RE: Bidirectional Concerns of Influence

Do you mean the power/influence of the Utah Mormons on the LDS Church in general? To answer, I'll have to explain some about Church organization.

At the top, you have the First Presidency, made up of the Prophet and two counselors, and then the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. These 15 men probably live in Salt Lake City or close by.

Under that are the Quorums of the Seventy, of which there are eight. These live all over the globe. The first and second have general authority in the Church, but the third through eighth live and have geographical authority as follows:

• Third - Africa Southeast, Africa West, Europe Central, Europe East, and Europe West Areas
• Fourth - Mexico North, Mexico South, Central America, Caribbean, South America North, and South America West Areas
• Fifth - North America Northwest, North America West, Idaho, Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South Areas
• Sixth - North America Central, North America East, North America Northeast, North America Southeast, and North America Southwest Areas
• Seventh - Brazil North, Brazil South, Chile, and South America South Areas
• Eighth - Asia, Asia North, Australia, New Zealand/Pacific islands, and Philippines Areas

From there you get into the mission organization and then stakes and wards - all of which are organized with leaders who live on-site and, where possible, are called from local membership.

Getting back to your question, then, those in the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve probably need to live in Salt Lake City or close by. Some, like Elder Uchtdorf, are not from Utah but must move there. (As a side note, while searching around, I found an interesting statistic: There have been 11 Apostles not born in the United States. Elder Uchdorf was the 11th, and the 101st Apostle overall.) The 1st and 2nd Quorums of the Twelve may feel the same need, but I'm not sure.

After that, however, the concentration of "power" is no more than the membership requires. In other words, every ward has a Bishopric and other leaders, each group of wards has a Stake Presidency and other leaders, each group of Stakes and Missions has an Area Presidency which includes members of the 3rd through 8th Quorums of the Seventy.

The influence of a Bishop in Utah is just the same as a Bishop in Brazil: one ward. The influence of a Stake President is one Stake, an Area President one Area, a father one family, etc.

Does that answer your question?

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