Mary N. Cook

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Mary Nielsen Cook (b. June 8, 1951) was a counselor to Susan W. Tanner in the general presidency of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since March 31, 2007 until April 2008. Since April 2008 Cook has been the first counselor to Elaine S. Dalton in the same presidency.

Born in Midvale, Utah, Mary Nielsen earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brigham Young University in audiology, speech pathology, and education. In her professional career, she was a school administrator and a special education teacher.

On July 16, 1988, Nielsen married Richard E. Cook, whose first wife had died in 1984. Richard Cook would later serve as a general authority of the LDS Church from 1997 to 2001; he is currently the finance director of the church's Perpetual Education Fund.

In the early 1990s, the Cooks served in Mongolia as LDS Church missionaries. In July 1995, when the church created the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission, Richard Cook was asked to be the first mission president. Mary Cook served with her husband in Mongolia until 1998. The Cooks would later live in Hong Kong, China while Richard served as a member of the presidency of the church's Asia Area.

On March 31, 2007, at a church general conference, Mary N. Cook was accepted by the church as the second counselor to Susan W. Tanner in the general presidency of the Young Women Organization.

Cook has no biological children, but she is the step-mother to Richard Cook's four children.

[edit] Speeches and publications

  • Mary N. Cook, “Strengthen Home and Family,” Liahona, Nov. 2007, 11–13
  • Richard E. Cook and Mary N. Cook, "Mongolia", Religious Liberty and the Global Church: The Challenge of Sharing, Seventh Annual Conference of the International Society (Provo, Utah: David M. Kennedy Center, Brigham Young University) 1996-08-19
  • Catherine D. Montgomery and Mary N. Cook, "'Teach Me to Know': Cultivating Teaching Skills", Rise to the Divinity within You, Brigham Young University Women's Conference, (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University) 2006-05-04

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