Mary N. Cook

Mary N. Cook

Mary Nielsen Cook (born June 8, 1951) has been a counselor in the general presidency of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2007. She served as second counselor to Susan W. Tanner, with Elaine S. Dalton as first counselor, from March 2007 until April 2008. In April 2008, Dalton succeeded Tanner as Young Women general president and selected Cook as her first counselor.

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 was later managing 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. 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, during the church's annual general conference, Cook was accepted as second counselor to Susan W. Tanner in the general presidency of the Young Women Organization. In April 2008, Elaine S. Dalton succeeded Tanner as Young Women general president and selected Cook as first counselor in the presidency.

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