Brief biographies of new leaders called to LDS Church hierarchy

Deseret Morning News
Published: Saturday, April 5, 2008 2:22 p.m. MDT
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Fifteen new general authorities were called to serve in the LDS Church's Quorums of the Seventy during the opening session of the 178th Annual General Conference on Saturday, a new member of the Presidency of the Seventy was named, and a new presidency was called to lead the Young Women of the church.

In addition, the church named 38 new Area Seventies to serve the church part-time in the areas where they live.

Members of the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy serve full-time by assignment in various parts of the world to administer church affairs. Those called:

Presidency of the Seventy

• Elder L. Whitney Clayton, 58, fills the vacancy left by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who was called as an apostle on Saturday. Elder Clayton has been a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy since March 2001, and was previously an Area Authority for the church. Previous to full-time church service, he was an attorney with a California law firm. Born Feb. 24, 1950, in Salt Lake City, he and his wife, Kathy Ann Kipp Clayton, are the parents of seven children.

First Quorum of the Seventy

• Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis, 48, was serving as the president of the Brazil Brasilia Mission. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from Brigham Young University. He was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and married Luisa Englert. They are the parents of five children.

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• Elder Gerald Causse, 44, had been serving as an Area Seventy the Europe West Area. He works in the food industry, and is involved with several supermarket chains and food distribution companies. He was born in Bordeaux, France, and is married to Valerie Lucienne Marie Claude Babin. They are the parents of five children.

• Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge, 58, has served as a mission president and at the time of the call was teaching a gospel doctrine class. Elder Corbridge is a shareholder and senior attorney at a Salt Lake law firm. He was born in Moscow, Idaho, and has five children with his wife, Jacquelyn Gayle Shamo.

• Elder Eduardo Gavarret, 51, has served as mission president in Paraguay and as an Area Seventy. He is general manager of a pharmaceutical company in Peru. Born in Minas, Lavalleja, Uruguay, he is to married Norma Beatriz Gorgoroso. They have three children.

• Elder Carlos A. Godoy, 47, joined the church in 1977 and has served as a mission president in Brazil and as an Area Seventy. He was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and spent his career as a human resources manager before starting his own company. He and his wife, Munica Soares Brandao, are the parents of four children.

• Elder James J. Hamula, 50, was previously a mission president and had worked as an attorney in Arizona. At the time of his call, he was serving as an Area Seventy in the North America Southwest Area. Born in Long Beach, Calif., he married Joyce Anderson, and they are the parents of six children.

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