After graduating from BYU–Hawaii in 1988, Yoon Hwan Choi, an alumnus from Korea has excelled in both his career and education while serving in various callings in the church. Through his faithful service, he was called as a bishop, stake president in the Anyang Korea Stake for nine years, a mission president in Washington Seattle Mission and the Philippines Iloilo mission and he is currently serving as the first counselor of the Philippines Area General Authority Seventies. Elder Choi shared how his decision to attend BYUH laid a remarkable foundation for his current calling. It had helped him to be self-reliant and the priorities of how to balance family, school, and the church calling, he explained.
His undergraduate degree in business information management brought him to pursue a higher degree at Utah State University with an emphasis on business information systems. As he followed the prompting from the Spirit, he said, “As soon as I finished my master’s degree, I returned to Korea in 1989, following the words of the prophet.”
Elder Choi shared how during his final decision to move back to Korea he didn’t have a final job offer, but with faith, he and his whole family made their way to Korea. While there was no surety where the future was going to take them, Elder Choi said he had received clear confirmation to come back way before he completed his master’s degree. He said he understood the personal revelation he received when he participated in the new-student orientation at BYUH to strengthen the stakes of Zion.
When Elder Choi came back, he couldn’t find a job for two months, he had over twenty interviews but ended up for nothing. He said he was patient and faithful until then, but it was hard to be patient anymore. “Many people said how silly I was, as the head of my family, going back to my home country without any money or job, fortunately, my faith to do the will of the Lord was stronger than my fear and doubt,” said Elder Choi.
Elder Choi shared, one day he went to the Church Distribution Center to buy a book and bumped into a senior missionary couple who served there. He said shortly after their conversation, the couple missionary found out he was looking for a job. They referred him to his friend who was currently looking for a manager. Even though he felt inadequate because he never worked in that appointed field, he decided to make the first initial contact and got interviewed the next day.
He said he was so surprised when the employer said they had a person like him who could be a bridge between headquarters in both America and Korea. He said he came to understand God’s broader plan as he got an offer of double the payment amount from the companies that rejected him the past two months. He shared, “As we listened to the promptings of the Lord and relied on the words of the prophets, we were led to return to our homeland. That is the way how we can read His mind and do His will without fear and doubt.”
While the job he received after graduating was not connected to his previous part-time job at BYUH, his intercultural and leadership experience as a student has helped him adapt well to many situations. He emphasized how the priesthood leadership calling in the church that escalated his level of leadership to the next level even as an undergraduate student. He said, “The Aloha spirit has been in our hearts and in our lives even after I graduated and it will be in the rest of our life.”