Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Of the Seventy

After what he describes as “a knee-buckling experience,” Elder Gary Evan Stevenson is grateful for the call to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy.

“My initial thoughts after receiving this call were deep feelings of inadequacy, but at the same time I was filled with a sense of duty,” Elder Stevenson says. “We hear so often that the Lord will qualify those whom He calls, and He will have to do that for me.”

Elder Stevenson was born on August 6, 1955, in Ogden, Utah, USA, to Evan Stevenson and Jean Stevenson. He attended Utah State University, where he graduated in business administration and also met his wife, Lesa Jean Higley. They were married on April 20, 1979, in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple and are the parents of four sons.

Together, Elder and Sister Stevenson have established a pattern of service in their lives and firmly believe that true happiness is found through service to others. “When you are serving others, you are serving the Lord,” Elder Stevenson says. “That precept permeates our lives and allows us to bring joy to others and ourselves.”

They have most recently served together as Sunday School teachers in their ward in Providence, Utah, USA. Elder Stevenson also served as president of the Japan Nagoya Mission in addition to serving as a young missionary in southern Japan, as a bishop, and in a stake presidency.

Having grown up in a gospel-centered home, Elder Stevenson honors diligent parents for teaching him early about hard work. As the president of a health and fitness equipment company that he helped start as a young college graduate, Elder Stevenson believes hard work is a necessary principle in all aspects of life.

“Hard work applies in our professions and Church callings and has great application in missionary work,” he says. “We may not be blessed with extraordinary abilities, but anyone can work hard to accomplish great things.”