During the Saturday afternoon session of the 196th Annual General Conference, President D. Todd Christofferson announced a new Primary General Presidency. The new leadership consists of President Rosemary K. Chibota as the Primary president, Sister Nina M. Garfield as first counselor and Sister Theresa A. Collins as second counselor.

Not only is President Rosemary K. Chibota the first African woman to lead a general presidency, but she and Sister Theresa A. Collins served as mission leaders. President Rosemary K. Chibota served in the Alabama Birmingham Mission from 2022 to 2025 while Sister Theresa A. Collins served in Arkansas Bentonville Mission from 2021 to 2024.

President Rosemary K. Chibota

Korbin Peterson, majoring in finance at BYU-Idaho, had six months left on his mission when President Rosemary K. Chibota and her husband entered the mission field in Alabama. He was the assistant to the president at the time.

The biggest lesson he learned from President Chibota is "to love everyone but still expect everything from them."

When President Chibota finished as a mission leader, Peterson was able to visit them with his wife and baby. He noted that President Chibota played with his son the whole visit.

Elise Simpkins, majoring in health psychology, served from October 2022 to April 2024. President Chibota served for the duration of her mission in Alabama.

She learned how to love unconditionally from President Chibota.

"She is the epitome of Christlike love, and she serves others so selflessly," Simpkins said. "I learned to love better through her and how to be compassionate to others regardless of my own or other's opinions."

Simpkins was struggling emotionally on her mission and President Chibota listened to her, gave her counsel, and prayed for her.

President Chibota emphasized personal conversion to Jesus Christ, according to Evan Ward, who served from June 2022 to May 2024. Ward said missionaries sometimes focused more on the work itself than on developing a personal conversion to Jesus Christ.

At a zone conference, President Chibota invited missionaries to study a single name of Jesus Christ that had personal meaning. Ward said the invitation influenced his mission. He chose to study the name “Savior.”

“Whenever I feel like I’m pulling away from Christ, I remember the name … and it helps me reel back in,” Ward said.

Ward said missionaries could feel the love President Chibota had for Jesus Christ, which influenced them to feel the same way

Sister Theresa A. Collins

Josh Jones, majoring in supply chain management at BYUI, served in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission from June 2021 to February 2023. He said the biggest lesson he learned was being willing to love our circumstances and cherish the opportunity to have them.

Jones was attending a big multi-zone conference with a General Authority when he was asked to conduct the program. He felt very nervous because he had never conducted before. Sister Collins was there and saw that Jones was nervous.

"She just came right up to me [and] told me she knew I would do great [and shared] how much she loved me [and] how much she has seen me grow in my testimony," Jones said.

Once the conference was over, Jones felt happy and confident in his abilities.

Sophie Runyan, a BYU student studying editing and publishing with a minor in creative writing, learned that while she can be strong that strength can be multiplied with God.

"She [Sister Collins] was always a mentally and spiritually strong leader," Runyan said. "But she always let us know that this came from Christ."

Runyan has a complicated last name that it was easier to go by a nickname. However, Sister Collins always called her by her full last name: Sister Jaglowski.

There was a period in Runyan was struggling so deeply that she required a transfer. Sister Collins felt prompted to call Runyan and her new companion. At the end of their conversation, Sister Collins bore a powerful testimony that they were not alone and that Christ would prevail.

"She probably thought she was there to help the work, but she showed me that Christ did prevail in our mission," said Runyan.

Leah Holding served from June 2023 to November 2024 and is majoring in graphic design and photography at BYUI. She said, "I love how she [Sister Collins] makes every person feel loved and special."

At the end of Holding's first night on the mission field, she had forgotten something in the trailer. Sister Collins went outside with her to help get her stuff. While they were outside, Sister Collins told her to look at the fireflies.

"We just sat there and talked and I felt that I was going to be okay and that God would be with me through the people He had put in my path on my mission," Holding said.