Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announces first ever African-American General Authority

On Saturday, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the calling of ten new General Authority Seventies.

One of these ten includes the first African-American General Authority Seventy, Peter M. Johnson. The announcement was made during the afternoon session of the annual General Conference.

Rubén Vicente Alliaud

Elder Rubén V. Alliaud, 53, is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is married to Fabiana Bennett. They are the parents of six children.

At the time of his call as a general authority, he was serving in the Church Educational System as an institute teacher.

He was also a public affairs director and a member of the presidency of the Argentina Missionary Training Center. Formerly, he was a lawyer. His church service ranges from various leadership callings, including president of the Argentina Córdoba Mission.

Jorge Miguel Alvarado Pazo

Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, 48, is from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He is married to Cari Lu Rios. They are the parents of three children.

At the time of his new calling he was serving as a high councilor his stake, which is a position of church service under the local presidency of a stake. Elder Alvarado attended University of Puerto Rico where he studied management. He has worked as a manager for Sam’s Club and as a regional manager for Walmart. He was also employed by Franklin Covey.

Prior to his calling as a general authority, he served as a leader at the branch, district, and mission levels, including service as the president of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission.

Elder Hans T. Boom

Elder Hans T. Boom, 55, is from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is married to Ariena Johanna Broekzitter. They are the parents of three children.

Prior to his call as a general authority, he served as a temple ordinance worker for The Hague Netherlands Temple. He was also an institute teacher. He had been employed as a sales manager for MacLean Agencies.

He has studied at Mavo Hoge Vught where he earned a degree in degree in administration. A former full-time missionary in the England London East Mission, he has served throughout Europe as an Area Seventy in the Europe Area.

Lawrence Todd Budge

Elder L. Todd Budge, 59, is from Pittsburg, California. He is married to Lori Capener. They are the parents of six children.

He has previously served in the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy in the Utah Salt Lake City Area. He is a graduate of BYU with a degree in economics.  He has worked for the banking industry in multiple capacities. His work has been for Bain & Company Japan, Citibank N.A., and GE Capital in both Atlanta and Japan.

He was a full-time missionary in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. He later returned to Japan to serve as the president of the Japan Tokyo Mission. In his local congregations, he has served as an elders quorum president, a stake executive secretary, and as a bishop.

Ricardo Patricio Giménez Salazar

Elder Ricardo P. Giménez, 47, is from Antofagasta, Chile. He is married to Catherine Ivonne Carrazana Zúñiga. They are the parents of two children.

At the time of his calling as a Seventy he was serving as a counselor in a stake presidency.  He studied at the University of Santiago, Chile where he earned a degree in accounting and auditing. His financial background brought him work in the fields of mining and information technology.

He previously served as full-time missionary in the Chile Concepción Mission. He later served as an Area Seventy in the Chile and South America South Areas.

Peter Matthew Johnson

Elder Peter M. Johnson, 52, is from New York City, New York. He is married to Stephanie Lyn Chadwick. They are the parents of four children.

Prior to his calling as the first member of the Seventy, Elder Johnson served in the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy in the North America Southeast Area. He studied at Southern Utah University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. He later received a PhD in accounting from Arizona State University.

His church service includes work as a full-time missionary in the Alabama Birmingham Mission. He has served as a counselor in a bishopric and as a ward’s Young Men president. He has served as a stake financial clerk and stake president.

John Allen McCune

Elder John A. McCune, 55, is from Santa Cruz, California. He is married to Debbra Ellen Kingsbury. They are the parents of four children.

Prior his calling as a general authority, he was serving in the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy in the Utah South Area. He studied at BYU where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance. He also earned an MBA from UCLA. He has worked as a senior vice president and managing director for Capitol Investment. He later worked for LDS Philanthropies as a donor liaison.

He served as a full-time missionary in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. He served in various leadership capacities on the ward and stake level. He later worked as the president of the Utah Provo Mission.

James Richard Rasband

Elder James R. Rasband, 56, is from Seattle, Washington. He is married to Mary Diane Williams. They are the parents of four children.

He studied at BYU where he earned a degree in English and Near Eastern studies. He also earned a juris doctor degree in law from Harvard. He has served as dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he filled the role from 2009 to 2016.

He worked as a full-time missionary in the Korea Seoul Mission. He served in ward and stake leadership capacities and as an assistant Scoutmaster. He has served as a bishop and as a stake president.

Benjamin Ming Zhe Tai

Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai, 46, is from Hong Kong. He is married to Naomi Toma. They are the parents of six children.

At the time of his call, he was serving as an Area Seventy and a member of the Eighth Quorum of the Seventy in the Asia Area. Elder Tai earned a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science from BYU. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from UCLA.

He served as a full-time missionary in the Australia Melbourne Mission. He later served a gospel teacher. He also served in leadership capacities on the branch and district levels.

Alan Roy Walker

Elder Alan R. Walker, 48, is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is married to Ines Marcela Sulé. They are the parents of one child.

He studied at BYU where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He has worked in the banking industry. He previously served as a director for temporal affairs in the South America South Area.

He served as a full-time missionary in the Tennessee Nashville Mission. He served as a counselor in the Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission presidency and later as president of the México Monterrey East Mission.