Elder Taylor G. Godoy

Several years into his profession, Elder Taylor G. Godoy found himself at a crossroads.

He was working as a dentist, establishing a practice, and anticipating a future in academics teaching dental surgery. But a beloved and trusted priesthood leader invited him to work for Seminaries and Institutes.

Leaving a burgeoning career was an interesting choice for the young dentist, who was sustained on April 1, 2017, as a General Authority Seventy. Many of his colleagues wondered how he could walk away from the profession.

“But I knew it was the right choice,” he said. Such faithful certainty defines the Church convert. Helping others discover and come to love the gospel has proven to be a life-defining opportunity and blessing.

During his Church education career, Elder Godoy worked as an institute teacher, coordinator, director, and country director. Most recently, he was the South America Northwest Seminaries and Institutes area director.

Taylor Guillermo Godoy Atanacio was born in Lima, Peru, in 1968, to Taylor Godoy and Adalzahinda Atanacio. His father died when he was a young boy, and his beloved stepfather, Elias Rebaza, raised him. Elder Godoy joined the Church when he was 17.

After serving in the Peru Lima North Mission, he returned to his hometown of Arequipa. There he developed a friendship with a young woman named Carol Pacheco. The fellow converts were married on May 31, 1994, in the Lima Peru Temple. They are the parents of two children.

Elder Godoy earned a bachelor’s degree in dentistry from the Catholic University of Santa Maria in 1993 and a master’s degree in administration from the Technical University of Madrid in 2006.

He has served as bishop, high councilor, stake president, area public affairs director, and Area Seventy.