Valeri V. Cordón

Last updated
Valeri V. Cordón
General Authority Seventy
April 2, 2016 (2016-04-02)
Called by Thomas S. Monson
Personal details
BornValeri Vladimir Cordón
(1969-02-19) February 19, 1969 (age 49)
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Valeri Vladimir Cordón (born 19 February 1969) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since April 2016. He is a member of the Seventy.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a general authority is a member of the highest levels of leadership in the church who has administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church. A general authority's jurisdiction is church-wide, in contrast to the responsibilities of a local authority or an area authority, which relate to a particular area, unit, or department of the church. As a group, the general authorities are often referred to as "the Brethren". As of October 2017, there are 109 general authorities.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nontrinitarian Christian restorationist church

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian, Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 16 million members and 67,000 full-time volunteer missionaries. In 2012, the National Council of Churches ranked the church as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States, with over 6.5 million members reported by the church, as of January 2018. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.

Seventy is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Traditionally, a member of the Church holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister" and an "especial witness" of Jesus Christ, charged with the mission of preaching the gospel to the entire world under the direction of the Twelve Apostles. The Church teaches that the office of seventy was anciently conferred upon the seventy disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:1-2. Multiple individuals holding the office of seventy are referred to collectively as seventies.

Cordón was born in Guatemala City to Ovidio and Ema Orellana Cordón and was raised in Zacapa. He was sealed to his parents in the Arizona Temple when he was three years old. His father, Ovidio Cordón, was a counselor in the mission presidency to Carlos H. Amado.

Guatemala City City in Guatemala, Guatemala

Guatemala City, locally known as Guatemala or Guate, officially Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nestled in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita. It is estimated that its population is about 1 million. Guatemala City is also the capital of the Municipality of Guatemala and of the Guatemala Department.

Zacapa Municipality in Guatemala

Zacapa is the departmental capital municipality of Zacapa Department, one of the 22 Departments of Guatemala. It is approximately 70 miles or 112 kilometers from Guatemala City.

Mesa Arizona Temple the seventh operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)

The Mesa Arizona Temple is the seventh operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the city of Mesa, Arizona, it is the first of six LDS temples built or planned in the state.

While in high school, Cordón left home to attend school in Guatemala City. From 1987 to 1989 he was an LDS Church missionary in the El Salvador San Salvador Mission.

Missionary (LDS Church) Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the LDS Church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and community service. Mormon missionaries may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment, and are organized geographically into missions. The mission assignment could be to any one of the 421 missions organized worldwide.

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area. As of July 2018, there were 407 missions of the LDS Church. On January 2, 2019, the LDS Church announced changes that will close 12 missions through boundary realignments and open up 4 new ones, effective July 1, 2019. When these changes take place, there will be 399 missions of the church.

Cordón married Glenda Zelmira Zea in the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple. They have three daughters.

Guatemala City Guatemala Temple

The Guatemala City Guatemala Temple is the 34th constructed and 32nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Guatemala City, capital city of Guatemala, it was built with a modern six-spire design. In 1956, while Harold B. Lee visited Guatemala City, he felt that it would be a center for Lamanite gatherings and predicted that a temple would be built there.

Cordón has a bachelor's degree from Universidad Mariano Gálvez and an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was employed in a variety of positions in the information technology field. At the time of his call as a general authority, Cordón was director of business information solutions for PepsiCo Central America Caribbean. He had previously worked for GlaxoSmithKline.

Bachelors degree Undergraduate academic degree

A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to seven years. In some institutions and educational systems, some bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate degrees after a first degree has been completed. In countries with qualifications frameworks, bachelor's degrees are normally one of the major levels in the framework, although some qualifications titled bachelor's degrees may be at other levels and some qualifications with non-bachelor's titles may be classified as bachelor's degrees.

Universidad Mariano Gálvez de Guatemala (UMG) is a university in Zone 2 of Guatemala City.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology University in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. The Institute is a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant university, with a campus that extends more than a mile alongside the Charles River. Its influence in the physical sciences, engineering, and architecture, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics, management, and social science and art, has made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. MIT is often ranked among the world's top universities.

In the LDS Church, Cordón was an area seventy in the Central America Area from 2013 to 2016. He has also been a counselor in the presidency of the Costa Rica San Jose East Mission, a stake president, and a bishop. Cordón became a general authority seventy at the church's April 2016 general conference.

An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. These areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes and the church as a whole.

Bishop is the highest priesthood office of the Aaronic priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement. It is almost always held by one who already holds the Melchizedek priesthood office of high priest. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs significantly from the role of bishops in other Christian denominations, being in some respects more analogous to a pastor or parish priest. Each bishop serves with two counselors, which together form a bishopric.

General Conference (LDS Church) biannual conference in Salt Lake City

General Conference is a gathering of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held biannually every April and October at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. During each conference, members of the church gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to sermons from church leaders. It consists of four general sessions. Since April 2018 the priesthood session is only held during the April conference, and a General Women's Session held during October's conference.

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