New Asian-American, Brazilian Apostles Make Mormon History
The Associated Press’s Brady McCombs reports, “The Mormon church made history and injected a bit of diversity into a previously all-white top leadership panel on Saturday by selecting the first-ever Latin-American apostle and the first-ever apostle of Asian ancestry.” Ulisses Soares of Brazil, and Gerrit W. Gong, a Chinese-American, will join the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which helps institute LDS church policy. Observers have speculated that the selections are part of an effort to further globalize Mormonism, as LDS President Nelson has long had an interest in increasing Mormon visibility abroad and especially in China.