He returned home anxious to serve an LDS mission and was called to eastern Canada, where he served as district president and first came to know Elder Marion G. Romney and Elder Ezra Taft Benson. Both would later become influential in his life, the former as a mentor and the latter as president of the church and the person who set him apart as a general authority.

He met Colleen Hinckley in a class at the University of Utah, and they corresponded during his LDS mission. When he returned, he knew she was the girl for him, and after a relatively short courtship, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on Nov. 22, 1950. She became his most trusted confidante, and he would later call her his "auxiliary conscience" and "an additional prompter, along with the Holy Ghost."

"She's not always convenient. I don't want to hear what she tells me sometimes, but I've learned long since to pay attention."

After graduating from the U. in 1952 with a bachelor's degree, they moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as a legislative assistant to Utah Sen. Wallace F. Bennett. Fancying a possible career in politics, he wanted to be in the middle of the action. He learned great respect for the political process and the art of negotiation but later concluded that it wasn't government — but the gospel — that held the answers to people's problems.

He completed a master's degree, also in political science, at the U. in 1961 and began moving through the ranks of university administration, beginning with a job as assistant director of public relations there at age 30. Though he never fancied himself a teacher, he began teaching political science and was often named a favorite among his students. He and his wife had started their family in Washington, where their son, Cory, was born, followed by sisters Nancy, Jane and Becky.

Over the next two decades, he worked his way up the administrative ladder at the U., serving as an associate professor of political science, dean of students, assistant to the president and, finally, executive vice president. There he honed his skills — both analytical and literary — along with many close friendships while serving the church in a variety of leadership positions, including his stint as bishop of Salt Lake City's University Sixth Ward.

Other church responsibilities would follow, and he served as a member of the general board of the YMMIA, a member of the Adult Correlation Committee, and as one of the first regional representatives of the Twelve. He was appointed commissioner of church education in 1970 before being called as an assistant to the Twelve in 1974.

A general authority