Their journeys though life have been quite different — Elder Gérald Caussé was the Church’s presiding bishop born in France, while Elder Clark G. Gilbert was the commissioner of Church education born in California.
Yet they’ve come to many of the same conclusions as recently called members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Jesus Christ lives, He guides His Church through His prophets, and their new assignments cannot be fulfilled without divine help.
In the upcoming April 2026 general conference, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to sustain these two new Apostles as they begin lifelong missions to testify the Savior lives.
“I felt the love of God for me,” said Elder Caussé about being called, “and it was evident that I should accept this calling — and did it with great joy, actually, although I felt totally shocked and overwhelmed.”
Said Elder Gilbert: “We know we have things to improve and work on. And yet, I felt really confident that the Lord would make up the difference, that the keys were bigger than any one person and that I would be magnified in that calling.”
Elder Caussé, born in Bordeaux, France, was ordained on Nov. 6, 2025, filling the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles created by the death of Church President Russell M. Nelson.
And Elder Gilbert — born in Oakland, California, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona — was ordained on Feb. 12, 2026, after the death of President Jeffrey R. Holland, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
These new prophets, seers and revelators joined episodes 269 and 282 of the Church News podcast to acknowledge the people and experiences that have made it all possible.
The No. 1 responsibility
Within minutes of being asked by Church President Dallin H. Oaks to serve as an Apostle, Elder Caussé remembered Doctrine and Covenants 68:5-6:
“Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants. Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.”
As he bears witness of the Savior, Elder Caussé knows the Lord will stand by him in this calling, he said. “This is all the comfort I needed.”
Elder Gilbert also perceives this bigger picture, recognizing that “in the end, there is only one responsibility — and that is to testify, witness to the name of Jesus Christ in all the world.”
He quoted Doctrine and Covenants 107:23, which charges Apostles to be “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world.”
Since being called to the Twelve, Elder Caussé has felt an outpouring of love from the members of the Church, he said. Now he looks forward to spreading that love with even more.
“If I can share only part of the immense and infinite love of the Savior for people, if I can be that ambassador of love, I hope I can do that.”
‘Orchestrated in heaven’
As a missionary in the Japan Kobe Mission, a young-adult Clark Gilbert struggled at first to learn Japanese. “I realized, ‘This language is hard, but I am pretty sure the Lord wants me to learn it, or He would not have called me here,’” he recounted.
So he went to work studying hard, keeping track of vocabulary, improving his grammar and practicing his Japanese enunciation. He made the Lord his partner in learning Japanese, he said.
“I realized as a missionary, if the Lord wants you to do it, if He has called you to do it, He will magnify and make up the difference.”
Elder Gilbert and his wife, Sister Christine Gilbert, have kept that attitude through his various assignments — from 16th president of BYU–Idaho and first president of BYU–Pathway Worldwide to General Authority Seventy — and now while he serves as an Apostle.
When Elder Caussé looks back at his life, “it feels like a few things were orchestrated in heaven,” he said. This particularly became evident when he became a member of the Presiding Bishopric, which has responsibility for the temporal affairs of the Church.
Having studied business in college, Elder Caussé worked a number of years in strategy consulting and food distribution, which exposed him to the concept of leading a big organization.
“Managing people is very close to ministering to people,” he said. “And so I have applied in management a lot of things that I experience in church.” And it goes both ways: “Church service helped me more in my career than career helped me in Church service.”
‘Outpouring of love’ from other Apostles
The first night after being called, Elder and Sister Gilbert stayed up late reflecting on how they’ve seen each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles witness of Christ.
“There had been a moment where I had heard them bear witness to the name of Jesus Christ,” said Elder Gilbert. “Not only where I heard it, but where I had a witness of their calling. And that has been a strength to me.”
Shortly after being called as an Apostle, Elder Caussé was invited by President Oaks to a room with members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency to receive their congratulations one by one.
“That outpouring of love from the Twelve was something that gave me a lot of courage,” he said.
Gospel strength in consecrated families
Elder Caussé’s pioneer heritage begins with his parents, the first members of the Church in their family. They were baptized in less than three months of meeting with the missionaries. “They were brave to embrace this religion they did not know a lot about based on their feelings and the inspiration of the Spirit.”
His dad went on to serve as a branch president five times. Elder Caussé carried on his parents’ valiance from a young age, as a Primary pianist at 12 and Sunday School president at 16.
Today, “joy in our home is felt whenever there is something about the gospel,” he said. The Caussés adore what he characterizes as their “consecrated family.”
When asked what qualities he sees in his wife, Sister Valérie Caussé, Elder Caussé responded, “How many hours do you have?” She is genuine, authentic, sincere and full of faith, he continued, and she shows her love for others in a very warm and natural way.
Together they raised five children, two of them living in the United States. “They never complained,” no matter where the family went. “We know we can count on them.”
Similarly, wherever Elder Gilbert had to move his family throughout his life — for career changes or Church assignments — he knew he could count on the support of his wife.
“Part of what was amazing about her is she would be willing to go anywhere, especially if it was something the Lord asked of us.”
He added, “It made it easy for me, when there were hard decisions, to know my wife had confidence that if the Lord had called us to do something, He would honor it.”
What gives them the strength to serve, even in the face of adversity? “All of that is grounded in the covenants we made early on in the temple and in our temple sealing, and we have never looked back and always wanted to do what the Lord wanted us to do.”
They’ve also appreciated the encouragement of their eight children in Elder Gilbert’s apostolic assignment. “This will affect all of them,” he said. “And yet, every one of them in their own unique ways was willing to support this and support their parents.”
Witnessing the mantle of the Prophet
As President of the Church, President Oaks “does not teach what he was prepared to do or what his background would suggest,” said Elder Gilbert, “but he teaches what the Lord tells him to speak.”
Elder Gilbert saw this personally when President Oaks addressed BYU students in a Feb. 10 devotional. The substance of the talk was amazing, said Elder Gilbert, but even more profound was the witness he received of the Prophet’s calling.
As commissioner of Church education, Elder Gilbert had conducted research for President Oaks’ remarks. “He was excited to give that message.” Yet taking on the prophetic mantle called for a change of plans.
“He said, ‘Clark, when we were first working on this, I was not yet the Prophet. And now that I am the Prophet, He is giving me a message that I need to give.’”
While in the Presiding Bishopric, Elder Caussé also saw the prophetic mantle when he reported directly to the First Presidency weekly for 13 years.
In that time, he came to love the late President Nelson’s forward-looking optimism, aptitude for connection and ability to teach the gospel simply. Even at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Nelson looked to the future with faith and hope, said Elder Caussé.
“Whenever I felt a little down or tired, I always thought of President Nelson, and that always gave me some boost, and I smiled whenever I thought about him.”
Having also worked closely with President Oaks, Elder Caussé said he admires the Prophet’s courage, resilience, humility and understanding of the complexities of the world.
“His mind is very bright,” he said, “and whenever there is a meeting and there is a good question that needs to be asked, that is President Oaks asking it.”
‘He is the Savior of the world’
As newly called Apostles soon to be sustained in conference, Elder Caussé and Elder Gilbert relish their lifelong mission to testify that Jesus Christ lives.
“We can overcome death because of the Savior,” said Elder Gilbert. “We can be forgiven of our sins because of Jesus Christ. He will succor us in our infirmities and heal us when life is not fair. He is the Savior of the world. And I know that is true.”
Said Elder Caussé: “Jesus is the Christ. His Church is again upon the earth. It is where everyone can find the love of the Savior in the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, help that is needed through brothers and sisters that are unified together, living the gospel in a way that is blessing their lives forever.”
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