His church callings before becoming a general authority of the church included bishop, stake high councilor, stake president and regional representative. He was called as a counselor in his ward Sunday School superintendency at age 17.

When called as an assistant to the Twelve in 1972, President Faust said, "I'm not only humbled, I'm scared. I will need help, especially from the Lord, or I will be inadequate."

After being called to the Twelve, then-Elder Faust said, "I understand that a chief requirement for the holy apostleship is to be a personal witness of Jesus as the Christ and the Divine Redeemer. Perhaps on that basis alone, I can qualify. This truth has been made known to me by the unspeakable peace and power of the Spirit of God."

Later on in his address he pledged to God and the prophet "my life, and whatever energy and little ability I may have, fully and completely and without reservation."

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President Faust often mentioned the warm, close relationship he had with his family. "When children get older and settled, your relationship with them is different," he said. "They are not only children but good friends."

Family and loved ones always came first for President Faust, his wife, Ruth, said.

She once mentioned two examples that were highlighted in a profile of President Faust that appeared in an article by Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve in the August 1995 Ensign, five months after President Faust was sustained as second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley in the First Presidency.

The first example concerned his initial call as an assistant to the Twelve in October 1972.

"We had a special family home evening, including the only grandchild back then," Sister Faust recalled. "Jim went around the circle and told the children what was unique about them and how they were special individually. Then he told them about his call, stressing that if he were not a good father, he could not succeed as a general authority, adding, 'I am never going to be released from my calling as a father or grandfather.'"

In the second example, when he was called to the First Presidency in March 1995, President Faust did the very same thing.

In 1995 the teaching involved 22 grandchildren and ended with President Faust saying again how very important they all were to him and that he couldn't succeed as a member of the First Presidency if he wasn't a good father.

Sister Faust further observed, "This is the kind of person he has been all of his life. Family and loved ones have come first."