Bio of Brett Parker

Family: Married Katharina Lex Parker. Children: Amy 19, Benjamin (deceased), Jason 16, Angela 15, BJ 13, Nick 13, Ty 11, Cleve 4. We live in Taylorsville Utah. Brett is from Taylorsville with Katrina from Graz Austria. Amy just graduated from Beauty School. Jason and Angela are driving or close to it. BJ has a paper route, drummer, piano player, and hard worker. Ty is a trumpet and piano player. Cleve has his jobs.

Callings: Brett is currently is 1st Counselor in the Bishopric with Katrina Gospel Doctrine Teacher. We enjoy family/couple scripture time and prayer. Brett's only home teaching family is from Peru, and it's nice to keep up with the Spanish.

Education: Brett graduated from Ricks College, with he and Katrina attending BYU. Certified from Real Estate/Appraisal/Loan Brokering Schools.

Career: Owner/Founder/Operator/Broker of Parker Properties, Inc.-Real Estate Services: Realtor, Property Management, Appraisal work. www.parkerproperties.com. Katharina is home with the kids, and also helps in the office.

Hobbies: Still like to run. Katrina and Brett run 2 miles in the morning, lift weights. Enjoy yard work, reading, and learning grammar (writing). Katrina speaks German. Brett's German is Gerspanish with every 2-3 words Spanish/German. Can't get the brain to change!

Community involvement: Keep the speed limit. Yell at the kids if they speed and not pay their insurance. Vote. Katrina just became an American Citizen 2 years ago, so we try to keep up on the issues.

Comps: Walter Blanco (we still keep in touch he's in Layton Utah) Elder Baltodano (spelling). From Nicaraugua. He's here in Taylorsville. Elders Taylor, (the arm wrestler from Benjamin UT forgot name), Naylor CA., Florentino Medina (from Panama), Smith (Panama), Brown ID., Low CA., Quevas (Honduras), Alfaro (Costa Rica). Journal has the others. Sorry.

Areas served: Tegucigalpa Honduras, Comayagua Honduras, Panama Viejo Panama, Nicoya Costa Rica, La Chorerra Panama, San Francisco Panama (Chorrillo). Served 1978-1980.

Dichos: Proxima! only we'd say it out of the nose. It went good with the Hondurians.

Memory #1: Dropping a case of Book of Mormons on a bus. We had pages in the streets for months.

Memory #2: Fatting up a Turkey for Thanksgiving. We fed it on corn flakes. It lost 20 of the 20 plus pounds it had. We slaughtered it with a dull knife. I had on my baptismal pants for the whole mission that carried Turkey blood spots (didn't tie down the wings good enough). We cooked the bird in Coca Cola cause we didn't want to use the Beer that came recommended. Thing was jerky before it ever left the pot.

Great experience. It was a terrific platform to continue on the path. Every two years continue to be better than the previous. I appreciate the companions I had. The preparation it gave toward relationships with others and marriage was a strength. The culture and language continue to be an asset in life dealing with people.