Bio of Mike Lacey

Spouse: Diana Larsen. Children: Michael 21, Amy 19, Sarah 16, Samuel 13, Daniel 9, Luke 4 months. Diana is our Stake Young Women's President, Michael is a goalkeeper for the BYU Soccer team which just entered the Premier Development League-a unique approach to men's NCAA sports. In July he returned from his mission to Sao Paulo North. Amy is a great student majoring in Microbiology also at BYU. Sarah was state runner-up high point girl for the 4A NM State Track meet (5 medals!). Samuel wants to play football, basketball and soccer and is already bigger and faster than dad. Daniel is full of spunk and Luke might be the youngest child at our reunion. Give me a medal! (and then a sock so I will shut up).

I've had the great privilege of working as a counselor in 3 Bishoprics. I've had the most fun working in YM's organizations in almost every capacity. Scoutmaster was scary! I also served as a High Councilor. Recently I was Stake Mission President, but am now serving as Priest Quorum Adviser. I really enjoy teaching.

Although my "degrees" are in accounting, I have gone over to the "dark-side" and worked in the Financial Services industry. It has been an exciting career, but you can have the last three years. I am currently a manager for a very small office of Merrill Lynch, with the "titles" of Vice President and Financial Advisor.

It's hard moving from a participant to a spectator, but watching children's games has me enjoying the latter. In April I'm traveling to Monterrey, Mexico, to watch my son play against the Mexican National team.

I love reading, tennis, golf, swimming, bicycling and all BYU sports. Diana even has me enjoying gardening. Until the most recent stock market decline, we were enjoying a little travel!

I am so lucky! Until I entered graduate school, my education was highlighted by playing football. After just reading Tim Malone's bio, I fully concur about the Lord always fulfilling his promises.

Even though some in the football office and even in Salt Lake were advising BYU athletes to stay and complete their 4 or 5 year football careers before going on their missions (VERY few had successfully returned to football after the mission), my Bishop was inspired and called me to go.

Because others asked me to "pray about it" before I chose, I did. Of course, the answer was to serve. The Lord would take care of whatever other avocations a missionary had, and I knew that. The football team and weakside linebacker would prosper without me. Nevertheless, I pleaded with the Lord that if I served, that he would allow me to come back and perform well in this sport that I loved.

In my very first game back after the mission and a redshirt year, my prayer was answered in the most dramatic fashion I could envision. I was the lucky recipient of a pass in the endzone against the then 4th ranked team in the nation, Texas A&M. We went on and had an undefeated regular season that year, but I was forever enmeshed, even in a very small way, in the lore surrounding BYU football back then.

How does that relate to education? Without football, I may not have been able to enter a university. With it, I earned a BS and Masters in Accounting.

I serve on the Board of Directors of the San Juan College Foundation. I've coached youth basketball, soccer and baseball since 1985. My wife and I are co-Presidents of the Farmington Chapter of the BYU Alumni Association. I'm also President of the Four Corner's American Indian Services Group, with is a scholarship program based out of Utah for Native-Americans.

Comps: Eric Larsen, Richard Allen, Daniel Pernett, Tim Wilson, Bryan Stone, John Hogan, Steve? Bowman, Ponce, Gaylon Darrough, Steve Christensen, Berner. Leon, Nic, San Pedro Sula (Fesitran), Tegucigalpa, San Miguelito (Panama), Bello Horizonte (Panama), San Jose, Costa Rica.

We all had the opportunity to see the Lord working directly with the humble and prepared people of Central America. I remember two very poignant moments. First, at the end of a very unproductive day of knocking doors during Semana Santa in San Miguelito, we were warmly and uniquely received by a family with mother, father and children (abuela too) who were not drunk or rude. We walked away with a warm spirit and an appointment.

Well, that appointment and many others were kept. They and their children joined the church, have served missions and in positions of leadership as Branch and Stake Presidents, etc. Elmo Diaz is now the Patriarch in the San Miguelito Stake! When Elder Stone and I started there, less than 20 people were attending the San Miguelito Branch that met in Bello Horizonte.

The second poignant moment was when I took my seat on the Panama Bus, starting my transfer from San Miguelito to San Jose and ending my service in Panama. When I visualize the scene in my mind's eye, it is a brightly lit bus with huge windows looking out on the homes on the hills of San Miguelito. Of course, like all Panama busses, it was dark with loud music and black lights, but through my tears, all I felt was light as the Lord had blessed me to participate in his miraculous plan of saving some of his children and my brothers and sisters.

At that moment, I knew that no success or accolade on the sports field or in a career would or could be more joyful than what you and I participated in as missionaries in the Costa Rica, San Jose Mission.