President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, has died late Sunday evening after battling health issues.
Ballard had been able to attend church duties Nov. 12, and after returning home he passed away at 11:15 p.m.. The LDS Church released a statement announcing his death early Monday morning.
“President Ballard was never indecisive,” Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church, said within the statement. “He knew exactly what the lord taught and how it could be applied in one’s personal life and bring joy and happiness.”
Having been called to serve and a church apostle in the late 1980’s, Ballard has been one of the longest-serving church apostles in history, and one of the most senior members of the church leadership. Recently in the October General Conference of the church, Ballard had issue reading the teleprompter, and mostly spoke from hip when it came to his remarks in that session.
“We ought to be reaching out to the one,” Ballard had said in a talk he gave in 1980. “We ought to be looking in every way that we can to help one another through this journey of mortality. I think people down deep are basically good, and I think they want to know what the truth is, but they don’t know where to find it.”
With the death of Ballard, who served as the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, seniority would dictate that Jeffrey R. Holland would become the next acting president while Dalin H. Oaks serves in the first presidency. However, the church has not announced at the time of this writing who would be called to fill that role, or who will be called to become the next apostle.
Russel Ballard is survived by his seven children, 43 grandchildren, 105 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. For more information about Russel Ballard, visit the LDS Church Website.
