Mantle

Tagged content

• ⋮Actions for “Sheri Dew: And I’m wondering if you could just tell us what it”

  Open Sign in to save this

  Quote

  Sheri Dew: And I’m wondering if you could just tell us what it felt like when you and President Oaks received the word that President Russell M. Nelson had slipped through the veil. Sister Kristen M. Oaks: ... when the Prophet did pass away, my husband and I had very different reactions, and that’s what was so interesting. He’d been such a devout counselor. In fact, Elder [Jeffrey R.] Holland told me that he’d never seen anyone that was so loyal or so supportive, and he just loved the Prophet. But he hadn’t felt the weight of the responsibility — and it is real, it is tangible, and I saw it fall on him, but I had a different reaction. ... I was sorry for his passing, but in my heart, I just felt this joy for him. He led this magnificent life, and he made it, and it is wonderful, and we should all aspire to that. I said, “He’s OK, honey, he’s fine.” And he still carries that weight. He sees all the things that he should do. ... I think what I’ve learned from my husband — and that was the shift for him — he worked so hard. When you’re supporting someone, it’s like holding up Moses’ arms. You’re not the centerpiece. You’re the person to support, and you don’t try to be the centerpiece. And all of a sudden, the weight of other — he realized what President Nelson was carrying. It was transferred. And I think it was a bit startling, and I felt, actually, something fall on me, too. And I don’t want to call it a reverence, but a solemnity. Sheri Dew: That’s a beautiful word. Sister Kristen M. Oaks: And I felt like I had to treat so many things so differently. I saw a lot of things differently, and that surprised me.

  Sister Kristen M. Oaks

  .

  • Mantle

  21 Oct 2026