Bio of Jeff Reynolds

Spouse: Karen Reynolds. Children: Eliott is 26. Chelsey is 23. Carley is almost 21. Patrick is 18.5. Family: Eliott hoped to serve a Spanish-speaking mission but instead was called to serve in Spokane Washington. There he uncovered a branch of our family that had never joined the church nor would they even discuss it with anyone; until this new Elder from Arizona came to visit and discovered he was their nephew. Hearts were opened and the spirit was felt and several complete families joined the church. He wrote that he now understood why he was sent to Washington. Then he was sent to the Spanish part of the mission! He was married in the Mesa Az temple and has a 1-year-old little boy. He works for Sony Corporation and is finishing his college classes in Real Estate.

Chelsey was also married in the Mesa Az temple. They have a little girl who just turned 2. They are currently living in the Denver area while her husband finishes dental school. Carly is struggling with life. She's working full time but mostly going through the motions until she figures out what's important and what lasts. Patrick is beginning final preparations for his mission. He works full time as a lifeguard in the local indoor pool. He was Mr. swim team in high school and loved competing. He qualified in state in 3 different events.

Church: It's been so pleasing to see the great diligence and dedication of many of you since we finished our mission, the first one anyway. To read of your great years of service so many years after the fact reminds me of the story in Mosiah 17 where it describes the reunion between Alma and the sons of Mosiah; and what added more to his joy was that they were still his brethren in the Lord. My life has been blessed with years of service as well, as Bishop, several bishoprics, high counsel, gospel doctrine, YM Pres a few times, Elders quorum. Currently serving again as 1st counselor to the Bishop. I'm definitely a better counselor now after serving previously as Bishop. I even got to serve in the Primary once for 4 months!

My wife of one year, Karen has also run the gamut of callings in the church. You'd think she was 80 years old to hear of her many and varied callings in the RS, YW and Stake YW, Primary and many teaching callings. She is truly a dedicated servant of our Heavenly Father.

Work: Somehow my plans to become an accountant were re-directed and for the past 20 plus years I've worked as an Insurance Agent. It's been a successful career but even better, it has given me great flexibility in schedule over the years to coach all of my kid's ball teams and be available for frequent church service opportunities. Karen teaches college English, and various computer classes.

Hobbies: Recent years I've mostly phased out the horse herd and gone more into the other kinds of ponies. As our kids have gone on to their own lives and dreams, we have gotten into the restoring of old classis cars. We recently finished a cherry red '67 Mustang fastback. It always does well at car shows. We also have a '68 Camaro all ready for the paint booth, how does blueberry purple sound? In storage we have our next two projects waiting, a 1966 Pontiac GTO and a '68 Dodge Charger. So we have plenty to keep us busy in that area. Karen's passions lie in gardening during the summer and decorating, remodeling during the winter. Plus she's an excellent seamstress and can make pretty much anything she sees in a magazine.

Comps: My first companion was Morgan Udall, then Edmonds, Holladay, Hartshorn, Fletcher, Olson, Anderson / Wallengren (a trio), Fritz, Dame / Mulestein (another brief trio), Peterson, Pernett, Riley, Johnson, Lunnen, Cammack and Gardner. I hope I didn't miss anyone. As I racked my brain to put them all in order I kept thinking with each one how much I enjoyed each companionship. What a blast from the past!

Areas served: Almost took up residency in Granada, then Comayaguela, the Kennedy, Teguc, Alajuela (culture shock) La Chorrera and ended in Tibas CR. Dichos: !Calmado pescado! Que tal animal? Perfecto insecto! Actually those are post mission dichos. I think you've all used the ones I can remember. Maybe a few we inadvertently created in the LTM like “¿Eh, usted recibo carta?”

Memories: Living in Az for 30 years before moving back to Utah, I've had several occasions to stop by and visit President and Sister Eagar before she passed away. Many things refocused after the mission but one thing remained, no matter how many "important" callings or business successes I could claim, President Eagar will always be a giant to me. Even in his fading health, he is one of those individuals who stands as one of the truly great ones who came to this earth.

I've been a little relieved to hear how the mission so completely affected your lives and those of your families. Because for me the mission in C.A. was simply the ultimate. As I reviewed each companion and area in my mind those sweet memories came flooding back to me and my eyes have teared up as I have remembered so many fun, frightening, inspiring and exciting moments. As I have seen many of your old pictures it was an instant flash back to those days and I remember so clearly so much about many of you. And I'm thankful for those sweet memories, which I continue to teach from today.

One last thing, a few years ago I was attending a regional priesthood leadership meeting in Gilbert Az. A brother stood up and prefaced his comments with the following: he asked every person in the room who had served a mission in Latin America to please stand up. Of course, there were a few of us. He proceeded to tell us that he had served in several countries from Central and South America over the past 20 years. And while attending a large gathering of Latin American stake presidents from central and south America, they asked him, when he went home and whenever he had a chance to speak before a large body of church members, to send their deep and abiding gratitude and love to all of us missionaries who served in Latin America. Especially those who served before all the wards and stakes were formed. Those who worked with minimal visible success, but who planted thousands of seeds into many fertile hearts. And he concluded again by saying THANK YOU DEAR MISSIONARIES! I sat down with tears in my eyes wishing my fellow missionaries could have been there to feel the love and gratitude that came from this good brother on behalf of the thousands of brothers and sisters we met along the way in good 'ol C.A.