President Nelson,

I am honored so much to see you. Thank you for coming. Well, I'm delighted to be here. This is wonderful. So kind. Thank you. Dear Marva. How are you?

A pleasure to meet you.

Nice to meet you. May I present my wife, Wendy. Nice to meet you.

Reverend Carter. Thank you so much. Pleased to see you. Well, you’ve come a long way for a

wonderful experience for me. It’s a long awaited privilege for us.

Well, thank you for being you. Be it known,

to all who look upon this scrip, that Russell Marion Nelson Senior,

MD, PhD, the 17th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, is being honored.

God spoke the world into being with one powerful command: “Let there be light.”

And God called humankind to embody and carry forth that light so that the world might forever be illumined in divine glory.

Because you, Russell Marion Nelson Senior,

carry the light of truth, in the great Morehouse leadership tradition,

which recognizes the universal Christ and works for universal justice,

we are honored to announce you

as the inaugural laureate of the Morehouse College

Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize.

As an internationally recognized medical scientist;

revered president, prophet,

seer, and revelator for the 17-million member Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, you have continued the legacy of Joseph Smith,

founder of the Latter-day Saints movement and the first nationally recognized religious leader in the United States to advocate for the freedom of enslaved Africans

by affirming racial and ethnic equality

and running for the American presidency on a political platform of compensation

emancipation. You have worked tirelessly to build bridges of understanding rather than create walls of segregation.

You have led your great Church to link arms

with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,

better known as the NAACP; the United Negro College Fund;

Morehouse College; and Spelman College to help more people enjoy the light

pf participatory democracy.

You have inspired your Church to radical inclusivity

and solidarity by taking a stand for the rights of women and children

and to preserve the intellectual, personal,

social, and religious freedoms and protection of all humankind.

You have championed the moral, cosmopolitan worldview

of the religion of Jesus. That is a hallowed blueprint

for neighbors first. Nonviolent human rights struggles around the globe by serving as a virtue, ethical exemplar

of leadership grown courageous in the 21st century.

One human family with the Creator.

For your noble efforts to heal and reunite the broken body of Christ,

and for your contributions to help make the scriptural proclamation,

“God so loved the world” a tangible reality, Morehouse College salutes you.

In the spirit of our motto, “Et Facta Est Lux,” which in English means,

“And there was light,” Morehouse gifts uou a crystal obelisk, a shaft of light,

Ancient Egyptians called the Binbin Stone,

to commemorate the ancestors and honor the attributes of God.

May it reflect the light within you

and inspire continued works of global peace, harmony, and reconciliation.

Testifying to this honor,

affirmed and witnessed under the seals of the college and the chapel,

the signatures of duly authorized officers are hereunto affixed this 13th day of April, 2023,

in the city of Atlanta. Per Dominum Nostrum Jesum Christum. So be it.

And so it is. Willie Woods, 13th Chairman, Morehouse Board of Trustees.

David Anthony Thomas, 12th president of Morehouse College. Lawrence Edward Carter Senior, founding dean of the Martin Luther King Junior International Chapel.

That is just elegant.

This is the crystal... Isn’t that gorgeous. obelisk. This symbolized the creative power of God. And here are three statements:

“Let there be light. And there was light. And the light was good.”

So you get theology, cosmology.

And my favorite scriptures.

You're going to receive a medal, a medallion. And the medallion will have on it

The image, the profile of Gandhi, King, and Mandela.

Now, this is a prize that does not carry a purse. It carries a library.

And we have a selection here

of books on Gandhi—on and by Gandhi—

about him and by him. And the same for King and for Mandela. Every now and again

people should do what you did, and that is get out of the box and surprise some folk.

Do something very different

of what is needed

to unite people,

To bring harmony?