Elder David F. Evans

Of the Seventy

“Do the best you can for as long as you can.” Elder David Frewin Evans of the First Quorum of the Seventy has always remembered these words of wisdom, shared by his father during a challenging time near the end of his father’s life.

We all have trials and challenges, but “the key is to have faith in the Lord,” says Elder Evans. “He has opened the door to all of us, not only to eternal blessings but to wonderful blessings of peace and happiness and opportunity today.” And once we have a testimony of the gospel, “we ought to share it!” he encourages.

Missionary work has been a big part of Elder Evans’s life, beginning with his first mission to Japan in the early 1970s and again while serving as mission president in the Japan Nagoya Mission from 1998 to 2001. He, his wife, Mary Dee Shepherd Evans, and their eight children have continued their missionary endeavors since returning home to Salt Lake City.

In addition to missionary service, Elder Evans has served in a variety of callings, including stake president at the time of his call to the Seventy. He served previously as a counselor in a stake presidency, stake Young Men president, and bishop.

Born in Salt Lake City on August 11, 1951, to David C. and Joy F. Evans, Elder Evans is quick to credit them as exemplary parents. His wife, Mary, whom he married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 24, 1973, has also been a great source of strength.

Devoted to higher education, Elder Evans earned a bachelor’s degree in community health education and a law degree. He has been a partner and practicing attorney with a number of Utah law firms and is also an executive in an investment banking business.

Elder Evans knows that blessings will follow any trials that may come in life. But he plans to “go forward with faith,” as President Hinckley has taught. When we do that, he says, “we then ultimately recognize that the Lord has been with us and is with us” after all we can do.