Walter F. González

Last updated
Walter F. González
Walter F. Gonzalez (28519018416) (cropped).jpg
First Quorum of the Seventy
31 March 2001 (2001-03-31)
Presidency of the Seventy
6 October 2007 (2007-10-06)  January 6, 2013 (2013-01-06)
End reason Released to become area president
Personal details
BornWalter Fermín González Núñez
(1952-11-18) 18 November 1952 (age 65)
Montevideo, Uruguay
Spouse(s) Zulma Anahir Núñez
Children 4

Walter Fermín González Núñez (born 18 November 1952), has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2001.

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.

Contents

Biography

González was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in a Roman Catholic family. He converted to the LDS Church in 1973. González married Zulma Anahir Núñez [1] in 1975 [2] and they are the parents of four children. They were later sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple.

Montevideo Capital city in Uruguay

Montevideo is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 in an area of 201 square kilometres (78 sq mi). The southernmost capital city in the Americas, Montevideo is situated on the southern coast of the country, on the northeastern bank of the Río de la Plata.

Uruguay republic in South America

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.44 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname.

Washington D.C. Temple

The Washington D.C. Temple is the 18th constructed and 16th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is located in Kensington, Maryland, United States, just north of Washington, D.C., near the Capital Beltway. The temple was dedicated in 1974 after an open house that attracted over 750,000 people, including several international dignitaries. The temple was the first temple built by the church east of the Mississippi River since 1846, when the original Nauvoo Temple was dedicated.

González earned a law degree from the University of the Republic in Montevideo and later studied economics at the Universidad de las Fraternidades y Agrupaciones Santo Tomás de Aquino in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also earned a business administration degree from Instituto CEMLAD in Ecuador and a distance learning degree from Indiana University.

Economics Social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services

Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Buenos Aires Place in Argentina

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. "Buenos Aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good airs", but the former was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century, by the use of the original name "Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 15.6 million.

Argentina federal republic in South America

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America. Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi), Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the fourth largest in the Americas, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation. The sovereign state is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the nation as decided by Congress. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

González began employment with the LDS Church Educational System (CES) in 1975. He served in a variety of assignments, including CES associate area director for Ecuador [3] and a CES area director. [4]

Church Educational System

The Church Educational System (CES) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult learners. Approximately 700,000 individuals were enrolled in CES programs in 143 countries in 2011. CES courses of study are separate and distinct from religious instruction provided through wards. Kim B. Clark, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, has been the CES Commissioner since August 1, 2015.

González has previously served in the LDS Church as a high councilor, stake president, and regional representative. He was also president of the Ecuador Guayaquil Mission of the church from 1989 to 1991. [5] During his tenure, the mission was divided, and González served until 1992 as the president of the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission.

In Mormonism, a high council is one of several different governing bodies that have existed in the church hierarchy on many Latter Day Saint movement denominations. Most often, the term refers to a stake high council in a local stake, but other high councils include the standing Presiding High Council in Zion, and the "travelling high council", better-known today as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Regional representative of the Twelve, commonly shorted to regional representative or regional rep, was a priesthood calling in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1968 and 1995. As the title suggests, the responsibility of regional representatives was to represent the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the various regions or areas of the church. Regional representatives were not general authorities or general officers of the church, but were lay ministers who donated their time to church service.

Mission president

Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission. Depending on the particular mission, a mission president may also be the presiding priesthood leader of some or all Latter-day Saints within the geographic boundaries of the mission. Mission presidents are ordained high priests of the church.

In 1995, González became an area authority and as an area seventy served as second counselor in the presidency of the church's South America North Area. [2] [6] In 2001, he became a general authority and a member of the First Quorum of Seventy. He served again as a counselor in the South America North Area, then later as a counselor and as president of the Brazil North Area, then as president of the South America West Area.

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.

In October 2007, González became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, replacing Quentin L. Cook, who was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In this capacity, González was responsible for the work of the church in the North America Southeast Area.

On November 14, 2012, the church announced that, effective January 6, 2013, González would be released from the Presidency of the Seventy and become president of the South America South Area, succeeding Mervyn B. Arnold. González was succeeded in the Presidency of the Seventy by Ulisses Soares. He served in this assignment until August 2016, when he became president of the church's Caribbean Area. [7]

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