Scott served in the LDS Church in many capacities. His ability to speak Spanish aided him in many assignments. Apart from his 31-month mission to Uruguay, he served as a stake clerk and as a counselor in a stake presidency before his service as a mission president. He served as a regional representative in the Uruguay, Paraguay, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. areas. He was called as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in April 1977. In 1983, he was called to the Presidency of the Seventy.