During the general conference leadership session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday, 45 new Area Seventies from 23 countries were announced and presented for a sustaining vote.

In past years, these changes and sustainings were done in a general session of conference. As the quorums have grown, the reading of all the names new to these quorums has become time consuming. As Area Seventies are not considered general authorities like the General Authority Seventies are, it is appropriate to have the sustainings during the leadership meeting.

For a complete list of names and biographical information of the new Area Seventies, readers may visit churchofjesuschrist.org. Listed below are the 12 quorums the areas of the world cover and the number of additions to each quorum.

• The Third Quorum (Africa Central, Africa South and Africa West areas) had three new members called.
• The Fourth Quorum (Asia and Asia North areas) had one newly called Seventy.
• The Fifth Quorum (Brazil Area) had seven new members of the Quorum called.
• The Sixth Quorum (Caribbean, Central America and Mexico areas) had six called to serve.
• The Seventh Quorum (Europe, Europe East and Middle East/Africa North areas) had eight new members called to the Quorum.
• The Eighth Quorum (Pacific and Philippines areas) has two new members.
• The Ninth Quorum (South America Northwest and South America South areas) had five called to the Quorum.
• The Tenth Quorum (North America Central, North America Northeast and North America Southeast areas) had four newly called to the Quorum.
• The Eleventh Quorum (North America Southwest and North America West areas) welcomed five new members to the Quorum.
• The Twelfth Quorum (Utah Area) had four called to the Quorum.

President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of the role and responsibilities of Area Seventies, regional church leaders around the globe.

“With the growth of the church across the world, the need for Area Seventies has increased,” Ballard said. “We love you. We trust you. We rely on you to extend our reach and to carry our teachings and direction to all the world. … You are to provide instruction and counsel consistent with the teachings of the living Apostles. … The ongoing establishment of the Seventy in Church governance is a powerful example of a ‘line upon line, precept upon precept,’ a pattern of revelation.”