And at the time of his call, he was vice chairman
of Nevada Community Bank in Las Vegas.
In August of 1992 Elder Sorensen was called to the Second
Quorum of the Seventy. He must have done well, for after serving with the Second Quorum of the Seventy
less than three years, He was sustained to the First Quorum
of the Seventy on April 1, 1995. He was called to serve as one of the seven
Presidents of the Seventy August 15, 1998 and sustained thereto in the
October General Conference. In August of 2005 he was released from the Presidency
of the Seventy and then on October 1, 2005 he was released from the First Quorum and named an Emeritus General Authority.
