“Elder Andrew W. Peterson Of the Seventy,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, 105
Elder Andrew W. Peterson
Of the Seventy
Elder Andrew W. Peterson fondly remembers his service as a stake mission president while attending dental school in San Francisco. Evenings of teaching the gospel often followed full days of studying.
Despite his busy missionary schedule, Elder Peterson graduated with honors. “I gained a testimony that the Lord can truly help us in our studies,” he recalls.
Elder Peterson’s calling as a stake missionary helped prepare him for his call to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy. He served a mission to northern Argentina and southern Bolivia from 1966 to 1968; as president of the Mexico Merida Mission from 1981 to 1984; as a counselor in the Salt Lake University Third Stake presidency from 1984 to 1988; then as stake president from 1988 to 1992; and as a regional representative. Elder Peterson also enjoyed serving as a Primary teacher upon being released as stake president. “The children taught me many valuable lessons,” he says.
Andrew Peterson was born 8 June 1947 in San Francisco. Three years later, his family moved to Utah, where his father set up dental practice—first in Payson and then in Salt Lake City, where Andrew spent the remainder of his childhood and where he began practicing dentistry following his graduation from dental school in 1974.
Elder Peterson’s love for the Church and its leaders began when he was a child. His grandfather, a stake president in the Salt Lake Hillside Stake, often introduced him to visiting General Authorities following stake conference. When he was sixteen, Andrew was greatly influenced by participating in the Hill Cumorah Pageant in New York and by attending a testimony meeting in the Sacred Grove.
On 20 June 1969, he married Christine Ann Swensen in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of eight children, with whom they enjoy spending as much time as possible.
The Petersons have been active in local and international community service. Through their involvement with the Partners of the Americas—a national people-to-people program—they were able to assist Bolivian school children.
Elder Peterson, who believes that Heavenly Father exercises a guiding hand in our lives, looks forward to giving full-time service to the Church. “I feel very blessed,” he says. “I have a firm testimony of the importance of this work.”