callings he held were those of home missionary (similar to what would later be called a stake missionary, and eventually a ward missionary) and president of the ward Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association (YMMIA). In 1890, Richards became second counselor in the presidency of the Tooele Utah Stake. In 1893, Richards was ordained a patriarch by Francis M. Lyman. At age 32, Richards was one of the youngest men to have ever held this office in the church. Calling as an apostle In 1905, two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles resigned after an argument over LDS Church doctrine and policy. John W. Taylor disagreed with the 1890 Manifesto forbidding plural marriage; Matthias F. Cowley felt that it should apply only to the territory of the United States. In February of the next year, apostle Marriner W. Merrill died; this left three vacancies in the Quorum. On April 8, 1906, at the LDS Church's general conference, Richards was called to be an apostle by church president Joseph F. Smith. He was ordained and set apart the following day, ahead of Orson F. Whitney and David O. McKay. Early assignments in the Twelve Richards was appointed to the General Boards of the YMMIA and the Religion Classes shortly after his call to the Twelve. He also served as an advisor to the Primary General Board beginning in 1909, initially as one of the first two priesthood advisors to the board (along with Hyrum M. Smith). During his early days in the Twelve, Richards went on several tours of missions in the United States as well as visiting many stake conferences. Mission president In 1916, Richards was made the president of the church's European Mission. In this position he was directly over missionary work in Great Britain as well as having a supervisory role over the mission presidents on the European continent. Among the mission presidents in mainland Europe was Richards's son LeGrand, who was president of the Netherlands Mission. George F. Richards, Jr. and his wife Edith accompanied George F. Richards while he served as mission president. Richards succeeded Hyrum M. Smith as president of the European Mission. Temple president From 1921 to 1938, Richards was the president of the Salt Lake Temple. In this capacity, he assisted in the changing of the temple ordinances to conform with the church's "Good Neighbor" policy. During his time as temple president