Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Dieter F. Uchtdorf is a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the First Quorum of the Seventy and in the Presidency of the Seventy prior to his call as an apostle on October 7, 2004, at age 63.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf was born in Czechoslovakia on November 6, 1940, in the midst of the horrors of World War II. While Elder Uchtdorf was very young, his father, Karl Albert Uchtdorf, was forced to join the German army. His mother, Hildegard, afraid for her family’s safety, left all their possessions and moved the family of four children to Zwickau, Germany. When the war ended, Elder Uchtdorf’s father was able to return. However, the family was still in danger, because his father had been vocal in his opposition to both Nazism and Communism. They were able to move to safety in Frankfurt, West Germany. Elder Uchtdorf said of his childhood,

We were refugees with an uncertain future. . . . I played in bombed-out houses and grew up with the ever-present consequences of a lost war and the awareness that my own country had inflicted terrible pain on many nations during the horrific World War II (“The Global Church Blessed by the Voice of the Prophets,” Ensign, November 2002, 10).

However, these hard times brought the Uchtdorf family a great gift, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder Uchtdorf related how his family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

After World War II, my grandmother was standing in line for food when an elderly single sister with no family of her own invited her to sacrament meeting. . . . My grandmother and my parents accepted the invitation. They went to church, felt the Spirit, were uplifted by the kindness of the members, and were edified by the hymns of the Restoration. . . . How grateful I am for a spiritually sensitive grandmother, teachable parents, and a wise, white-haired, elderly single sister who had the sweet boldness to reach out and follow the Savior’s example by inviting us to ‘come and see’ (John 1:39) (“The Opportunity to Testify,” Ensign, November 2004, 74).

Elder Uchtdorf lives by the saying “you could be upset about it, but you are not obligated to be.” His son said he always knew that his father put his trust in the Lord.

At fourteen, Elder Uchtdorf dreamed of becoming a pilot. He pursued this dream as a career, and has become one of the most recognized and honored commercial pilots in Germany. "He joined the air force in his home country, Germany, in 1959. Half a century later, he looks back on a career in aviation that began with earning German and U.S. wings. He trained in the U.S. Air Force from 1960 to 1962, graduating at the top of his class, and served six years as a fighter pilot in the German air force. After he left the military, he was a pilot for Lufthansa German Airlines" (Church News, September 26, 2009). "In 1975, President Uchtdorf became head of Pilot Lufthansa School in Goodyear, Arizona. He and Sister Uchtdorf bought a home in Glendale, where they lived until 1978, when they returned to Germany."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shared this incident:

On December 17, 1973, the president of Lufthansa German Airlines in Frankfurt, Germany, received alarming news. Five terrorists had hijacked a Lufthansa 737 jet in Rome, Italy, and were making their way to Athens, Greece, with hostages on board. As they did so, 32 people lay dead in Rome, and one of the hostages now in flight was soon to be mortally shot and summarily dumped onto the airport runway in Athens. With guns to the heads of the pilot and copilot and with hostages trembling in terror, the unstable hijackers directed a bizarre path from Rome to Beirut to Athens to Damascus to Kuwait.

In an instant, the president of Lufthansa ordered into the air his chief pilot for the 737 fleet. Thirty-three-year-old Dieter F. Uchtdorf was to take a small group of emergency personnel and follow the hijacked plane wherever the guerrillas took it. In every setting possible he was to negotiate for the release of the plane, the pilots, and the hostages. Then, when all of this had been accomplished, he was to fly the hijacked 737 back to headquarters in Frankfurt.

With fortunately no more bloodshed, this mission, like so many others he had been on personally and professionally, was successfully accomplished. Unknown to him at the time, it was a portent of more important missions yet to come.[1]

Copy of a certificate presented to President Dieter F. Uchtdorf by the Hill Air Force Base, Church News

During his career, in addition to becoming a captain at the young age of 29, he became director of the Arizona training school (1975), chief pilot and head of cockpit crews (1980), and finally senior vice president of flight operations (1982).

When he retired in 1996, he was senior vice president for flight operations and chief pilot for Lufthansa. He was also chairman of the Flight Operations Committee of the International Air Transport Association. He ended his career piloting a 747 on the Frankfurt to Dallas run. During the same time, he was gaining recognition and status as a pilot, Elder Uchtdorf also received calls within the Church which required great strength and dedication. He was first called as the president of the Frankfurt Germany Stake, then as president of the Mannheim Germany Stake, and in 1994, he was called as a General Authority in the Quorum of the Seventy (two years before his retirement from Lufthansa).

"Harriet and I had the dream that when I retired, we would go on a mission," he said. "The option Lufthansa offered me was that I could retire at age 55, so that was our plan. Then, when I was 53, I was called as a General Authority. Our plan didn't quite work out. I was still working full-time for Lufthansa and was serving full-time as a member of the Quorum of the Seventy. I retired at 55, and have continued on as a General Authority since then.

"I took my last flight for Lufthsana in a 747 and came back to Frankfurt with Harriet in the cockpit with me. We docked at the airport in Frankfurt. The welcome team was there, and amidst them was our family and our children holding up a huge sign saying, 'On to new horizons.'"[2]

Elder Uchtdorf and his wife, Harriet, are the parents of a son and a daughter.

Elder Uchtdorf was the recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on October 30, 2012. The award is the only federal decoration of Germany and is given as a tribute to those who have achieved exceptional accomplishments of service, charitable work, and distinctive social, political and scientific contributions.

German Consul General Dr. Bernd Fischer, presented the award and praised President Uchtdorf for his lifetime of service and leadership, according to an article in the Deseret News.

"For his service in the field of aviation and his selfless service to his worldwide community, it would be sufficient to qualify him for this special award," said Dr. Fischer. "But together, his service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his community service, and his service and leadership in the field of aviation, we are three-times pleased to present this award to President Uchtdorf."

"He has always shown the flag of Germany to the world," Dr. Fischer said. "Everywhere he goes, he is known as 'The German among us,' as he spreads good will and comfort to millions across the world. He is a marvelous ambassador of good will and hope to those with whom he speaks."

Uchtdorf said he was humbled to “receive this unexpected distinction.”[3]

Apostleship

Elder Uchtdorf filled the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve created by the death of Elder Neal A. Maxwell on July 21, 2004. Also ordained the same day was Elder David A. Bednar, who filled the vacancy created by the death of Elder David B. Haight, who died just ten days after Elder Maxwell on July 31, 2004. Elder Uchtdorf is the first apostle in more than fifty years who was not born in the United States, and the first ever from Germany.

Uchtdorf was called to the position of Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 3, 2008, upon the death of President Gordon B. Hinckley and the subsequent calling of Thomas S. Monson as president and prophet of the Church. Upon the death of President Monson on January 2, 2018, the First Presidency was dissolved and Elder Uchtdorf resumed his place of seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Uchtdorf fulfilled a ministry assignment from May 16 through June 10, 2024 in the Church's Central Europe Area. The itinerary included meeting with missionaries from the Germany Frankfurt, Germany Berlin, Germany Hamburg, Alpine German-speaking, and Czech/Slovak missions; participating in service projects at most of the mission stops; setting apart new leadership couples for the Hamburg mission and the Freiberg Germany Temple; and presiding at stake conferences in Zurich, Switzerland, and Dresden, Germany. He also represented the Church with civic and religious leaders in presenting humanitarian projects and donated service hours, spent time with the Europe Central Area presidency and participated in sacrament meetings as well as in meetings with members, young single adults, youth and new members. The Uchtdorfs also paid respects to the deceased, stopping at the Nazi German Auschwitz concentration camp near Katowice, Poland; the former Plötzensee Prison site in Berlin where 17-year-old German Latter-day Saint Helmuth Hubener was executed for his resistance to the Nazi regime; and the Dresden grave of Latter-day Saint missionary Joseph Ott, who died in 1896 about a month after arriving in Germany. The Uchtdorfs also visited key areas from their early lives in Germany and the Czech Republic.[4]

In April 2023, Elder Uchtdorf and Sister Uchtdorf traveled on a three-country assignment, starting with ministering to members, missionaries, and others in Paris, France. Then the Uchtdorfs traveled from Paris to Cairo, beginning their stay with a Friday morning combined sacrament meeting with the local English- and Arabic-speaking Latter-day Saints who comprise the two local branches. They continued to Israel where they met with Latter-day Saints and students at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. This was the first time for Sister Uchtdorf to come to the Egypt, but Elder Uchtdorf had flown there many times professionally and had Church assignments there previously.[5][6]

The Uchtdorfs were assigned to be in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 10-13, 2022, for weekend leadership trainings and were able to return to special sites, many from 60 years ago, as they celebrated faith, family and flight. They participated in a devotional held at Luke Air Force Base where he trained in 1962, visited the Mesa Arizona Temple where he received his endowment, and instructed at a Glendale multi-stake leadership meeting and attended sacrament meeting—a location where they lived for three years.[7]

Temples dedicated by Elder Uchtdorf

Hamilton New Zealand Temple (rededicated) · Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple · Manaus Brazil Temple · Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple · Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple · Cordoba Argentina Temple · Trujillo Peru Temple · Tijuana Mexico Temple · Fort Collins Colorado Temple · Tucson Arizona Temple · Meridian Idaho Temple · McAllen Texas Temple · Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple

Books by Elder Uchtdorf

Sister Eternal (2018)
The Gospel at 30,000 Feet (2017)
A Summer with Great-Aunt Rose (2016)
Forget Me Not (2012)
Your Happily Ever After (2011)
The Remarkable Soul of a Woman (2010)

Quotes from Elder Uchtdorf

"Go to our Heavenly Father in prayer; communicate with Him daily. Draw close to Him, and He will draw close to you. Ask about your studies of the scriptures, about your feelings and your questions, and He will answer. He is waiting, He is real, and He is there. Use the gift of the Holy Ghost. Believe in the power of prayer. It takes effort and time. Be patient; it is worth it. You can do it. You are not alone in this; others went through this before. Remember, it is easy to doubt, but it is a sure sign of maturity and responsibility to question and then search prayerfully for answers."

“Making Choices for Eternity,” Ensign, October 2002

"Faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of Him and His universal Atonement is not just a doctrine with great theological value. Such faith is a universal gift, glorious for all cultural regions of this earth, irrespective of language, race, color, nationality, or socioeconomic circumstance. The powers of reason may be used to try to understand this gift, but those who feel its effects most deeply are those who are willing to accept its blessings, which come from a pure and clean life of following the path of true repentance and living the commandments of God."

April 2005 General Conference, “The Fruits of the First Vision”

"It’s natural to have questions—the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith—even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

October 2013 General Conference, "Come, Join With Us"

“The thing about truth is that it exists beyond belief. It is true even if nobody believes it. We can say west is north and north is west all day long and even believe it with all our heart, but if, for example, we want to fly from Quito, Ecuador, to New York City in the United States, there is only one direction that will lead us there, and that is north—west just won’t do. Of course, this is just a simple aviation analogy. However, there is indeed such a thing as absolute truth—unassailable, unchangeable truth.”

BYU speech, “What Is Truth?” January 13, 2013

“When Jesus Christ, your Savior, speaks to you and tells you, ‘Come, follow Me,’ He is urging you to rise up and accept the challenge of discipleship. He is inviting you to join His path through life and find your true self. To do this, you must act. You must do the hard things. Choose to believe. If that seems too difficult, begin with a desire to believe.”

Devotional at the Salt Lake City Utah University Institute of Religion, Sunday, March 17, 2024