Good evening, dear friends. It is a privilege to occupy this pulpit, though, believe me, I am well aware that those who’ve honored to deliver the Truman G. Madsen Eternal Man Lecture through the years are to a person more qualified than I. But Truman Madsen had an outsized influence in my life. So tonight, I welcome the chance to pay tribute to him and, in particular, to the masterful way he combined depth of scholarship with deep faith and devotion to Jesus Christ and to His prophets.
Let me go off script right there for a moment and just say: Truman spent his life testifying of prophets. If he were here tonight, he would testify of prophets. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in my life thinking about and researching the lives of prophets, seers and revelators and I’d love to join President Reese in saying I was just overjoyed yesterday as a new first presidency was introduced to the world. Think of it! The moment our dear president Russell M. Nelson slipped through the veil, there wasn’t a second that we didn’t have leadership. There immediately was a new senior apostle with all the keys and all the power. How amazing is that? And I can testify from some of the research I’ve done about different presidents of the church that all you have to do is look at their lives and see that the Lord has had them in his care and keeping. He’s chosen them and selected and prepared them and schooled them for the moment that they are the senior Apostle. I too bear my witness about how blessed we are to be led by a living prophet. By living prophets, seers, and revelators. And I have just been grinning ear to ear ever since the announcement yesterday. We truly “thank thee, o God, for a prophet.”
Now, Truman was trilingual. He spoke the language of the scholar and philosopher, because he was both. He spoke the language of a converted Latter-day Saint, because he prized his covenants above all else. And he spoke the language of revelation, because he spent a lifetime learning to receive guidance from above and teach what the Lord directed him to teach. I personally watched him model all three of those forms of communication.
My first interaction with Truman Madsen was in my early twenties. I was a new graduate from BYU, and I was a new assistant editor at Bookcraft Publishers. When George Bickerstaff, Bookcraft’s very distinguished British editor, assigned me to edit Truman’s biography of Elder B.H. Roberts, I was just floored. How in the world was I to edit one of the leading Latter-day Saint scholars of our day? It was kind of like recruiting a high school coach to take the Celtics to the NBA playoffs. Way over my head.
So, you can imagine, the editorial process was fascinating. One experience reflects many others. One day I met with Truman to discuss a list of questions I had compiled during my edit—some of which challenged his interpretation of original sources. I approached the meeting with a ton of trepidation, but I needn’t have.
He answered every question, made a lot of changes and revisions, and on several issues, we discussed he said, “Well, how do you think I should handle this, Sheri?”
I kept saying to myself, “What does it matter what I think.” But Truman seemed to want to know.
Well over time, I learned that his collegial treatment of a rookie editor went far beyond professional courtesy. He did indeed respect me, but not because of any skills I had or didn’t have. He saw me as an eternal being, a daughter of God with infinite potential. He viewed me as nobility in training. It was Truman’s doctrinally based respect for mankind that caused him to treat me with more dignity than I expected or frankly deserved.
Consider these words of his which, in essence, form a thesis statement for his book, Eternal Man: “What the Eternal Father wants for you and with you is the fulness of your possibilities. And those possibilities are infinite. He did not make you from nothing into a worm; he adopted and begat you into His likeness in order to share His nature. And He sent His Firstborn Son to exemplify just how glorious that nature can be—even in mortality.”[i] Dr. Madsen didn’t just preach this; he lived it.
I don’t know that I helped Truman all that much with that project in the early nineteen eighties, but his mentoring has had lifelong implications for me—including the last few months, as I’ve studied Eternal Man again and plumbed more deeply the questions about who we are and who we can become. In the process, I have been reminded that few questions are more vital for every human soul to understand.
Because our identity—or how we see ourselves—affects everything. It influences the way we behave, the way we see others, and make choices. It is central to well-being, purpose, confidence, and emotional stability. Identity affects our motivations, relationships, and hopes.[ii] A strong healthy identity fosters resilience and enables us to navigate the scary moments of life—or what Truman used to call a “spook alley.”
A leading website on well-being states that “knowing who you are equips you with better tools to … bounce back from adversity. It helps you make choices, from the monumental to the mundane, that are consistent with your core values.…Imagine your identity as a compass.”[iii]
Some years ago, I watched a documentary featuring the heroic actions of a female Marine. With her squadron under fire, she had led everyone to safety. An interviewer asked her the secret of her bravery. The Marine gave a pretty simple answer which, apparently, did not satisfy the journalist, who asked again, “But how did you demonstrate such bravery?” Again, the Marine described what she had done. Still not satisfied, the interviewer asked a third time: “But how did you do what you did?”
With exasperation now showing in her demeanor, the Marine answered, “Look, I’m a Marine, and that’s what Marines do. We are brave under fire. Okay?”
The Marine Corp website says that “our core values are honor, courage, and commitment. If you were made to become one of us, these will be the values you live by.”[iv] This woman had become a Marine. She saw herself as courageous. So, when it counted, she was.
Identity is just that powerful.
So, no wonder the adversary is attacking our sense of who we are from every angle. His onslaught on gender and sexuality is unprecedented. His instigation of battles between ethnicities, countries, families, political factions, and religions have put people at each other’s throats and, in some cases, encouraged them to commit horrific acts.
In an address to the young adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson cut through the confusion about identity and made two critical declarations. First, he said: “I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly tonight, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity.”[v] Those are pretty
strong words from a prophet—that the first thing, and by implication, most foundational truth—the Lord would have His children understand is who they are.
President Nelson then added this: “There are various labels that may be very important to you. …I am not saying that other designations and identifiers are not significant. I am simply saying that no identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over … three enduring designations: ‘child of God,’ ‘child of the covenant,’ and ‘disciple of Jesus Christ.’ Any identifier that is not compatible with these three basic designations will ultimately let you down.”[vi]
President Dallin H. Oaks has spoken similarly: “When we choose to define ourselves … by some characteristic that is temporary or trivial in eternal terms, we de-emphasize what is most important about us and we overemphasize what is relatively unimportant. This can lead us down the wrong path and hinder our eternal progress….Always remember that you are a son or daughter of heavenly parents, seeking to qualify for your eternal heirship under that parentage.”[vii]
The clarity of these statements from two prophets of God is liberating in a world that has always been confused about identity. Through the centuries, philosophers, scholars, theologians, social scientists, and others have debated the proverbial BIG questions of life, most of which track directly to three critical questions about identity: Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? And who are we?
Any discussion of Eternal Man and Woman must explore the theological significance of these questions.
First, Who Is God? And what difference does it make to know who He is?
God the Father is the Supreme Being in whom we believe, whom we worship, and to whom we pray. He is perfect, has all power and knowledge, and authored the Plan of Salvation. [viii] He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness.”[ix] As Alma taught: “All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, … do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.” [x]
And yet, with all of these divine and lofty descriptors, the designation God chose for Himself is Father. He is the Father of our spirits, and He cares for us as only a divine Father can.
During Enoch’s vision of humankind, he saw the Father weeping. You remember what he said: “How is it that thou canst weep seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to eternity?” [xi] Enoch asked.
In His response, God revealed His heart: “Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them [a] … commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, … wherefore should not the heavens weep?” [xii]
Imagine! Our Heavenly Father is an omniscient Being who knows our names, hears our prayers, and perfectly understands our potential! No one wants our happiness more. No one will ever care more about us than He does. No one is more devoted to our progress. [xiii]
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.” [xiv]
President Jeffrey R. Holland added that our Heavenly Father “seeks our individual happiness and safety above all other godly concerns.” [xv]
That is just incredible. While overseeing worlds without number, God’s greatest concern is you and me? Can we even begin to comprehend that?
While considering the magnificence of God, let us acknowledge the splendor of our Heavenly Mother. We understand little about her, and the reasons for a lack of clarity on this doctrinal point aren’t yet clear.
While I wish that we understood more about Heavenly Mother, I trust that our all-knowing Heavenly Father has reasons for not yet choosing to reveal this core doctrine. I also trust that what awaits females on the other side of the veil is more magnificent than anything we can conceive.
If we are to have faith in Anyone in the universe, it must begin with faith in God the Father, who loves us and will help us in ways no one else can. Because we are His offspring.
Faith in God is crucial to understanding who we are. If we don’t believe in God, or dismiss Him as irrelevant, we lose any conceivable chance of understanding our own identity.
Therefore, I suggest this question to ponder: What difference does it make to you to know that you have Heavenly Parents whose divine DNA is your spiritual DNA?
Now, our second question: Who is Jesus Christ?
He is the Son of God, the Only Begotten in the flesh, [xvi] our Savior. He inherited the powers of Godhood from His Father, God the Father, and mortality from His mother, Mary. Jesus walked among the children of men, never taking a backward step. He alone had the power to carry out the infinite sacrifice that affects every son and daughter of God.
The most compelling, life-changing truth of all time is that Jesus Christ atoned for us. In doing so, He triumphed over sin, death, weakness, every kind of misery, and hell.
Thus, the Savior can heal our deepest pains and lead us through our darkest days. He experienced pain, abuse, rejection, false accusation, sadness, and exquisite loneliness. He promised to succor, [xvii] or run to us, because He has felt exactly what we feel.
The very first words that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount were to the discouraged: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” [xviii]
If we are overwhelmed by the circumstances of our lives or riddled with fears, if we can’t imagine ever being happy again, if we can’t seem to shake a weakness, the Savior stands ready to lift us above our own capacity.
I think of a time years ago when I struggled to deal with a colleague who frankly drove me crazy. I thought this person was an arrogant grandstander. And though I prayed for a softer heart, I only became more irritated.
Then the Lord placed me in an unusual situation where I suddenly understood more about this person. And honestly, my heart changed overnight. I could now see all of the good that had been right in front of me. Today, there are few people I admire more or with whom I would rather work.
That was the grace of Jesus Christ healing something as simple, but meaningful, as a bruised relationship. The power of the Atonement to heal is truly “sweet above all that is sweet.” [xix]
The Savior has the power to cleanse, forgive, and redeem; to heal us of weakness and heartache; to help us overcome the flesh and conquer Satan; to strengthen us; and power to deliver us from circumstances we can’t escape ourselves.
In the most recent general conference, Elder Patrick Kearon taught that “through the goodness and grace of the Saviour, we can have fresh starts that propel change in old mindsets, bad habits, grumpy dispositions, negative attitudes, feelings of powerlessness, and tendencies to blame others and avoid personal responsibility. You can actually change things about yourself that have been wearing you down for years. You can start again through the might of the Master of new beginnings. He never tires of giving new beginnings to us.” [xx]
Who is Jesus Christ? He is our Deliverer. Our Advocate. [xxi] Our Healer. Our Redeemer. He is Alpha and Omega, [xxii] because everything begins and ends with Him. He is the “author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” [xxiii]
He is the reason we can do what we came to earth to do.
I have experienced the Savior’s healing power countless times. He has healed my heart of animosity, jealousy and fear. He has enabled me to do things I just could have never done on my own. I know the relief of forgiveness and the balm of mercy when I didn’t deserve it. I have felt the Lord walk beside me so that I didn’t feel like I was all alone.
No wonder the adversary works so hard to obscure the transcendent power of Jesus Christ. As Dr. Madsen wrote: “We have great gifts, greater endowments, and the greatest of destinies. The gold is in the mine. But the power of Christ must sink a shaft to bring it out.” [xxiv]
Remember when Korihor went from city to city proclaiming there was no Christ? In the land of Gideon, He was taken before the high priest, who asked him: “Why do ye teach this people that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt their rejoicings?” [xxv]
That’s a great question! Because anything that separates us from Jesus Christ interrupts our ability to experience true joy. Every divine gift and spiritual privilege that gives us access to the power of heaven comes from Christ or because of Christ. [xxvi]
Thus, may I suggest a second question to ponder: What difference does it make to you to know who Jesus Christ is and what He has already done for you?
Last question: Who are we?
Truman Madsen’s greatest influence on me occurred because of the way he taught about our divine nature. As a shy BYU coed, who felt like she’d just dropped off the turnip truck, I was riddled with self-doubt. I couldn’t shake the belief that I wasn’t smart enough, cute enough, clever enough, or pretty much anything enough. I was a farm kid from a little town in Kansas no one had ever heard of while my roommates were from famous cities or related to General Authorities. I felt invisible. I felt lesser than everyone else.
Then I read Truman’s The Highest In Us. And later, Eternal Man. Both were game-changers for me. Truman’s doctrinal explanation about who we are started to shatter the image I’d constructed of myself. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still wrestle with plenty of insecurities. But I am not insecure about who I am in my Heavenly Father’s eyes, and that has made all the difference for me.
Here is an example of Truman’s teachings that penetrated my heart. I love this passage: “[Y]ou have come literally ‘trailing clouds of glory.’ No amount of mortal abuse can quench the divine spark. If you only knew who you are and what you did and how you earned the privileges of mortality, and not just mortality but of this time, this place, this dispensation …; if you knew the latent infinite power that is locked up and hidden for your own good now—if you knew these things you would never again yield to any of the putdowns that are a dime a dozen in our culture today. …[If] we caught hold of God’s living candle on that truth and went out into the world … being true to that vision, we would not need to defend the cause of Christ. People would come and ask: ‘Where have you found such peace? …How come you don’t get carried away with the world?’ And we could answer that the work of salvation is the glorious work of Jesus Christ. But it is also the glorious work of the uncovering and recovering of your own latent divinity.” [xxvii]
Thank you, Truman, for teaching this truth with such clarity.
Truman is in good company. As mentioned earlier, President Russell M. Nelson spoke powerfully about the importance of understanding who we are. But he didn’t just preach this truth, he practiced it.
During a question-and-answer session with Latter-day-Saint teenagers in Vietnam, I watched him minister to a young woman who asked, with some emotion, how to recover from abuse. President Nelson taught her who she was and that the divinity within her could help her rise above such difficult circumstances.
In a training session for Church leaders, President Nelson was asked how to help individuals struggling with pornography. “Teach them their identity and their purpose,” he said.[xxviii]
At first blush, President Nelson’s responses might seem a curious way to address such complex issues. But his intent seemed clear: If someone understands who they are, it will help them see themselves correctly and make better decisions. Because identity is linked to destiny.
Prophets ancient and modern have preached the truth about who we are. The Apostle Paul taught that “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” [xxix]
Again, in the most recent general conference, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf declared, “You are a blessed being of light; the spirit child of an infinite God. And you bear within you a potential beyond your own capacity to imagine…. Your origin story is divine, and so is your destiny. You left heaven to come here, but heaven has never left you!” [xxx]
We are not just creations of our Heavenly Father. We are the literal offspring of Heavenly Parents.
How many of the 8.1 billion people on earth would make better decisions if they understood this? How many would have greater purpose and more hope?
No wonder the adversary is using everything in his playbook to deceive us into defining ourselves as anything BUT children of God. Which evokes that classic moment in the “Lion King” when the spirit of Mufasa comes back from the dead to tutor his wayward son Simba: “You have forgotten who you are because you have forgotten me.” [xxxi]
President Lorenzo Snow taught that “Jesus was a god before he came into the world and yet his knowledge was taken from him. He did not know his former greatness, neither do we know what greatness we had attained to before we came here.”[xxxii] But President Snow also taught that during the Savior’s life “the glory and power He possessed before He came into the world was made known unto Him.”[xxxiii]
Truman believed that we too may come to know who we are and who we have always been.
Unveiling this knowledge would be easier if we could remember our premortal lives. But we can’t.
There are, though, some things that we do know. We know we were there, in the heavenly councils before the foundations of this earth were laid, when our Father presented His plan. We saw our Savior chosen and appointed, and we were among the heavenly host who shouted for joy.[xxxiv] Then, when Satan unleashed his fury against the Father and the Son, we were there, fighting on the side of truth. In fact, President George Q. Cannon said that we “stood loyally by God and by Jesus, and … did not flinch.”[xxxv]
Now, we find ourselves among the elect whom the Lord has called during this “eleventh hour” to labor in His vineyard.[xxxvi]
Heavenly Father, who sees the “end from the beginning,”[xxxvii] foresaw perfectly what these times would demand. Again, from President George Q. Cannon, “God … reserved spirits for this dispensation who [would] have the courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil one,” and who would “build up the Zion of our God, fearless of all consequences.”[xxxviii]
So, who are we? We’re sons and daughters of the living God, endowed by our spiritual birthright with the potential of divinity. Further, we have been elected to live now, in the most consequential time in the history of the earth. Do you think there’s any chance our Father would have selected sons and daughters to come now whom He couldn’t count on?
There's just no chance He would have done that.
We may not always feel spiritually courageous. But that is who we are, and it is who we have always been. Having a spiritual witness of this truth will change our lives.[xxxix]
Thus, a final question to ponder: What difference does it make to you to know that your potential exceeds anything the world will ever tell you?
So, where do we go from here? Truman Madsen was a superb example of being true to who he was. He could see the highest in us, and he relentlessly taught the truth about Eternal Man and Woman.
Can we do anything less? Should we not be relentless in helping everyone we care about understand who God is, who the Lord Jesus Christ is, and who we are?
When Satan tried to confuse Moses about his identity, saying, “Moses, son of man, worship me,”[xl] Moses refused, and he declared, “I am a son of God.”[xli] Moses knew who he was because the Lord had told him, “Thou art my son; … and I have a work for thee.”[xlii]
When Lucifer then ranted and railed, Moses prevailed because he knew who he was. That is how powerful identity is—powerful enough to overcome the adversary.
We will prevail, too—and those we love will prevail—as the truths about our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our divine destiny become embedded in our hearts.
May we share these truths with the same vigor that our friend, Truman Madsen, did. And may we catch a greater vision of what it means to be the sons and daughters of the Supreme Being of the universe and potentially joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
[i]Truman G. Madsen, The Highest In Us, Bookcraft, 1978, 5-6. Truman often quoted Joseph Smith as saying,
“All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement.” Truman G. Madsen, Five Classics, Deseret Book, 2001, 19; quoted from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1938. 354.
[ii]See “FYS 101: Exploration of Identity,” Syracuse University Libraries, researchguides.library.syr.edu.
[iii] “Why Is Acknowledging Identity Important for Well-Being?” Sustainability Director, lifestyle.sustainability-directory.com, 22 August 2025.
[iv] See “Our Values,” Marines.com.
[v] Russell M. Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”
[vi]Russell M. Nelson, “Choices for Eternity,” Worldwide Young Adult Devotional, May 2021, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
[vii]Dallin H. Oaks, “How to Define Yourself,” New Era, June 2013, 48.
[viii]The Plan of Happiness, as the Plan of Salvation is sometimes referred to, called for the Father’s Only Begotten Son to atone for us. See John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
[ix]See Lectures on Faith, 42. See also “God, the Father,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/god-the-father?lang=eng.
[x]See Alma 30:44; also Moses 2:1.
[xi]See Moses 7:30.
[xii]See Moses 7:32, 33, 37.
[xiii]Said President Russell M. Nelson: “In all of eternity, no one will ever know you or care about you more than [God] does. No one will ever be closer to you than He is. You can pour out your heart to Him and trust Him to send the Holy Ghost and angels to care for you. He demonstrated His ultimate love when He sent His Only Begotten Son to die for you—to be your Savior and your Redeemer!” (Russell M. Nelson, “Choices for Eternity,” Worldwide Young Adult Devotional, May 2021, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.)
[xiv]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 257.
[xv]Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Grandeur of God,” Ensign, November 2003.
[xvi] See John 3:16.
[xvii] See Alma 7:11, 12.
[xviii]Matthew 5:3-4.
[xix] See Alma 32:42; also 1 Nephi 8: 10-12.
[xx] Patrick Kearon, “Jesus Christ and Your New Beginning,” October 2025 general conference.
[xxi] See 1 John 2:1.
[xxii]See Revelation 1:8.
[xxiii]See Hebrews 12:2.
[xxiv]The Highest In Us, 20. Dr. Madsen also wrote: “The forces of darkness operate by subtraction more than by addition. … [T]he soul’s very nature is to reach toward and embrace the light. … Of all the laws of spiritual life, this may be the most fundamental. He who welcomes truth and light … and ‘receiveth truth and light until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things,’ [grows] ‘brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” (Truman G. Madsen, Five Classics, Deseret Book, 2001, 64-65.)
[xxv]See Alma 30:22.
[xxvi]This includes the privilege of receiving the gift and power of the Holy Ghost (1 Nephi 13:37); of learning the “mysteries of the kingdom” (D&C 84:19); of having the Lord on our right and on our left and angels to bear us up” (D&C 84:88); and of receiving eternal life, “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7).
[xxvii] Truman G. Madsen, The Highest in Us, Bookcraft, 1978, 12.
[xxviii]In “Our Identity and Our Destiny,” BYU Devotional, 14 August 2012, Tad R. Callister described this experience.
[xxix]Romans 8: 16-17.
[xxx] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Do Your Part with All Your Heart,” October 2025 general conference. President Boyd K. Packer declared: “You are a child of God. He is the father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold onto it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written in a single line. You are a child of God.” (To Young Women and Men,” Ensign, May 1989, 54.)
[xxxi] In “Lion King,” both movie and stageplay.
[xxxii]Office Journal of Lorenzo Snow, 8 October 1900, 181-82.
[xxxiii]Lorenzo Snow, Conference Report, April 2901, 3.
[xxxiv] See Job 38:7.
[xxxv]George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, sel. Jerreld L. Newquist, Deseret Book, 1987, 7; emphasis added.
[xxxvi] See Doctrine and Covenants 33:3-4.
[xxxvii]See Abraham 2:8.
[xxxviii]George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1852-81, 11:230. Elder Neal A. Maxwell went even further in describing how we ought to look at our lives: “The same God that placed a star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well.”
[xxxix]Enoch was stunned when the Lord called him into service: “Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech?” (Moses 6:31.) The Lord responded to Enoch by promising to walk with him and give power to his words. This encounter with the Lord gave Enoch a new vision of himself, and the result was astonishing—for so powerful were Enoch’s words that his people were “taken up into heaven.” (Moses 7:21.) But all of this happened after Enoch understood who he was and that he had a mission to perform.
[xl]See Moses 1:12.
[xli] See Moses 1:13.
[xlii]See Moses 1:4, 6.
About Sheri L. Dew
Sheri Dew is a native of Ulysses, Kansas, and a graduate of Brigham Young University. She is a 40-year veteran of the publishing industry and has authored a number of best-selling books, including the biographies of two presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Ezra Taft Benson, as well as Insights from a Prophet’s Life: Russell M. Nelson. Her most recent book is titled Prophets See Around Corners.
Sheri served as second counselor in the general presidency of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is currently serving as the executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corporation.
Sheri is a member of BYU-Hawaii’s Genuine Gold Society, a member of the Marriott School National Advisory Board, a recipient of a medal of honor from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, and has spoken at international conclaves such as the World Congress of Families. In March 2003 the White House appointed her as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.