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As this weekend's sessions of LDS General Conference approach, one big question — with three answers — looms:

Who will be the three new Mormon apostles?

It's a big deal because these three will join an elite group in helping to guide, mold and manage The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the rest of their lives. One, two or even all three could rise someday to lead the global faith as its prophet-president.

So who decides on the new apostles?

That's easy. The LDS Church president makes that call. Right now, that man is 88-year-old Thomas S. Monson.

The Mormon leader, naturally, petitions the heavens for divine direction, but he also can turn to earthly advisers. Historians note that LDS prophets often solicit names of prospective apostles from their counselors in the governing First Presidency and fellow apostles.

That's a process Monson has followed.

"[His] practice has been to ask each of his counselors and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve to give him names they would recommend for his consideration," junior apostle D. Todd Christofferson recently told the LDS Church-owned Deseret News. " ... He then brings back, when he's reached his decision and had the inspiration he needs, the name or names to the council that we have of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to sustain it."

The three-member First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve make up the top two ruling bodies in the 15 million-member LDS Church.

There is no indication that any formal input is sought from Mormonism's top women leaders.

When will the new apostles be named?

That usually happens at the next General Conference after an apostle dies. Hence the intrigue surrounding this weekend.

But apostles don't have to be revealed then.

Russell M. Nelson, newly installed president of the Quorum of the Twelve and next in line for the faith's presidency, and Dallin H. Oaks were called to the apostleship in April 1984. But two conferences had passed before Nelson, a renowned heart surgeon, filled a seat that had been vacant for more than year. Oaks, a Utah Supreme Court justice, took a spot left empty for less than three months.

Even so, most observers believe new apostles will be announced this weekend.

How many new apostles will be named?

Well, there are three openings in the Quorum of the Twelve — something that hasn't happened since 1906 — so presumably three new apostles would be called. They would fill the seats left by the recent deaths of L. Tom Perry, Boyd K. Packer and Richard G. Scott. However, Mormon leaders may announce just two replacements or one or even none.

Nelson told the LDS Church News that new apostles probably will be called at this conference, but he quickly added "that is a matter between the Lord and his prophet."

Who might the new apostles be?

Good question. We wish we knew the answer. We won't, however, until the announcements are made.

Of course, that hasn't stopped Mormon pundits, observers, bloggers, commentators and card-carrying members from trying to guess — and that's all it is — the next apostles.

Just for fun, here are some names that have been bandied about in LDS circles:

From the Utah-based faith's Presidency of the Seventy: Ronald A. Rasband, L. Whitney Clayton, Ulisses Soares.

From the First Quorum of the Seventy: Kim B. Clark, Claudio R.M. Costa, Edward Dube, Larry J. Echo Hawk, Gerrit W. Gong, Walter F. González, S. Gifford Nielsen, Joseph W. Sitati, Michael John U. Teh, Chi Hong (Sam) Wong.

From the Presiding Bishopric: Gérald Caussé.

Many are eager to see non-Americans (ala Dieter F. Uchtdorf) named or Latinos or Africans (in deference to Mormonism's surging presence in Latin America and Africa) or African-Americans or Asians or American Indians — leaders who could diversify the faith's upper echelons.

The LDS Church website says a new apostle "may be called from one of the Quorums of the Seventy (which are made up of general authorities who are senior leaders in the church) or from general church membership around the world."

Apostles — traditionally, they are married when they are picked — need not come from a top LDS council.

Theoretically, then, any faithful Mormon man — women aren't eligible — could be part of a very, very long list.

Does it matter the order in which they are named?

Yes. Absolutely. Emphatically. Categorically.

The order in which the new apostles are seated is vital because rank means everything.

"Seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve is determined," explains the LDS Church website, "by the date an apostle is called rather than by age."

When multiple replacements are named at the same time, under recent tradition, the older apostle is seated first.

Spencer W. Kimball, for instance, was ordained an apostle minutes before Ezra Taft Benson on Oct. 7, 1943 — both by then-LDS Church President Heber J. Grant. But Kimball rose to church leadership Dec. 30, 1973, nearly 12 years before Benson succeeded him, on Nov. 10, 1985.

More recently, Uchtdorf was ordained just before David A. Bednar, on Oct. 7, 2004, putting the German apostle ahead of Bednar on the seniority scale.

All Mormon apostles are seen by members as "prophets, seers and revelators." The man who outlives the apostles seated before him ascends to the LDS Church's highest office.

What do apostles do?

They preach, teach and testify.

"In addition to serving as witnesses of Jesus Christ to all the world, as Jesus' apostles did," notes the church's website, "members of the current Quorum of the Twelve Apostles hold the keys of the priesthood — that is, the rights of presidency [for the church]."

They also become full-time executives, running a billion-dollar enterprise. They oversee vast resources, departments and tasks. Unlike most CEOs, though, they give sermons in places as different as Arkansas and Argentina. Twice a year they deliver major General Conference addresses that are viewed almost as scripture by LDS listeners.

Apostles make momentous decisions about Mormonism's future: when to take a political stance, build a temple or establish a new policy.

And they hold the job for life.