Elder Yoon Hwan Choi

Of the Seventy

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Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the Seventy says two 14-year-old boys brought his family into the restored Church.

Elder Choi was born 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.

Growing up, Elder Choi dreamed of becoming a general in the Korean army. So when his bishop asked him to speak about preparing for a mission, Elder Choi said no. Another young man spoke instead, which made Elder Choi feel guilty.

“The Holy Ghost told me I needed to serve a mission,” he says. He prepared for and served two years as a missionary, interrupted halfway through by three years of mandatory military service. To this day, Elder Choi says he and his wife, Koo Bon Kyung, “never deny anything that comes from the Lord.”

Elder Choi completed a bachelor’s degree in business information management from BYU–Hawaii in 1988 and a master’s degree in business information systems and education from Utah State University in 1989. He was an instructor at both universities, a sales manager, and an investment director for a venture capital company. He was a regional manager for temporal affairs for the Church in Korea.

Elder Choi and his wife were both born and raised in Seoul, Korea. They were married on September 25, 1982, and sealed one year later in the Laie Hawaii Temple. They have three sons. Before Elder Choi’s call to the First Quorum of the Seventy, he served as bishop’s counselor, bishop, high councilor, stake mission president, stake president’s counselor, stake president, and Area Seventy.