“There’s a mix of trepidation and joy, two feelings that don’t usually coincide,” said Elder Clark G. Gilbert, the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as he settles into his new role in the second-highest governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Elder Gilbert, the Church’s education commissioner, was called to fill a vacancy in the Quorum on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, following the recent passing of President Jeffrey R. Holland. He was ordained on Thursday, February 12, by President Dallin H. Oaks and the other members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Gilbert, 55, said he has received more than 1,000 text messages on his phone since his new calling was announced.
Elder Gilbert Talks to Journalists
Members of the news media had their first opportunity to speak with Elder Gilbert on Friday, February 13, in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on Temple Square.
Elder Gilbert says he is already receiving spiritual inspiration from the Lord during the first two days of his service as an Apostle.
“I feel the mantle strengthening me,” he said. “It is sometimes described as a burden and a weight, but it’s also a protection and a shield and a strength.”
“[The Lord has] planted feelings in my heart already in these last two days, feelings to get up and send a message to someone or to make a call in the middle of such a busy moment,” Elder Gilbert said. “I think the Lord’s telling me to keep reaching out to the one, and especially to the one who struggles.”
“I feel a measure of His love, concern and empathy for those He is worried about, and I have a feeling if the last two days are anything like the future service I’ll be asked to give, that ministering to the one will be a big part of that,” the Apostle said.
Elder Gilbert said his wife, Christine, has also given him the confidence to move forward in this calling and in other pivotal moments in his life.
“Her confidence [and] conviction anchored me and pushed me to be who the Lord needed me to be,” he said.
Among the hundreds of messages the Gilberts received about this new role was one from a former inner-city youth they had once served in Boston, who is now a father of five.
Elder Gilbert said, “He called her, not me. And he said,’ Christine, I just wanted you to know this wouldn’t have happened without you.’ And he’s right. What a tender expression of that last night for both of us.”
Sister Gilbert said she also receives inspiration from her husband. The two are the parents of eight children.
“He’s a builder of people and has been a builder of me for 32 years now and has made me a better version of myself by being with him,” she said. “He’s such a joyful, happy person, so positive and enthusiastic.”
Elder Gilbert said he has much to learn in his calling as an Apostle.
“We teach that education is a religious responsibility. And if that’s true, involve the Lord in your learning, and he’ll take you places you never thought possible,” he added.
Education has been an integral part of his life. He taught at Harvard and served as president of Brigham Young University–Idaho. He was also the inaugural president of BYU–Pathway Worldwide, the global online offering.
He continued, “God loves us. He loves all His children. And He wants us to serve in the kingdom and grow in our testimonies. And to do that, He needs us to be able to provide for our temporal self-reliance, even as we’re building our spiritual self-reliance.”
Elder Gilbert is humbled and excited to serve in his new role as the Church’s newest Apostle.
“What an opportunity it is to wear out my life in service of the Lord Jesus Christ and in testifying of Him to all the world,” Elder Gilbert said. “Jesus Christ lives, that through Him we can find peace and joy, that in a chaotic, polarized, conflicted world we can find peace and comfort in the Savior Jesus Christ.”
