Acting head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, director M. Russell Ballard is back at home following a hospital stay for respiratory problems. On his social media pages, President Ballard, 95, shared details about his hospital treatment.
“Following a wonderful and inspiring general conference, last week I suddenly found myself in the hospital with respiratory issues,” he wrote. “However, I have since been released from the hospital and returned home, where I am attending to duties as I am able.”
Due to vision problems, President Ballard spoke impromptu at the church’s international general conference on October 1. He apologized profusely for this.
“Following a wonderful and inspiring general conference, last week I suddenly found myself in the hospital with respiratory issues,” he wrote. “However, I have since been released from the hospital and returned home where I am attending to duties as I am able.”
He gave a moving testimony about the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith. Before being appointed president of the Canada Toronto Mission in 1974, President Ballard was a businessman.
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In 1976, while on his mission, he received a call to become a General Authority Seventy. Following the passing of Elder Bruce R. McConkie in 1985, he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles while holding the position of Presidency of the Seventy.
Following the passing of church president Thomas S. Monson in January 2018, President Ballard assumed the role of acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve. President Russell M. Nelson, the most senior apostle, took over as president.
Following a wonderful and inspiring general conference, last week I suddenly found myself in the hospital with respiratory issues. However, I have since been released from the hospital and returned home where I am attending to duties as I am able.
— M. Russell Ballard (@BallardMRussell) November 2, 2023
As President Nelson’s first counselor, President Dalvin H. Oaks, the next most senior apostle, was called into the reconstituted First Presidency and assumed the role of president of the Quorum of the Twelve.
President Ballard was called the acting president of the quorum, being the third most senior apostle. President Ballard is the great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, the late assistant president of the church, and brother of Joseph Smith, the founder of the organization.
His grandparents are Melvin J. Ballard and Hyrum M. Smith, two apostles, and he is also the great-grandson of President Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of the church.