Russell M. Nelson: Father, Surgeon, Apostle

by Spencer J. Condie

One night as Dantzel and Russell were walking down Boylston Street in Boston, Dantzel pressed her nose against the windowpane of a furniture store and wistfully asked, "Do you think we'll ever be able to afford a lamp?" They had been married nine years by then, and Russell thought this was not an unreasonable request. They had become accustomed to looking at the things others had without really feeling much envy because they simply knew they could not afford them. That was the only time Russell ever heard Dantzel express a desire for any material possessions she did not have. "It seems amazing to me that a woman could genuinely be as selfless as she has been," he says, "for all she ever wanted was enough to provide for the children that were so near and dear to us."28