April 9, 2025, 2:01pm MDT
New Young Male General President – President Timothy L. Farns and his counselors, brother David J. Wonderly and brother Sean R. Dixon, will begin serving on August 1st.
At the time, the young male general president Stephen J. Rand and his counselors, brothers Bradley R. Wilcox and brother Michael T. Nelson, were released.
These upcoming changes were announced at the Saturday morning session of the April 2025 General Meeting. President Darryn H. Oaks, the first counselor of the first presidency, announced the calling of new members of the seventies, the 16 new presidents, the new young male general president.
President Lund and the Wilcox brothers have been the Nelson brothers since 2023 since 2020.
Below is a quick look at new leaders. A more detailed profile for each will be displayed in the coming weeks.
Timothy L. Ferns, President
When President Ferns was 14, another friend of his faith began to challenge his religious beliefs. For the first time in his young life he testified that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the church was true.
“The spirit filled the room. That was obvious,” he recalls. “We all felt that and we all changed.”
Now, President Farns wanted the young people in the church to know that they belong to the family of Christ.
“They are the children of God, the children of the covenant,” he said.
Timothy Lowell Ferns was born on June 29, 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland to Gary William and Mary Ellen Ferns. At a young age, his family moved to Utah, where he grew up. He is the oldest of the seven children.
President Ferns served in the Porto Allegre Mission in Brazil. He studied economics at Brigham Young University and later started several companies, including Medsource Direct and Aspire, and the world of humanitarian nonprofits.
He married Lindsay Anne Farns on August 27, 1992 at Salt Lake Temple. They have five children and six grandchildren and now live in Bountiful, Utah.
President Ferns and his sister Ferns served as mission leaders for the Brazilian Sao Paulo North Mission from 2014 to 2017. Previous summons to President Farns include 70 Utah area locals, stake presidents, high councillors, bishops and young single adult bishops.
– Kaitlyn Bancroft
First counselor, David J. Wonderli
Brother Wonderli always knew that Jesus Christ was alive.
“I’ve been blessed to be able to feel his presence as long as I can remember,” he said. “I always had a heart that I trusted.”
This doesn’t mean he’s not taking the challenge.
He wants the young people in the church to feel a sense of belonging. To know they have teammates in every country. To know that Jesus Christ knows them by name.
David John Wonderli was born in Salt Lake City on June 22, 1961 to Fredrik Theodore Wonderli and Bernardin Raiman Wonderli. He met Diane Robbins when she moved from Canada to his ward. They were sealed in 1984 at Salt Lake Temple, raising four children in California, and then raised Alpine, Utah.
The Wonderli brothers worked on missions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and received a bachelor’s degree in minors and accounting in Portuguese from the University of Utah. He was an executive at Easton Sports and worked as president of Ogio International. He served on several companies and charity committees.
At the time of his appeal, he was serving on the General Advisory Committee for Young Men. Sister Wonderli is on the main general advisory committee. They were mission leaders for the Cape Verde Praia mission from 2020 to 2023. He served as YSA stake president and bishop, counselor for the MTC branch president and president of Ward Young Men.
– Mary Richards
Sean R. Dixon, Second Counselor
Noticing the many voices fighting over the attention of young people, the Dixon brothers want the young people to see modern prophets and apostles and follow their leadership.
“They lead them to Jesus Christ. They are not prophets (President Russell M. Nelson), they are Saviors. But the Prophets are very faced with the Savior, and if they follow him, they prepare for what they will face in their lives.”
Sean Romney Dixon was born on May 5, 1970 in Provo, Utah, the son of Donald Romney Dixon and Diane Scott Dixon. He worked at the Salt Lake Temple on May 14, 1992 at the Toronto Mission Canada and married M’shelle Lundquist. They are parents of five children.
At the time of the appeal to the young male general, the Dixon brothers were president of the Spanish Faulkyutteast stake. He is former California Redlands mission president, stake presidency counselor, bishop, bishop counselor and Ward Young Male president.
The Dixon brothers received their bachelor’s degree in family science from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Phoenix. He has worked for 30 years on various missions at seminary and religious institutes, and is now director of the Utah South Institute area, overseeing the institutes from Orem to St. George. Previously, he was a longtime seminary teacher in Utah County and director of the Utah Valley Institute of Religion.
– Scott Taylor
