Bio of Kevin Moss

I have been married to Marlene Jimenez Coto of Heredia, Costa Rica since 14 Aug 1979. We have three children: Elisabeth 22, Dianna 20 and David 16. We were married in the Oakland temple and lived in Santa Clara County (the San Jose and Gilroy areas) until 1990 when we moved to Vacaville, which is in the Central Valley 30 miles southwest of Sacramento.

After my mission I attended San Jose State University and studied Political science while working full-time as a chemical technician at Xidex Corp. in Sunnyvale, CA. I left Xidex after seven years when I was hired as a Deputy Sheriff for Santa Clara County. While at the Sheriff's office my main duties were in the Main Jail, but I also spent one year as a bailiff for the Municipal and Superior courts.

In 1989 I left the Sheriff's office and went to work as a Police Officer for the San Francisco Police Department. In 1997 I began working for the Washoe County Sheriff's Office in Reno, NV where I am currently employed. I am also enrolled at the University of Nevada-Reno seeking a Master's in Public Administration and hope to leave the Sheriff's office after completion of the Program to work in the county manager's office.

Marlene has attended college since she came to the US and went to work at the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office in Martinez, CA in 1991 after our youngest, David began the 1st grade. She is employed as an Inmate Work Supervisor monitoring inmates as they clean the secure areas of the jail and is also responsible for supervising the inmates who do the laundry for the jail.

Elisabeth graduated in May 2003 from the University of Nebraska in Advertising and Spanish. She was a NCAA diver and Cheerleader for the "Cornhuskers" and is currently seeking a position in Media Sales. Elisabeth is also a professional cheer instructor and has worked for five years for the Universal Cheer Association all over the Mid-west and California conducting cheer camps for high schools and colleges.

Dianna is a junior at BYU studying Psychology on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. Her goal after active duty as an Air Force officer is to join the FBI or another Federal law enforcement agency as a Special Agent/Investigator. In high school Dianna was a three-sport varsity athlete in Water polo, Diving, and Soccer. She was elected Vice President of her senior class and was selected Prom Queen for Senior Prom.

David is a junior at Vacaville High School and has not decided what the future might hold for him. He is a 3.5 GPA student and is considering applying for an ROTC scholarship though has not though much about which college to attend.

Church: My church service has mainly been as a teacher in the Primary and Sunday school and I was recently released as the Elder's Quorum instructor for the Spanish-speaking members of our Ward.

Education: BYU, San Jose State, UNR - Political Science and MPA Work: I work in the Washoe County Main Jail after having worked patrol for the SFPD. It is typical jail stuff watching inmates, responding to alarms, clearing visitors to the facility, etc. As a patrolman in San Francisco I was selected and served as a Field Training Officer to train new officers in patrol procedures and policies and was also an in-service instructor for the Department

Hobbies: My main hobby is reading, political biographies and histories mainly. I am currently reading Steinbeck's "East of Eden" and just finished "The Loop" and "The Horse Whisperer" by Nicholas Sparks. Community Service: While at San Francisco I was elected to the Executive Board of the Police Officer's Association.

Comps: James Ness, Mark Pugmire, Gage Slusser, Mark Chapman, Kevin Hudman, were a few. (I'll need to dig out my journal to remember the rest! Old age I guess). Areas Served: Monsenor Lescano,Managua; Tibas,CR; Heredia, CR; Reparto Arriba,Tegucigalpa,Hon; Colonia Tenderi, Managua; Las Mercedes,Managua; Liberia, CR; and Tibas, CR

Memories: Ducking below the cement wall of an investigator's house in Managua as shots are fired outside during the Civil War in 1978, being chased by a mob chanting "CIA!,CIA!" in Colonia Tenderi, also in Managua. Playing Softball in the National Stadium in Managua on Mondays, basketball in Tegucigalpa down by the river. Screaming down the dirt streets of Reparto Arriba in the little mini-busses during a heavy downpour and packing ourselves in like sardines for the trip up from "el centro", being amazed at the devastation of downtown Managua five years after the earthquake and thinking of Europe after WWII, convincing the security guard at the Banco de America building to let us up on the roof of the building so we could take pictures of the empty streets and lots of the center of Managua, knocking on doors in Costa Rica even though the signs said "Somos catolicos, apostolicos, y romanos y no amitimos ningun otra forma de religion", eating minimos in Honduras, sending flattened and or inflated frogs home to friends and family from Masaya, getting a wood carving, or several, in Honduras to send home.

More memories: Poor kids invading the busses to sell little packs of "chicle" or offering to shine your shoes, walking through the heart of an active volcano and gagging on the sulpher fumes, taking a trip to the beach and wishing you could jump in the water just one time, "toking doors" all over Central America, feeling "baggy" after the first year but then not wanting to leave when the time grew short, teaching "platicas" in a shack with dirt floors and maybe a single light bulb hanging by a cord from the roof, baptizing lots of young girls and their mothers but hoping to get their father's and brothers interested in the gospel as well, getting along great with most of your companions and not so well with a few, being nervous when the President Muren flew into town to do interviews but then feeling glad and uplifted afterwards for his concern and counsel, and wishing you could stay and do it all over again when they hand you your plane ticket to go home.

It was a time that changed all of our lives and the live of those who trusted us to bring them the truths of the Gospel. For me, I gained an eternal companion and a wonderful family that I cannot imagine living life without. Even now when we return and see all the changes that have taken place over the course of twenty-five plus years in Central America I am still amazed at the kindness and warmth of the people and the continued growth of the church. Indeed, one of the highlights of the month my family and I spent in Costa Rica visiting relatives in the summer of 2002 was going to the San Jose Temple! For us, that was the validation of all the sacrifice and efforts we made and those made by all those who came before and after us that we were truly doing the Lord's work.