SALT LAKE CITY — President Russell M. Nelson wore many hats during his life, but the role people closest to him say he was most proud of and cherished the most was that of father.
"The word 'father' to my dad, I think, is his highest calling. "He oftentimes has said, 'You know, there are 12 apostles, but you only have one daddy," said daughter Rosalie Ringwood. "And he takes that responsibility very seriously."
Ringwood shared how Nelson was never too busy to be a father and that he and his wife, Dantzel, worked together to help everyone in the family feel important.
"My parents met at the University of Utah at a rehearsal for a play," daughter Marsha Workman shared. "Daddy was busy studying and had his nose in his books, and mother was up singing, and he noticed her. He took his nose out of the book and looked at her and said, 'Who is that girl?'"
Growing up in the Nelson household was fun, according to Workman, who shared what it was like living with your best friends
"We enjoyed being home together. We did a cross-country camping trip to go to the New York World's Fair, and we just played," she said.
"It's one thing that I am in awe about my mother and my father is how much they taught us without actually saying anything," added Ringwood. "Just by the way they lived their lives, the way they taught the gospel in our home. We learned love, we learned respect, and how we wanna be like the savior, and our number one goal is to return to live with our heavenly Father."
President Nelson helped save lives in medical field before the church:
With Dantzel gone to sing in the Tabernacle Choir on Sundays, Nelson had the responsibility of getting 9 girls ready for church and out the door on time,
"And he did it with love," Ringwood said. "He loved and cherished my mother, and he was very supportive of her. She was a wonderful singer and a wonderful musician and always encouraged her to be who she was."
Grandson Matthew Mayfield said one of his favorite things about being Nelson's grandson was getting to see him in constant motion.
"He's always moving, he has endless energy, but he always has time to pull us aside individually and see how we're doing," Mayfield shared.
Mayfield told a story of being in the 5th grade and picking his grandfather as the focus of a report on a hero.
"In the end, our heroes were invited to come to an assembly, and I didn't think he would be able to make it. He is such a busy man, but I asked him to come, and he came and stood right next to me as I gave my report and spoke about him as my hero," remembered Mayfield.
"To be around grandfather is just to feel love and to feel just like you're the most important thing in the world to him," added granddaughter Dantzel Crane. "And I remember as a young grandchild that they had a riding lawnmower. It was like, we'd get in line in the back of the house to go sit on grandfather's lap and take a lap around the yard as he mowed.
"He's always there for you when you need him."
Nelson's son, Russ, said his father made being a father look easy.
"Now, as a father myself, I'm realizing all that he did do for us and everything that he was able to accomplish," he said. "So for me, it's meant a lot. I was the only son, and now I have 4 boys of my own, and so it's been a great thing to be able to pass that along to them and I hope I've done a good job doing that."
