“Many institutions of higher learning will grant an 18- to 30-month deferral to prospective missionaries. This will enable you elders and sisters to serve without worrying about where you will begin your advanced education. We are very grateful to leaders of educational institutions who are making such planning possible!”

American religious leader and surgeon

Russell Marion Nelson Sr. was an American religious leader and surgeon. He served as the seventeenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2018 until his death in 2025. Before that, Nelson spent nearly thirty-four years in the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, leading that quorum from 2015 to 2018. As church president, he was regarded by the church as the prophet, seer, and revelator.