Brother David J. Wunderli has always known that Jesus Christ lives and that He is central to Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness.
“I was blessed to feel His presence for as long as I can remember,” Brother Wunderli said. “I’ve always had a believing heart.”
This is not to say he hasn’t had challenges, “but my ponderings have always leaned to knowing there are answers from Him.”
In April 2025 general conference, Brother Wunderli was sustained as the first counselor in the new Young Men general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He began serving on Aug. 1.
First and foremost, the new Young Men general presidency will seek to be in sync with the Prophet, First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and their inspiration and revelation, Brother Wunderli said.
In this calling, he wants youth of the Church to feel a sense of belonging, to know that Jesus Christ knows them by name and that this is their Church.
“We have to remember the purpose behind every single program, every activity, is to connect to Jesus Christ,” he said. “We want the youth to step up. They can lead, they are part of it. They are needed. They belong.”
In his business life, he worked as an executive at Easton Sports and president of OGIO International. Both companies involved messaging regarding youth, teams and action sports. His thoughts often run along those same lines.
He said in some parts of the world, there may be a small number of youth in a local unit, and they may feel lonely. But “we want them to know that they have teammates all over the world,” Brother Wunderli said.
“They are on a global team of youth, but really, they’re on His team, right? That’s what they need to know. Even if everyone leaves you, He won’t. He’s the author of this whole program, and He knows you.”
“We want the youth to step up. They can lead, they are part of it. They are needed. They belong.”
— Brother David J. Wunderli, first counselor, Young Men general presidency
‘Marry a good person’
Brother Wunderli grew up in Holladay, Utah, the third of five children, and had what he described as a great childhood. He, his siblings and their friends played throughout the neighborhood until the street lights came on to signal it was time to go home. It was a “sandlot” childhood.
“I had wonderful, goodly parents,” he said. “It was just a good time to grow up, with great parents and great influences.”
And his family loved each other, explained his wife, Sister Diane Robins Wunderli, in their interview with the Church News. His stable and loving family was one of the things that drew her to him, she said.
They first met as teenagers when she moved from Canada into his ward. He was three years older and gave her a ride home from the stake center after she came back from a three-day youth pioneer trek reenactment. She later moved to another ward, but they had mutual friends, she explained, and saw each other from time to time.
“Oh, yeah, there’s that cute Dave Wunderli guy,” she said she would say to herself. Brother Wunderli said, “It was more me saying, ‘Oh yeah, there’s that cute Diane girl.’”
Sister Wunderli graduated from high school while Brother Wunderli served a full-time mission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One day, she stopped by his house. The family had just come back from a trip across the United States where they had been visiting U.S. and Church historic sites — and Sister Wunderli was moved by what she saw.
She joked that she may have fallen in love with Brother Wunderli’s family first and then fell in love with him.
“But David just shines. He loves his family, loves people, loves his friends,” she said of her husband.
She had plans to go to New York to work and study, but after a first date and a stupor of thought, followed by some fasting and prayer, she moved back to Utah, set new goals and hoped to go on more dates with Dave.
“The Lord was completely directing me, and everything worked out,” Sister Wunderli said.
The couple was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple in 1984 and recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They mainly raised their four children in California before moving to Alpine, Utah, and now have 11 grandchildren.
“Marriage isn’t hard. It’s life that’s hard,” Sister Wunderli said. “If you marry a good person, you can navigate through those hard things, and we have been blessed to be happy and united.”
Working backward in age group callings
Serving as a young full-time missionary in Brazil “changed the trajectory of my life,” Brother Wunderli said.
At first, he found it difficult to learn Portuguese.
“I gave 400% dedicating myself to learn it. It was very hard for me, but because it was hard, it ended up sticking,” he said. He then minored in the language at the University of Utah.
Knowing Portuguese blessed him throughout the rest of his life, especially when he and Sister Wunderli were called as mission leaders of the Cape Verde Praia Mission from July 2020 to July 2023.
“Seeing the preparation of youth coming into our mission was incredible, and it hasn’t stopped,” Brother Wunderli said. “The preparation of this rising generation, their testimonies, their capacity, their gifts and their abilities are levels above what they were 20, 30 or 40 years ago. They are super capable.”
The Wunderlis joke that their callings have gone backward in age groups. In California, he was a young single adult ward bishop. Then he was a YSA stake president and a stake institute teacher, and she was a YSA stake Relief Society president. In those callings, most of the people they served were recently returned missionaries, and they saw what young adults faced when they returned from their missions.
Thus, when they served as mission leaders, they knew what the missionaries were going to face when they returned home and could help prepare them for those challenges.
After their service in Cape Verde, the Wunderlis were called to serve in the Provo Missionary Training Center. “Having been mission leaders, we knew what challenges these pre-missionaries would face on their missions, and so we could help them in that transition,” Brother Wunderli said.
Then, both received callings with youth and Primary — Brother Wunderli has been serving on the Young Men general advisory council, and Sister Wunderli is currently serving on the Primary general advisory council. Brother Wunderli had earlier callings with ward Young Men organizations as well.
They talk together about the transition from Primary into youth and from youth to young adults, he said. “It’s a wonderful correlation of callings that helps us better serve this rising generation.”
Great things are happening for youth and children, Sister Wunderli said. “Children can give talks now in meetings, children can pray in sacrament meetings. Youth belong here, it’s their church and their experience. It’s not something they come to and have to be quiet so their parents can listen.”
Experiences and knowledge
Missionaries from 20-plus countries were represented in the Cape Verde mission, and many were new members for just a year or two. When senior couples came to the mission, they helped the missionaries, youth and other members of the Church through their own experience serving in the Church. “We love our missionaries and love those senior couples,” Sister Wunderli said.
In Cape Verde they also experienced “the miracle of the rain” following the dedicatory prayer on June 19, 2022, by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Praia Cape Verde Temple.
Besides continued rain for the drought-stricken islands, the Wunderlis saw miracles each week in missionary work with gathering and returning taking place.
While in that role as mission president, Brother Wunderli said he was impressed to see that as the young missionaries came to serve, they knew the doctrine of Christ.
“Now we need them to arrive on their missions not just knowing what the doctrine of Christ is but having applied it over and over,” he said.
Sister Wunderli described this desire as helping youth and children know that the Lord is waiting for them. “He is inviting us all to rise and come forth and know Him personally.”
The purpose behind every single program and every activity in the Church must always be to connect to Christ, Brother Wunderli said. Then youth will learn how to grow their faith, repent and move forward on the covenant path.
“As they learn how to do that in their youth, when they arrive on their missions or when they later serve in any capacity, their testimonies and their teachings won’t be just about sharing knowledge, it will be about sharing experience, and it will be deep. It will be personal and authentic.”
About Brother David J. Wunderli
Family: David John Wunderli was born in Salt Lake City on June 22, 1961, to Fredric Theodore Wunderli and Bernardine Lyman Wunderli. He married Diane Robins in the Salt Lake Temple on Feb. 15, 1984. They have four children and 11 grandchildren.
Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah in accounting with a minor in Portuguese.
Employment: Certified public accountant, executive at Easton Sports and president of OGIO International. Served on several corporate and philanthropic boards.
Church service: Member of the Young Men general advisory council, Cape Verde Praia Mission president (2020-2023), young single adult stake president, high councilor, YSA bishop, MTC branch presidency counselor, ward Young Men president, institute teacher, missionary in Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission.
