Elder Boyd K. Packer
of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles
This article appeared in the Improvement Era, May 1970.
Elder Packer was ordained an apostle on
The name of Elder Boyd K. Packer
is not new to members of the Church. He has been a General Authority for nine
years and is now only 45 years of age. Saints in many parts of the globe have
heard his counsel, given in easy and candid delivery that is both quiet and
compelling, and likely punctuated by his keen sense of humor.
After visiting him, one remembers an
irrepressible smile and pleasant demeanor. As a man among men, he has known for
more years than his age belies what it means to have wisdom and to be sought
after for its expression.
But it is as one newly sustained as
a prophet, seer, and revelator--as are all members of the Council of the
Twelve--that Elder Boyd Packer begins to fill a singular niche, one unique and
peculiar to himself.
The outlines of his life can quickly
be noted: a Brigham City, Utah, youth; World War II bomber pilot in the Pacific
theatre; marriage to Donna Smith in the Logan Temple; college degree in
education; child Indian Affairs coordinator at the Intermountain Indian School
in Brigham City; while in his 20's simultaneously serving six years as a high
councilor and four years as a member of a city council, and being awarded a
civic distinguished service award; assistant administrator of Church seminaries
and institutes (named while still in his 20's); and his call in 1961 (after
having just turned 37) as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve.
But the man, his mission, and what
he stands for cannot be so quickly profiled. These things are found in his own
words and in the words of those who know him best:
"A number of years ago I chose
several basic objectives in life--things that I wanted to be and do. First, I
wanted to be a good father. This was not to be limited by occupational choice
or setting. I felt that being a good father would be a permanent anchor for my
orientation, and that livelihood, hobbies, even social opportunities had to be
weighed against whether or not they related to that ideal. I soon learned that
the perfect plan for fatherhood was the gospel. When I want to know how to be a
good father, I go to church, consult the scriptures, and listen to the
authorities. This has been my storehouse of knowledge. Home is the center of
the gospel--and of my life. Of all the places in the world--and I've seen some
interesting and enticing ones--I'd rather be home than anywhere else."
Elder Packer and his wife ("who
I've been willing to modestly admit is perfect") are parents of ten
children--seven boys and three girls. Their small farm, secluded in southern
"I think in some ways it is
easier to raise a large family. It depends upon what you want to accomplish. If
you want to provide material benefits, obviously the fewer children you have,
the more you can provide for each one. But if you are trying to teach unselfishness,
responsibility, cooperation, regard for one another--these things can happen in
a well-ordered family only if there are sufficient persons there in the first
place. We've learned that extra material benefits per child are offset when
children learn thrift, to make do, to make and build something. I felt that way
when growing up, and I thought my children deserved that kind of
environment."
The tenth child of l1 children born
to Ira W. and Emma Jensen Packer (he was born September l0, l924), Elder Packer
knows whereof he speaks when he discusses large families: "It's a little
hard to explain my coming to a position like this, except out of a family such
as I came from. I used to think we were poor--but we weren't; we just didn't
have any money. But we were rich in number, in a father and mother who were
interested in and set their whole lives on raising a good family. It's true
when I say that all I know in life that is important to talk about is what I've
learned from my family--parents, brothers, and sisters--and on my own family,
where I get an even greater schooling."
"His mother," says an
acquaintance, "used to let him pile up the l3 chairs from around the big
kitchen table so he could make a kind of jungle bar and weave his way through.
It was one of his chief joys as a child. A lot of mothers wouldn't allow
that--it's too much bother, and anyway, that's not what chairs are for--or is
it?"
"I'll tell you something about
that Packer family," says an associate. "I've not seen a family quite
so united. It's a family environment that has tempered him, set his goals, qualified him. You have to understand all this to understand
him, to know that nothing in the world is more important to him than his
family. In his home they have some very unusual family activities and practices
that reflect his strong personal philosophy about family life, the privacy and
sacredness of which he guards closely."
"The second goal that I had was
that I wanted to be good. Most people would be ashamed to say that. I'm not. I
just wanted to be good--good for something. Mostly I wanted to be a good son,
to both my earthly father and my Heavenly Father. I have never thought that I
deserved to have good children unless I could be one myself. I've had an idea
that we contribute to the glory of our Father in heaven when we add in our own
person one more worthy individual. I've felt that I wasn't worthy to get what I
wasn't willing to give."
"Everything in his life,"
comments a friend, "revolves around his goals. In the use of these goals
he has the ability to see relationships, the rare gift of perception to see
things in perspective. In this sense, I think that the Lord has called a seer
to the apostleship."
Even his personal interests indicate
the nature of his soul: "You don't really get to know him until you've
walked through a forest with him," says his longtime intimate, President
A. Theodore Tuttle of the First Council of the Seventy. "Boyd loves
nature, loves the mountains, animals, and especially birds. He's a great bird
watcher. When he hears or sees a bird, he can identify it. He knows birds,
their names and habits, and loves to paint and sculpt them. And he's very good
at it. He could have been a fine naturalist--maybe even a good painter of
nature. On the wall of one of the homes he lived in, he painted every kind of
bird that was common to that area. It was beautiful, and the birds were
beautifully painted. He has a great reverence for life--trees, plants, animals,
and especially birds."
One thing you can say about
him," notes another acquaintance, "is that
he beautifies things. He spruces things up--paints, scrubs, hammers, plants,
plows--by himself and with his family. He makes everything about him seem
pleasant and beautiful in a special, creative way."
When he was a seminary
administrator," says a friend, "one of the older teachers, an astute
observer of men, once commented, "That man has one of the keenest minds I
have ever known. By that I mean he can make sense out of something and put
things in their true order." Another associate notes, "I've never
seen him do or say anything without a philosophy behind it. I once asked him,
'Where does all your wisdom come from?'"
The question might make him uneasy,
but not the answer, a secret that Elder Packer deeply believes all members of
the Church need to discover for themselves: "It seems to me that there is
a great power in the Church--in all of us--that is untapped because we are
always setting about to do things in our way, when the Lord's way would
accomplish much greater returns. And then, when we don't know what to do or think, or what would be the Lord's way or will, we don't
ask. Why don't we talk to our Father? In specifics? About real problems? As often as we would with our earthly
father if he were nearby?
"He is a man given to prayer, a
lot of it," says a co-worker, "he will say, 'Let's
get away down here, go to another room.' And then we kneel down and just talk
to the Lord about the matter. It's been a revelation to learn about prayer,
that it works in all aspects of life."
The supervision of individuals
involves administrative and leadership abilities. In this, Elder Packer has
long stood out: "He's a natural leader, having the personal bearing, joined
with a fixed, resolute purpose that exudes confidence," says an associate.
"He treats a man as he ought to be treated," says a subordinate.
"When he delegates authority, he gives it. You soon learn that when you
speak, you're speaking for him also. This makes you want to be your best, be
more creative, more responsible, to be everything you yourself want to
be."
It was during his years as a
seminary administrator that an incident of lasting personal meaning occurred.
Both he and Elder Tuttle were assistant administrators over seminaries and
institutes of religion. The challenge of leadership pressed heavily on the two
young men, both conscious of their lack of long administrative and collegiate
teaching experience. They set aside a day in which they reviewed, examined,
discussed, and prayed about their responsibilities in directing beloved
co-workers. "At the end of the day, after all that thinking, talking, and
praying, we came up with three little words that we felt were the answer to our
problems and assignments. Those words were simply, 'Follow the brethren.'"
It is fitting that they who set about to teach such a course are now in the
position to be followed.
As for his own assignments, Elder
Packer carries a responsible load. At the time he was called to the Council of
the Twelve, he was serving as supervisor of the Franco-Belgian,
He has also been blessed with the
gift of teaching, in which activity he always seems to be functioning. "I
don't know of a better teacher," says an academic acquaintance.
"Certainly, the youth of the Church have a great friend in him. He
understands them and knows how to make a principle real in their lives. I
remember when he was a seminary teacher. He wanted to teach the concept of
loving your neighbor, so he told his students, 'To do this, you first have to
make a friend. In order to do that, I want you to walk to school with a person
you normally haven't walked with--just to communicate and to learn how to get
acquainted, so you can love people better.'"
When he speaks to students--even
college students struggling to get their degrees and to ferret out truth--Dr.
Packer knows whereof he speaks. He has acquired the credentials of the academic
world--B.S. and M.S. from
Such are the thoughts of Elder Boyd
K. Packer and of those who know him well. This is in part a profile of the man
recently called to fill the vacancy in the Council of the Twelve. Aptly says a
General Authority associate: "The Church will realize soon enough that the
Lord was right in the calling--that the Lord doesn't make mistakes." -- Improvement Era, May 1970
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