Background
Andersen was born in Logan, Utah and raised in Pocatello, Idaho.
Andersen was born in Logan, Utah and raised in Pocatello, Idaho.
After his mission, he graduated from Brigham Young University in 1975 with a Bachelor"s Degree in Economics and earned an Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1977.
He was accepted by church membership as an apostle on April 4, 2009, during the church"s General Conference. Currently, he is twelfth in order of seniority in the ranks of the church. He later lived and worked in Tampa, Florida, where he was the vice president of the Morton Plant Health System.
While at Brigham Young University, Andersen married Kathy Sue Williams on March 20, 1975 and they are the parents of four children.
Andersen was president of the church"s France Bordeaux Mission from 1989 to 1992. As a general authority, he has been the executive director of the church"s Audiovisual Department and assistant executive director of the Priesthood Department.
He has also been in the presidencies of the church"s Utah North, Utah South, North America Southwest, North America Northeast, and Europe West areas. He also served as president of the Brazil South Area.
In this capacity, he directed the affairs of the church in the Idaho Area and in 2006, he broke ground for the construction of the Twin Falls Idaho Temple.
In 2007, Andersen was reassigned to preside over the North America Southwest Area. On February 14, 2009, he broke ground for the construction of The Gila Valley Arizona Temple, located in Central, Arizona. = Quorum of the Twelve In April 2009, Andersen was called by church president Thomas South. Monson to fill the vacancy created in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by the death of Joseph B. Wirthlin the previous year.
Andersen has been an Latter- Day Saints (Mormons) general authority since 1993 and was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from 2005 to 2009. In 1993, he was called as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. From 1997 to 2001, Andersen was a member of the general presidency of the church"s Sunday School.
In 2005, Andersen became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
From August 2008 to April 2009, Andersen was the senior member of the seven-man presidency.