Mormon church leader Richard G. Scott dies at 86

Elder Richard G. Scott, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has died, the church announced Tuesday. He was 86.

Scott died of natural causes on Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City and was surrounded by his family, according to a release from the LDS church.

“Elder Scott was able, very successfully, to keep his eye on eternity,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in the news release. “His messages were filled with hope. And he was unapologetic about repentance and the Atonement because he knew that that's where hope came from or what one could hope for as a consequence of true, full repentance and the effect of the Atonement, the grace of Jesus Christ, in one's life.”

Scott served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 27 years after being sustained as an apostle on Oct 1, 1988. Prior to being called as an apostle, Scott was called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 2, 1977.

Scott was hospitalized in April due to gastrointestinal bleeding, according to KSL.com. 

Scott's passing leaves three vacancies in the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, according to Scott's obituary in the Salt Lake Tribune. L. Tom Perry, who served as a Mormon apostle since 1974, died May 30 at the age of 92 and Boyd K. Packer, who served as the head of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since 2008, died July 3 at the age of 90.

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