“Douglas D. Holmes,” Liahona, May 2015, 144
Douglas D. Holmes
First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency
“This generation of youth have a greater capacity for obedience than any previous generation. I think that’s part of the Lord’s timetable and preparation for the days we live in,” said Brother Douglas D. Holmes, who was sustained on April 4, 2015, as the first counselor in the Young Men general presidency.
Brother Holmes was born on February 27, 1961, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Dee W. and Melba Howell Holmes and grew up in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.
After serving in the Scotland Glasgow Mission from 1980 to 1982, Brother Holmes received a bachelor’s degree in family science from Brigham Young University in 1986 and went on to earn a master of business administration degree from the university’s Marriott School of Management.
After graduation, he was a management consultant for three years and then undertook a successful career in the telecommunications industry, becoming executive vice president of strategy and corporate development for the Media One group. From 2000 until his calling as a mission president in 2010 and again from 2013, he has been self-employed in investment and real estate development.
He has devoted much of his time and talents to nonprofit organizations, serving on the boards of the United Way of Davis County, Utah; Parents for Choice in Education; the Safe Harbor Women’s Shelter in Davis County; and the Academy for Creating Enterprise.
He has served as ward mission leader, ward Young Men president, bishop, and most recently as a counselor in a stake presidency. He presided over the Michigan Detroit Mission from 2010 to 2013.
He married Erin Sue Toone on June 22, 1985, in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of six children.
“We’ve seen the power of the word in our lives, whether it’s been the word of the prophets or the word of the scriptures or the whisperings of the Holy Ghost,” Brother Holmes said.