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Mormon Elder Per G. Malm Passed Away Tuesday

Elder Per G. Malm was the first Swede to be elected to the General Authority Seventy.

Elder Per Gösta Malm passed away on the morning of Tuesday, July 26 at his home in Göteborg, Sweden after months of battling cancer. He was just 67-years-old at the time of his passing. Elder Malm was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)’s general authority Seventy Quorum.

Mormon Elder Per G. Malm Passed Away Tuesday[/tweetthis]

He was born on Sept. 12, 1948 in Jönköping, Sweden into a Latter-day Saint family. As he grew into his youth, he worked as a full-time missionary. This led him to be called for a church mission to help in the building of meetinghouses as one of the bricklayers at the age of 16. During this mission, he successfully worked on buildings in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and even Stockholm.

He then got married to his beloved wife Ingrid Agneta Karlsson back in October 1969. The two had met years earlier at a campground as they were traveling with their parents to do ordinance work in the temple in Bern, Switzerland.  With time, the two were blessed with eight children.

Elder Malm started out in family business but later went on to work at the Presiding Bishop’s Office. In that time, he earned law degrees from the University of Lund and the University of Göteborg, both in Sweden. He was then hired as the director of temporal affairs in the LDS Church, Europe. Malm then went on serve as public affairs director for the Sweden Church, as the president of the Norway Oslo Mission starting from 2003 to 2006 and finally as an Area Seventy.

He was then chosen on April 3, 2010 as a General Authority Seventy during the general conference, making him the first Swedish person to hold the title. During that conference, he spoke passionately about his theme, “Rest unto Your Souls.” In his ministry as a General Authority, Elder Malm focused a lot on missionary work. He was also known for his spiritually enlightening and profound messages. One of the best examples was in Seminar for Visitors’ Center Directors and New MTC Presidents back in January 2015 at the Provo Utah Missionary Training Center where he talked about the role of the Spirit in conversion.

On his passing, many have described the elder as an impeccable man. Elder L. Whitney Clayton who is the current senior president of the Quorums of the Seventy described him as a man of tremendous strength and spirituality. Moreover, he added that Malm had set a priceless example as a disciple, friend, father and husband during his life time and also that he had battled the cancer with his characteristic courage and calm!

Elder Per G. Malm is survived by Agneta, his wife, their 8 children and 25 grandchildren. As of now, all funeral arrangements are pending. Although he may be gone, the legacy he left behind will live on for decades to come.

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