When questioned about why the church would call someone who is yet another native Utahn to the post when the church has become worldwide in scope, he said, "My life has been significantly with people who are outside of Utah, who I love dearly, who are the majority of the church at this point and who we appreciate so much and we are so grateful for them."

A lawyer by profession, Elder Cook graduated from Stanford Law School in 1966 and worked as a managing partner of a San Francisco Bay area law firm for several years. Subsequently, he worked in business as president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System and vice chairman of Sutter Health System.

Church leaders described Elder Cook as "an experienced church leader with a strong pastoral, administrative and legal background," according to a news release from the LDS Church.

As executive director of the church missionary department, Elder Cook oversaw the church's massive missionary efforts across the world. He was in the media spotlight in February when four LDS missionaries were abducted in Nigeria. The abductors later released the missionaries unharmed.

He said the church's push to "raise the bar" and tighten expectations on missionaries has paid off.

"We've seen people better prepared than they've ever been," Elder Cook said. "We're thrilled with the missionaries that are serving at this time. We'll continue to see faithful, well-prepared missionaries."

A turning point in Elder Cook's spiritual progression happened as a sophomore in high school, when his brother had to choose between serving a mission and going to medical school. The two brothers reasoned together, and debated the two worthy causes, ultimately deciding, "if Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind and Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration and the Book of Mormon is true, then we reasoned it would be more important to go on a mission."

"I realized that if you believe (in the church) then there are actions that you must take as a result of your beliefs," Elder Cook said in a 1996 interview with the LDS Church News.

He has followed that philosophy ever since.

"We've accepted these calls because we believe Jesus Christ is the Savior, believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and believe president Hinckley is a prophet," Elder Cook said. "I pray that I'll be able to serve with distinction in this new calling."

ldethman@desnews.com