Bio of Jonathan Caless

Family: Married to Lorie. We have three children: Joshua 23, Rachel 20 and Tamara 18. Josh served a mission in Bogota, Colombia. He was married last week in the Washington DC Temple to a wonderful girl (Sara) he baptized over a year ago. Rachel is studying Communications at Towson University in Maryland. Tamara will be a sophomore this year at BYU-Idaho. All of my kids are active LDS with testimonies of the gospel.

Church Service: Most recently I have served in Young Men's Presidencies, in a Bishopric, as a Ward Mission Leader and currently as a High Councilor over the Young Women and Seminary in the Suitland Maryland Stake. Education: I graduated from BYU with a B.S. in Geology in 1981. After that I received my Masters degree in Geology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) in 1983. (Go Hokies!) Work: I have worked for the Federal Government for nearly 19 years as a digital imagery scientist. For about 15 years I focused on simulation and visualization in support of policymakers and operations personnel. Recently I changed focus and am back doing scientific imagery exploitation as well as other things that I studied as a geology student years ago. It has been a refreshing change.

Hobbies: I jog regularly and bike whenever I can. I enjoy hiking and climbing and I have climbed many of the peaks in Utah and one in Colorado. I still water and snow ski occasionally. Lately my hobbies have included vacationing in places I've never been. We've been to a lot of places both in the west and in the east. Lorie and I spent a week in Las Vegas over spring break and are going to the Cayman Islands in July to help celebrate our 25th anniversary. Next year we're going to Hawaii. Community Service: I haven't done much there. I did coach a girl's High School field hockey team for a season about four years ago.

Comps: This is tough. We were a trio in the LTM (Elders Harrison and ?? and I). I remember Elder Vern Hixson was my first companion in the mish. I also had Elder Flint from Kaysville Utah and Elder Stocel from Panama and Elder Bonham from California (Hey, I just got back from a business trip to Ontario CA!). Also had Elder Silva from Costa Rica, Elder Wallace from Vernal Utah and Elder West as a ZL. I'm sorry to the others, particularly my Junior Comps! I'll have to dig their names out of my journals. Areas Served: North/North Eastern Tegucigalpa. Alajuela, Costa Rica. Barrio San Judas in Managua. Leon, Nicaragua as a DL during the Sandinista revolution! San Pedro Sula as a ZL. Back to Tegucigalpa to finish my mission as a DL.

Memories: I remember being attacked by dogs in Barrio San Judas (my Pious Kit protected me). I also remember a horse trying to kick Hixson but missing. With Silva we had to break the news to one of our investigators that his son had died while he (the father) was out buying medicine for him. I recall celebrating 4th of July in Tegucigalpa as a Zone. I missed my connecting flight on my way home and spent a day in Guatemala City by myself (Gosh I missed my companions!) I learned and grew so much as a missionary. I was a convert of only two years when I went but it solidified my faith and testimony. As a Ward Mission Leader we baptized a young man who served a mission in Guatemala and it brought back so many memories of myself. Thank you to all of my companions for your great examples and friendships (and patience). And thanks to all you other great Elders and Sisters who meant so much to me as a missionary.