BYU–Hawaii alumnus, Elder Yoon Hwan Choi (pictured top with wife Sister Bon Kyung Koo Choi; photo courtesy of ldschurchnews.com), was sustained to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy, during the 179th Annual General Conference of the Church, in April. Before Elder Choi’s call to the Seventy, he served as bishop’s counselor, bishop, high councilor, stake mission president, stake president’s counselor, stake president, and served in the Eighth Quorum of the Seventy in the Asia North Area.
Elder Choi completed his bachelor’s degree in business information management at BYU–Hawaii in 1988. He went on to earn his master’s degree in business information systems and education from Utah State University in 1989. He was an instructor at BYU–Hawaii and Utah State University, a sales manager, and an investment director for a venture capital company. He was also a regional manager for temporal affairs for the Church in Korea.
Elder Choi was born in Seoul Korea on May 18, 1957, to Dong Hun Choi and Jeung Soon Lee. His father allowed Elder Choi and his siblings to choose any Christian religion, but they often argued over their different beliefs during dinner. His father wanted to change this. Impressed by the Mormon religion of Elder Choi’s 14-year-old brother, the family listened to the missionaries. After learning about another 14-year-old, Joseph Smith, they were all baptized.
He had a strong testimony and was active, especially in youth activities. He harbored the dream of someday becoming a general in the South Korean military and being a leader of men. When his bishop asked him to speak in stake conference on preparing to serve a mission, he said no because he wasn’t planning on serving a mission himself.
Soon after refusing to speak, he said he felt very guilty and started thinking seriously about a mission. By the time he was old enough to apply for a mission, he gave up his military dream, choosing instead to join the missionary army of the Lord.
“The Holy Ghost told me I needed to serve a mission,” he said. He knew he would have to be available for mandatory military duty at age 20, anyway, “but he took missionary service seriously, [and] changed his mind,” said his wife, Bon Kyung Choi.
He accepted a call to the Korea Busan Mission, served for one year, and was honorably released when he was drafted into the South Korean army. He served three years in special service as part of the national president’s protective team.
His wife, Sister Choi, said, “I respected him so much. He was a good boy in the Church and I knew he had a strong testimony. He was also very patient…”
While doing his military service, Elder Choi asked his longtime friend to marry him.
“I didn’t say ‘no,’ but I didn’t say ‘yes,’ either,” Sister Choi said. However, she did have feelings about his missionary service.
Elder Choi said, “She was the main influence for [my going] on a mission again.” Everyone else told him he had already served an honorable mission and should go on with his life. “She was the only one encouraging me to finish my mission.”
Sister Choi said, “That’s because I knew him. He would finish two years. It was his will, and I recognized [that].”
She said he was on her mind all the time he served that second year in the Korea Seoul Mission. “I knew he would come back to me with another proposal,” she said, and, this time, her answer was “yes.”
They were married civilly September 25, 1982, before a temple was built in Korea, and were sealed in the Laie Hawaii Temple one year later, on September 24, 1983. They now have three sons and one grandchild.
To this day, Elder Choi says he and his wife, “never deny anything that comes from the Lord.”
Elder Choi’s dreams to be a leader among men and to have a name that would be well known so he could be a positive influence for the Church didn’t come about as he imagined, but his recent sustaining by millions of people around the world as a General Authority is proof that they have come true. Though his life didn't follow his plan, putting spiritual things first enabled Elder Choi to reach his most important goals.
Sources: May 2009 Ensign, newsroom.lds.org, and www.ldschurchnews.com