Nagoya Missionaries Then and Now

(If you have information on missionaries not on this list, please send it to Deanna Scoggins Tanner)

scroll down in alphabetic order by last name

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Then (1975-1979) Bio Information Now (2006-2007)
 

Elder Jeffery W. Anderson

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Ted Ashcroft

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Jan Ashdown

1975 - 1977

Yokkaichi, Nagoya 2, Nagoya 6, Fuji, Okayama

  

Elder Kelvin R. Banks

Oct. 1976 - Nov. 1978

Fukui, Hombu, Anjo, Yokkaichi, Ichinomiya, Gifu

 

  
 

Elder Eugene S. Barfoot

Oct. 1976 - Oct. 1978

Komatsu, Nagoya, Toyohashi, Kariya, Shizuoka, Kakegawa, Hamamatsu, Shimizu

  
 

Elder Kenneth Bateman

?? - ??

  

Elder Daryl Bates

Jan 1976 - Jan 1978

Toyota, Nagoya 6, Nagoya 1, Toyama, Kakegawa

 

Elder Bates returned to Brigham Young University, swept in and married Janet Miller within 3 months.
He earned his degree in Finance - Banking with honors from BYU.


Daryl and Janet have 6 wonderful children. Jeremy, Kathy, Mike, Dave, Dan & Jenny.  The four oldest are married and three of them have children of their own, making Daryl a proud grandpa of 3 grandsons and a granddaughter. Dan will be putting in his mission papers very soon and Jenny is attending Utah Valley State University to study esthetics. Janet teaches Biology and Earth Systems Science at a local public school.  3 of our 4 sons have already served missions - to Taiwan, Oklahoma, and Indiana, All 4 married children have been married in the Temple. The Gospel has been a great blessing to our family.

Daryl has spent the last 28 years in the banking industry approving or declining loans. He started off at Central Bank in Provo, then quickly moved to First Security Bank. The merger with Wells Fargo found him in the same job with a new company - Wells Fargo, and more recently with JP Morgan Chase. Retirement is looking better and better and We hope to serve many missions together between playing with our grandchildren.

The church has also kept Daryl busy, he has been the financial clerk more times than can be counted, as well as serving multiple times as Sunday School teacher, Elder's Quorum President, serving as 2nd counselor in the Bishopric, Officiator in the Mount Timpanogos Temple, High Priest group leader, Young Men's advisor, Scout Merit Badge advisor, as well as his favorite and current church job - Primary teacher.

We live in Cedar Hills, Utah, having lived in Provo, Orem, and Pleasant Grove as the children grew up. Daryl enjoys reading, camping, travel, and spending time with his family.
 

Elder Lawrence Bates

Oct 1976 - Nov 1978

Nagoya, Hombu, Kanazawa

  
 

Elder John K. Bateson

?? - ??

Nagoya 6, Nagoya 2, Shimizu, Numazu, Komatsu

  
 

Elder Blake Beckstrom

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Scot D. Bendixsen

Feb. 1978 - Feb. 1980

Ichinomiya, Okazaki, Kasugai, Toyama, Tsu, Seto, Toyohashi

  
 

Elder Barry F. Bingham

Oct. 1975 - Dec. 1977

Kanazawa, Nagoya 3, Shimizu, Nagoya 5, Nagoya 7, Fukui

  
 

Elder Allan Bird

?? - ??

 

Elder Teddy Dean Blacker

Sept. 1977 - Nov. 1979

I served in Nagoya, Gifu, Kanazawa, Hombu, and Yokkaichi. I entered the MTC September, 1977 and left Japan, November, 1979. Attached is a family picture (now) and a missionary picture (then).  Here is a brief synopsis. 

After returning home from my missionary service, I jumped back into school at BYU. I married Kathren Crockett, an old friend from my home ward in Idaho, in August of the following year. Shortly after our marriage we accepted a job working as group home parents for a mentally retarded group of men while I finished school at BYU. I graduated with a BS in August of 82 and an MS in August of 83 in Civil Engineering, and went to work for Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before graduating, we were blessed with our first born, a son. In Albuquerque, we were blessed with first a daughter and then two additional sons. Work went well and I was awarded an educational grant from Sandia to obtain a Ph.D. at Northwestern University, in Illinois. I graduated in 1993 and returned to Albuquerque for a year and an additional daughter before accepting a position with a private computer-aided engineering firm back in Illinois. We lived just north of Chicago for 8+ years and then returned to Sandia to accept a management position about 5 years ago. Our first son served a mission in Argentina, and has since graduated from BYU, Idaho. He is now working in San Diego for an investment firm. Our oldest daughter has graduated from BYU, Provo and is now working at Intel in their financial group in Mesa, Arizona. Our next son is currently proudly serving a mission in the Philippines, and our youngest son excitedly just entered the MTC and is headed for Argentina as well. Our youngest daughter, now 13, is the only one at home and the three of us just moved to the Washington DC area for a special one year assignment with the DoD High Performance Computing Office. We continue to be blessed richly. I am constantly appreciative of the great experience of a mission and the wonderful service that President Tanaka and his family so graciously provided. That service has blessed me and my family for years now, and I see the influence now spreading through generations. Thank you so much.

       
 

Elder Chris Boyack

April 1975 - April 1977

Nagoya, Gifu, Fukui

  
 

Elder Kelly Bradshaw

Jan 1976 - Jan 1978

Nagoya, Gifu, Tsu, Komatsu

  
 

Elder Craig C. Brown

Oct. 1977 - Oct. 1979

Nagoya, Komatsu, Kanazawa, Ichinomiya

  
 

Elder David Brown

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Brian Reid Bruderer

Dec. 1975 - Nov. 1977

Toyota, Yokkaichi, Nagoya, Okazaki, Numazu

  
 

Elder Chris T. Budo

1979 - 1980

Nagoya 1, Nagoya 4, Kuwana, Takaoka, Takayama, Tsu

  
 

Elder Richard C. Buhler

June 1975 - June 1977

Fuji, Toyohashi, Toyota, Nagoya, Yokkaichi

  
 

Elder Bryan W. Call

Feb 1976 - Feb 1978

Nagoya 5, Gifu, Yokkaichi, Numazu

  
 

Elder Richard E. Carroll

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Robert A. Case

June 1978 - June 1980

  
 

Elder David Chamberlin

Sept. 1978 - Sept. 1980

Kariya, Toyohashi, Matsuzaka, Hombu, Nagoya 3 Nakamura

  
 

Elder William Christensen

?? - ??

  

Elder Gary L. Clawson

June 1977 - June 1979

Nagoya 1, Honbu, Shiroko, Toyohashi, Kanazawa, Gamagori

 
 

Elder Brad Collet

?? - ??

  
 

Elder David G. Collette

1976 - 1978

Ise, Nagoya, Matsusaka, Shizuoka, Tsu, Hamamatsu

After my mission, I returned to BYU to complete my degree in Business.  I met my wife Eileen Childs from Houston Texas at BYU and we were married before the fall semester started after returning home from Japan.  Our third child was born the day after gradation from BYU.  I worked in Idaho Falls for five years and then returned to school at UCLA to study prosthetics and orthotics.  During that time we completed our family with four boys and four girls.  I have worked in Idaho Falls my entire career.  We have three offices located in Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Idaho and Logan, Utah.  We have six children in college and by the end of August, 2007 we will have six married children.  The two that are still at home will be a junior and a freshman.  Our fifth grandchild was born August 5th, 2007.  I have served in about every calling in a ward and currently am the Blazer leader (which by the way has been my favorite calling so far).  Life is great and Heavenly Father has blessed our family incredibly.
 

Elder Duane Cooke

June 1976 - May 1978

Fukui, Gifu, Kasugai, Takaoka, Nagoya 7-2

  
 

Elder Raymond Cox

Jan. 1975 - Jan. 1977

Nagoya 5, Toyota, Gifu, Yokkaichi, Matsusaka, Numazu, Nagoya 5,

 
 

Elder Brent Crittenden

Feb. 1977 - Feb. 1979

Nagoya, Ichinomiya, Takaoka, Kariya

  
 

Elder Matt Crum

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Steve D. Culverwell

March 1978 - March 1980

Kanazawa, Nagoya, Matsuzaka, Gifu

  
 

Sister Shauna Damitz-Barrick

1976 - ??

Tsu, Nagoya, Ichinomiya

  
 

Elder Bill Davis

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Brian Davis

Jan. 1977 - Feb. 1979

Hamamatsu, Kuwana, Shimizu, Shizuoka, Tokyo South Mission

  
 

Elder Kent Davis

July 1978 - July 1980

Yokkaichi, Shiroko, Toyohashi, Nonami, Nakamura-ku, Hombu

  
 

Elder Paul E. Davis

July 1978 - July 1980

Ichinomiya, Nagoya, Gamagori, Kanazawa, Kasugai

  
 

Elder David F. Doxey

1978 - 1980

Toyama, Nagoya 2, Gamagori, Takayama

  
 

Elder Doak D. Duncan

Jan. 1977 - Dec. 1978

Nagoya 1, Nagoya 6, Matsuzaka, Yokkaichi

  
 

Elder Kevin Dyreng

Nov. 1976 - Nov. 1978

Nagoya 1, Fuji, Hamamatsu, Toyama

  

Elder John Dyson

?? - ??

I have three children. My eldest daughter is 19 and a sophomore at BYU. My son is 17 and other daughter is 15. Dawn, my wife, is a pharmacist and geneologist. Whenever we are in the states, she works to keep up her pharmacy knowledge, but we were last in the states in 1997-1999.

I've been in the Foreign Service as a diplomat for 20 years now. We've lived in Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka (again), Kathmandu, Accra, and Belize. While in Washington I worked on China issues. During my four years in the Air Force we lived in San Angelo, California, and Okinawa. You might say I've continued the itinerant lifestyle that I learned to enjoy as a missionary.

I've served in similar callings to you, except I've never been on the high council, been stake seminary supervisor, been involved in the institute program or been stake YM pres. I've also never been bishop. I have been a counselor in bishoprics in Fukuoka and Accra (Ghana) and a counselor in the district presidency in Belize. My favorite callings were as choir director during a year we lived in Alabama and as ward nursery leader (for 35 children) while we were in Washington DC. It seemed as though I was destined for several years to continue missionary service, as I went through several stake and ward missionary callings, including senior 70's president and stake mission president, but I haven't had any missionary callings recently. Currently I am ward YM president.

Still short, still red headed, now quite heavy and with a red/gray beard. Regularly serve as Santa Claus at Christmas events, and have even bought a suit so I can use my own. I won't be in the states around reunion time. I am usually in the states for a few weeks in the summer if I am there at all. I just got back last week from an eight-day stay this year. I used to see Pres Tanaka and his sweet wife when I was at the Tokyo temple. He was a sealer there for many years, and I would head up to the sealing offices to see if he was working. If so, I did sealings instead of other things. Now that there is a Fukuoka temple, I haven' t been to the Tokyo temple in ages, so I don't know what is going on there.

Regarding my work, no secrets here. I did work in intel when I was in the Air Force, but fortunately I haven't do so for the past twenty years. Intel work was interesting, but I couldn't talk about my work with my family. I am now the director of the Fukuoka American Center, the public affairs arm of the Fukuoka Consulate. I do a lot of work explaining American policy, bolstering the US-Japan security arrangement, working with the public affairs sections of two military bases in our area, working with educational and cultural exchanges, explaining BSE and encouraging the Japanese to open their markets to American beef again, and in general traveling and speaking to Japanese audiences throughout Kyushu. My website for work is at <http://japan.usembassy.gov/fukuoka/wwwhmain.html> and although my name is not mentioned too often, I am in the background directing most of the programs you see on the site.

My children all went to Japanese school for three years (elementary) but two of them rebelled when we returned to America (Alabama) and refused to continue to speak. They view Japanese as a foreign language, and not as a window into the area we live in. My wife speaks shopper's Japanese. My eldest daughter, who has several Japanese friends, is quite good. She is acing the Japanese classes at the Y, and writes that she finally understands the "why" behind the grammar that she uses. She chides me for not having taught her polite Japanese. I remind her that I tried, but that she didn't want to use things that she didn't hear her friends at school use.

"We are moving from Fukuoka on July 9 and arriving in Seoul on August 20 to serve as the Cultural Affairs Officer in the Embassy."
 

Elder David C. Eddy

Nov. 1978 - Nov. 1980

Kanazawa, Okazaki, Toyama

  
 

Elder Bary D. Elison

1975 - 1977

Nagoya 6, Toyhashi, Kakegawa, Numazu, Shizuoka

  
 

Elder Ralph Ellsworth

?? - ??

  

Elder Bob Evans

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Leonard Fobert

?? - ??

  

Elder David E. Ford

1977 - 1979

Anjo, Yokkaichi, Kasugai, Nagoya 7, Kariya, Nagoya 6-2, Kuwana

 
 

Elder Joseph W. Forrest

1978 - 1980

Yokkaichi, Nagoya, Kariya, Ichinomiya

  
 

Elder Todd T. Forsyth

July 1978 - July 1980

Kasugai, Ogaki, Matsuzaka, Anjo, Nagoya

  
 

R. Brent Franklin

Feb. 1976 - Feb. 1978

  
 

Elder Craig Fredrickson

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Tetsuro Fujita

Sept. 1974 - Sept. 1976

  
 

Elder Timothy Fussell

April 1978 - May 1980

Nagoya, Hombu, Gamagori, Kanazawa

  

Elder Donald Ganschow

Apr. 1979 - Apr. 1981

Komatsu, Ogaki, Gifu, Okazaki, Seto, Iwakura

My mission gave me a real confidence boost which, upon returning, I decided to go to college and was admitted to BYU.  There I met and married Mary Frances Cooper and we’ve been together very happy for 24 years.  We have 4 sons, Brenton 21 is a missionary in the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission coming home near Thanksgiving this year, Jordon 18 senior in high school, Zach 16 a junior, and Cooper is 11. 

We currently live in Palo Alto where I grew up and living in the same house.  My sons go to the same high school I went to and my parents went to.  I am the scoutmaster in our ward and love doing it. I have been scoutmaster for 8 years and involved in scouting for the past 12 years.

Professionally I have been in sales since graduating in 1985.  Most of the time I have been associated with and working in the electronics manufacturing industry working for 2 Japanese companies both manufacturing electronics solder and flux.  I’ve been to Japan and China numerous times for business and used my Japanese language learned on my mission throughout.  On a trip in 2005 I was able to climb Mt. Fuji at night and had a great time.  Between jobs I got my contractors license and ran my own business for a couple years doing construction.  I currently work for an electronics contract manufacturer in Hong Kong as a sales manager for North American customers. 

I have a lot of various hobbies such as model railroading, automotive repair, RC warship combat, airsoft (paintball) battles with my scouts, and recently Star Wars costuming.  The costuming is fun because I do it with my sons and we all have fun being characters together at non-profit events, parades, and conventions.  This year I did the San Francisco Bay-to-Breakers race in my stormtrooper armor walking the whole way.  Photo here is me and my son Zach at the Star Wars convention in LA Memorial weekend 2007. 

My missionary experience was the start of personal and spiritual growth that continues to serve me and my family today. 

 

Elder Scott Garner

Aug. 1977 - Aug. 1979

Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Gifu, Shiroko

  
 

Elder Steve Garthwaite

?? - ??

  
 

Elder John Giraud

?? - ??

  

Elder Mike Goodson

Aug. 1976 - Aug. 1978

Kanazawa, Toyota, Ogaki, Nagoya 3, Hamamatsu

 

I married Debra Farr of Antelope Valley, Nevada in 1981 and we have 5 children – Marguerite Pagano (24) who lives with her husband in Houston, Texas, Ashley (21) and Stephanie (19), who both attend BYU, Ben (15) and Matthew (13), who will be in 10 th and 8th grades, respectively, this coming year.  Ashely is planning to get married in August of this year. 

 

We live in Summit, New Jersey, which is about 20 miles from NYC.  I have worked on Wall Street since I finished my graduate work at Columbia University in 1983.  Have been back to Japan many times on business and actually visited my old missionary apartments in Nagoya, Toyota and Hamamatsu.  Currently I am an Investment Director for VesTopia.com, a new peer-to-peer investment website.  Still active in the Church, I am currently serving as Branch President in the Spring Garden Branch in Newark, NJ.   We have lots of room in our house and would invite anyone visiting the NYC area to drop by and stay a spell. 
 

Elder Lyman Dale Goodwin

July 1976 - July 1978

Gifu 2, Kariya, Nagoya 3,

Chikusa, Shizuoka

After returning to the U.S. I went back to college (Western Michigan University) wherein I promptly changed my major from Architecture to Linguistics with a minor in Japanese.  That was where I met my future wife Chiemi, who was an exchange student from Japan at the time, teaching Japanese for the university.  My wife was baptized in 1979 and we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple in August 1980.  We both went on to get our MBA’s and moved back to Japan to find work in 1981. 

After working for one of Japan’s leading pharmaceutical companies for 6 years I moved on to doing professional market research in the medical/healthcare area.  Six years ago I left that company and started up my own doing basically the same work. 

I have now lived in Japan about 27 years since returning after my mission (19 of which in Chofu, a city in Western Tokyo).  I am High Priest Group leader in my ward and I also serve in the Tokyo temple, during which time I have the pleasure of running into Brother Tanaka and his wife every once in a while.   

I have two sons.  I am proud to report that my oldest was also called to the Japan Nagoya mission in September 2005.   He has since transferred to the Japan Kobe mission when it was re-organized in March of this year.  My second son is currently preparing to get into a Japanese university, after which he wants to serve on a mission as well.

Elder Michael A. Goodwin

Feb 1976 - Feb 1978

Nagoya 2, Shizuoka, Shimizu, Kanazawa, Shiroko

My return home to New Hampshire from Japan was clouded over by an illness (intestinal viral infection) which required a few weeks in the hospital to heal.  After recovering, I visited Utah and persuaded a certain young lady, Joan Rhodes, to come with me back East to pursue a courtship. Alas, we could not resist the mutual attraction and were married in October 1978.

After graduating from East Coast Aero Technical School in Massachusetts in 1979, I began working for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in Middletown, Connecticut.  Lay-offs later forced me to look for work elsewhere and our family relocated to Northern Utah in 1981 where I became employed at Thiokol Corporation which produces the solid rocket motors for the Space Shuttle.

In 1989, we transferred to Central Florida where I worked in the Launch Site Support office at Kennedy Space Center for Thiokol.  Our family built a home in Cocoa, Florida and lived there for the next 12 years.  Living in the mission field was a great opportunity for us.  Many callings were received that provided personal and spiritual growth.  From 1994 to 1999, I served as the Bishop of the Cocoa, Florida ward.  We participated in the Hurricane Andrew cleanup in Homestead, Florida and were personally challenged each year as the hurricane season brought potential evacuations and possible devastation.  Personal and family preparedness took on another dimension as we tried to live the commandment to be self-sufficient and be able to leave our home if necessary on short notice.  Humidity and hurricanes were two things that could not be avoided.

In 2000, the opportunity presented itself to transfer back to Utah and we took it.  We currently live in Brigham City which is about 60 miles North of Salt Lake City.  Joan and I have three children: 1) Christopher - age 27 who lives in Utah and will be married on September 8th this year in the Bountiful Temple.  He works for Lenscrafters in their Lab and is finishing his degree in Music Education; 2) Shauna  - age 25 who married a young man named Joseph Smith (really!) and lives in Central Florida.  She is a dental assistant for a periodontist; and 3) Brian - age 22 who works at JC Penney and is going to school in Salt Lake City.  Joan is a store director for Maverick Gas Stations/Convenience Stores and I remain at Thiokol (now known as ATK Launch Systems, Inc.) as a Quality Engineer.

I currently serve on the Brigham City South Stake High Council as an advisor to the Young Men and enjoy the role of assisting in the preparation of young men of the Church for the Melchizedek Priesthood, full-time missions, and other challenges of life.  Joan and I are looking forward to the future when we can serve together as companions on a mission.
 

Elder Ronald Greenwood

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Bryan Groom

?? - ??

  
 

Elder David "Gumby" Gumucio

1978 - 1980

Toyota, Nagoya, Matsuzaka, Takaoka, Gifu

  
 

Elder Doug Gunnell

Sept 1975 - Sept 1977

Shiroko, Gifu, Okayama, Gifu, Nagoya 4

  
 

Elder Kevin Hadley

Feb 1976 - Feb 1978

Fukui, Tsu, Ogaki, Shizuoka, Toyohashi, Nagoya 2

  
 

Sister Elyse Hall-Mooneyham

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Tim Halverson

April 1976 - April 1978

Gifu, Numazu, Nagoya 4, Nagoya 7, Komatsu, Gifu, Kuwana

  
 

Sister Tomie Hanisawa

May 1975 - Nov 1976

  
 

Elder David Hanson

Oct. 1976 - Nov. 1978

Kariya, Kuwana, Mission Office, Gifu, Toyohashi, Nishio

  
 

Elder Chris Heftel

Oct. 1975 - Oct. 1977

Nagoya, Ogaki, Kariya, Kanazawa, Nagoya

  
 

Elder Tommy D. Henderson

June 1978 - June 1980

Kanazawa, Okazaki, Anjo, Ise, Nagoya, Komatsu

  
 

Elder Bryce K. Hendrickson

July 1976 - June 1978

Shiroko, Okazaki, Nagoya Showa-ku, Takaoka, Shizuoka

  
 

Elder Val N. Hicken

July 1975 - July 1977

Matsusaka, Nagoya, Takaoka, Toyohashi, Kariya, Ogaki, Anjo

  
 

Sister Toshiko Jojima (Higuchi)

1975 - 1976

Kanazawa, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Tsu

  
 

Elder David B. Hill

Dec 1975 - Dec 1977

Nagoya 5, Nagoya 1, Shiroko, Nagoya 5, Takaoka

  
 

Elder Les Hill

1977 - 1978

  
 

Sister Sachiko Hishiyama

Apr 1975 - Oct 1976

  
 

Elder Jerry Hollenback

1978 - 1980

Nagoya, Gifu, Inuyama, Komatsu, Ichinomiya

  
 

Elder Steve Hollingworth

1977 - 1979

Nagoya, Toyota, Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Tokyo

  
 

Elder Anthony Horton

1976 - 1978

Shimizu, Matsuzaka, Toyota

  
 

Elder Douglas Horsley

May 1975 - May 1977

Nagoya 3, Tsu, Hamamatsu, Kanazawa, Nagoya Zone, Mission Home

  
 

Elder Randy Ipsen

Nov. 1976 - Nov. 1978

Nagoya 3, Gifu, Okazaki, Kuwana, Tsu

  
 

Sister Sumiko Ishii (Nakata)

Apr 1975 - Oct 1976

  
 

Elder Masaatsu Iwaki

Apr 1975 - Apr 1977

  
 

Sister Ryoko Iwanaga

?? - ??

  
 

Elder George W. Jackson

April 1975 - April 1977

Toyama, Ogaki, Nagoya

  
 

Elder Reed O. Jeffery

May 1977 - May 1979

Komatsu, Numazu, Ichinomiya, Ogaki, Fukui

  

Elder Gordon L. Jensen

Apr. 1976 - Apr. 1978

Matsuzaka, Nagoya, Okazaki, Gifu, Inuyama

After returning home to California in April 1978, I spent the summer working before heading to BYU.  I studied business administration and graduated in December 1981.  I met Sally Wang in a Japanese class there and we eventually married in 1980.  Four years later my son was born, followed a year and a half later by my (first) daughter. 

After graduation, we moved to California where I got into high tech sales and marketing (kind of hard not to when you live in Silicon Valley) and have been at various firms (currently software) in marketing and business management positions since. 

Unfortunately, over the years Sally became increasingly negative towards the church, and although I even tried being “inactive” for a number of years to try to improve the relationship, it continued to get worse.  I finally decided that I had to be “active” regardless, and started taking my kids to church myself.  Eventually the distance became too great and the marriage ended. 

However, I had two wonderful children and doors were opened up to me to meet my best friend and eternal companion Nancy and her young daughter.  We were married in 1999 and sealed in 2000.  Our new family of five meshed very well and we became a true family, with all the love (and everything else that comes with it) of any “normal” family (no “steps”). 

Sean is at University of California Santa Barbara in Law and Society (pre-law).  Shanna just graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and Taylor is an extremely busy junior attending the same high school that both Nancy and I attended. 

Nancy is a real estate agent for Alain Pinel Realtors, a local specialty home real estate agency in our area and that occupation has given her the time freedom to be able to be home most of the time for the kids. 

My passion (okay, die hard nuts) is tournament slalom water skiing, which I have been doing for close to 20 years now.  Sean is on the UCSB water ski team (although I think he’s having a little too much fun with that and needs to focus a bit more on classes!).  But it is fun to get together with him to ski. 

I’m currently our ward mission leader and Nancy just finished a four-year stint as our stake’s first ARP facilitator.  We have truly been blessed and I would not have my wife, my children, or my life as I know it without my missionary experience in Nagoya.  I am eternally grateful and appreciate each and every one of you that I had the privilege to meet, learn from, and work with.

 

Elder John Carlos Johnson

1978 - 1980

Kanazawa, Nagoya, Takayama, Toyohashi

  
 

Elder Randy Johnson

1975 - 1977

Nagoya 7, Ichinomiya, Kakegawa, Fukui, Nagoya 2, Shizuoka

  
 

Elder Todd Johnson

July 1977 - July 1979

Shiroko, Kanazawa, Tsu, Matsusaka, Nagoya

  
 

Sister Toshiko Jojima (Higuchi)

Jun 1975 - Dec 1976

  
  

Elder Bryan G. Judd

Aug. 1976 - Aug. 1978

Kakegawa, Shimizu, Tsu, Nagoya, Matsuzaka

My wife Barbara and I have four children--Stephanie, our oldest, served her mission in Norway and graduated from BYU in 2007 in El Ed.  Eric served in the Illinois Chicago North mission and is a junior at BYU.  Lisa is starting her sophomore year at BYU.  Rachael begins 6th grade this fall.  Our greatest joy comes from them. 

We have lived in the Sacramento, CA area since graduation in 1984 from University of the Pacific Dental School (in San Francisco).  I love my work in the dental field--especially creating wonderful new smiles for my patients (see www.theartofdentistry.com

My interests include composing and recording music, playing baseball, and photography--and of course, participating in ward activities with friends and family.  I look forward to renewing friendships from our mission days at the October reunion.
 

Elder Kelvin Kado

1976 - 1978

Kariya, Ise, Komatsu, Toyama, Nagoya 4 , Kakegawa

The Rotary club here in Raymond has just finished a complete revamping of the University Dental school at Makerere University in Kampala. The dental school was established in 1963 and the equipment had not been updated since then, 99% of the equipment was not functioning any more. This has been a two year project raising the money and arranging state of the art equipment, facility renovation and cirriculum changes at the school. This was quite a job since we are a very small club (15 member) in a town of 3300 people. We will be working with the school to begin an outreach program as well, with new prtable units. My wife and are going to attend the grand opening on August 3. While there we will be assisting with the grand opening and also working at a community health center. I will also be repairing dental equipment that I helped install a couple of years ago. We leave July 21 and Arrive home late August 11. Just in time to welcome our son home from his mission on August 14.

  
 

Elder T Alan Katseanes

Oct 1977 - Dec 1979

Toyota, Hombu, Nishio, Hombu, Matsuzaka

  
 

Elder Brad King

July 1975 - July 1977

Yokkaichi, Nagoya 5, Toyama, Tsu, Kariya, Toyohashi, Nagoya 2

 

  
 

Elder Kent Kleiner

?? - ??

  

Elder David C. Kravetz

Feb. 1976 - Feb. 1978

Kanazawa-Nagoya-Fukui-Takaoka-Ogaki-Fuji

 

David currently resides in Lexington, KY and works for Lexmark International.  He has been married to his wife, Julianne, for nearly 28 years. David has 5 children, 3 grandchildren and 1 more grandchild due in October 2007. His oldest daughter Amaree also served in the Nagoya Mission. Another daughter, Marissa, served in Bangkok, Thailand and his son Seth is currently serving in the Salt Lake City South Mission.

 

David graduated from Northern Arizona University in 1984 and received his Masters from Arizona State University in 1986. From 1986 to 1988 he worked as a Coordinator for International Relations under Governor Morihiko Hiramatsu in Oita Prefecture and then worked for Asahi Solar Corp. in Japan from 1988 to 1991.  He has also worked for a number of Japanese businesses in Kentucky prior to being employed by Lexmark in 1998.

 

David joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a convert in January 1975 in Murray, Utah, received his mission call on Dec. 31, 1975 and left for his mission in February 1976.

 

On the side David does Web Design.  He manages the website for the nationally recognized musical act The Trailer Park Troubadours and is the Webmaster for the Tanaka Reunion Pages.  Visit David's Website

 

Check out David's Japanese TV Commercial.  It was televised nationally in Japan during 1990.
 

Elder Matthew P. Lawrence

July 1974 - July 1976

Shiroko, Nagoya 1, Nagoya 6, Shizuoka

  

Elder Kevin P. Lee

1976 - 1978

Okazaki, Ogaki, Toyama, Fukui, Tsu

Nancy and I have five wonderful children, three boys and two girls. With two children married, we're looking forward to our first grandchild this spring. I stay busy with work - controller for a local company, church work - I've been bishop for almost three years now, and family. (February 2007)
 

Elder Robert M. Lee

Oct. 1978 - Nov. 1980

Kita-ku, Toyokawa, Moriyama-ku, Ise, Toyama, Suzuka

  
 

Elder Donald Leroy Lowry

1977 - 1979

Fukui, Kita-ku, Ogaki, Nagoya 5, Kanazawa, Ichinomiya, Tsu

 

Since I left Nagoya in May of '79  I have been pretty busy.  Drove trucks to save money for college and I graduated from BYU in 1983 and went off to Air Force Pilot Training in Arizona.   

To my surprise, I spent over 23 years in the Air Force in both the active duty and reserve and enjoyed a varied career flying the F-15, C-130, DC-9 and eventually had to the opportunity to move to Washington DC and fly Air Force One during the Clinton/Gore years... no I didn't vote for them but it was a very, very interesting experience. 

I was lucky enough to spend 6 years stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan and go back and visit a few of the investigators in the Nagoya area  and most of the areas I served in during the mission.  Between flying for the Air Force I taught English to Japanese kids in the evenings.... some missionary habits never die... and played in a Rock Blues band on the week-ends.  I still have many good friends in Japan to this day from those experiences.  I still get Christmas cards from some of my old kyudosha. 

I was hired and flew as Captain for Japan Airlines in 1997 based in Hawaii, and really enjoyed seeing a different side to Japanese culture.  I had a really good time and spent 5 years with JAL until my Dad died and I needed to be home more for my Mom.   

I went to Alaska Airlines, where I currently work.  I am back living in "God's Country,"  Montana with my wife, Pummy and two sons, Ricky 7 and Nicholas 2. 

I am really looking forward to seeing you all again at the reunion and my heart felt thanks to all of those responsible for making this happen! 

Thank you very much!

Leroy (Don) Lowry

 

 

Elder David L. Marshall

June 1976 - June 1978

Nagoya 5, Kanazawa, Ogaki, Anjo, Hombu

  
 

Elder Keith Gawin Martineau

1978 - 1980

Ogaki, Nagoya, Kariya, Komatsu

  
 

Sister Sanae Matono (Tsutsumi)

?? - ??

Tsu

 

The following is gleaned from an email to Sister Scoggins:

 

My name is Sanae Matono (Tsutsumi), labored in Japan Nagoya.

 

 I was doryou of Olson shimai in Tsu after Sister Scoggins. Do you remember my name?

 

Today I saw the web site of the reunion, and when I saw your picture (Sister Scoggins),   it reminds me old days And I wrote a mail to my companion Shauna Damitz, after a long separation.

 

Then I couldn't find my name anywhere on the list

 I'm afraid nobody remember me. Would you please put my name on a list? (DONE!!! - DK)

 

Though I will not be able to attend the reunion this time, please give my regards to everyone.

 

Thank you very much. please take care of yourself .

 

God bless you and your family, always.

  
 

Elder L. Derek Maude

1978 - 1980

Fukui, Ise, Nagoya 1, Kasugai, Nishio

  
 

Elder Michael Glenn McDonald

Dec 1976 - Dec 1978

Nagoya, Gifu, Kanazawa

  
 

Elder Richard L. McKenna

July 1976 - July 1978

Nagoya 3, Nagoya 4, Nagoya 6, Kanazawa

  
 

Elder Michael McMurray

May 1978 - May 1980

Shiroko, Nagoya 4, Okazaki, Nagoya 1, Takaoka

  
 

Elder Wendell Mickelsen

Jan. 1977 - Jan. 1979

Shiroko, Shizuoka, Nagoya 2, Kanazawa

  
 

Elder Bradley E. Miller

Jan 1978 - Jan 1980

  

Elder Jerald Byron Miller

Feb 1976 - Feb 1978

Toyohashi, Fukui, Ichinomiya, Matsuzaka, Nagoya 2

I still live in Fort Collins Co in the same ward I left for my mission although it has a new name and has become unofficially a married student ward with lots of turnover.  I have been married to Norma Valentin, a native of Lima Peru for nearly 28 years, who I met in a singles ward while I was stationed at Fort Belvoir Virginia for three months. I have three sons, all eagle scouts who have earned their Duty to God.  The oldest Jason, served a mission to Malaga Spain, graduated from BYU, and works as a Mechanical Engineer for Honeywell in Torrance California. He is Executive Secretary for his single ward. His brother Andrew served a mission to the Fiji Mission, serving his whole mission in the country of Vanuatu.  As AP for Vanuatu, he translated for President Hinckley during his visit, and reviewed the translation of the “Book Belong Mormon” into Bislama. He is a senior at BYU in Biology teaching and will be student teaching this fall, then going to grad school. Our youngest, Arthur also attended BYU and has been in the Russia Moscow Mission since August 2006.   

I am currently serving as Ward Clerk for a singles ward. I retired from the US Army as an Engineer Major after 20 years of reserve service in 1998.  I have worked mostly as a Purchasing Manager for several home builders in Colorado since I graduated with a Masters Degree in Construction Management from Colorado State University.  I graduated from CSU with a degree in Social Science with an Asian Studies Concentration in May 1976 – when I was already in Japan for a month.  ( I changed my major from history the last semester to avoid the foreign language requirement)  

My wife owns the only LDS bookstore from North of the Denver temple to Canada and east of the Rockies to Winter Quarters. I built the inventory and point of purchase application in MS Access and maintain the website. For somewhere close to 15 years we have attended the LDS Booksellers convention in Salt Lake every August. Our website is www.MoroniBooks.com.  

Since my wife and sons, in-laws, local members and many construction workers speak Spanish, I often mingle Spanish words into Japanese phrases.

 

Elder Ned Miller

1977 - 1979

Nagoya, Fukui, Kariya, Inuyama

  
 

Elder Todd Miller

Oct. 1975 - Oct. 1977

Takaoka, Nagoya, Tsu, Kanazawa, Shiroko

  
 

Elder Corey Milne

?? - ??

Nagoya, Kanazawa, Fuji, Hombu

  
 

Elder Martin D. Monks

June 1975 - June 1977

Nagoya, Okazaki, Ichinomiya, Shiroko

  
 

Sister Elyse M. Mooneyham

Dec. 1975 - June 1977

Ichinomiya, Nagoya

  
 

Elder Cameron Murray

Aug. 1978 - Aug. 1980

Chikusa, Nagoya 1, Nagoya 3, Kita 2, Inuyama, Ichinomiya

  
 

Elder Joel Nakila

1976 - 1978

Komatsu, Ichinomiya, Nagoya 3, Nagoya 7, Kanazawa

  
 

Elder Mark Newman

1975 - 1977

Ichinomiya, Toyohashi, Okazawa, Nagoya, Kanazawa

  
 

Elder Paul W.  Nielsen

Nov. 1975 - Nov. 1977

Numazu, Kakegawa, Gifu, Nagoya, Toyama, Shimizu

  

Sisters Nielson and Damitz in Nagoya

 

Sisters Scoggins and Nielson at a Tea Ceremony

Sister Paula Nielson

1975 - 1977

Kanazawa, Tsu, Nagoya

 

I am so thankful for my time in Japan.  How I love that country and its people, and especially those that I was able to teach and share my testimony with.  Most of my callings in the Church have been teaching and my mission prepared me for this and for a love of studying the gospel, especially about the Savior. How I love my mission companions who were angels on earth. Following my mission I went to Jerusalem with BYU Study Abroad and also found my testimony strengthened and my life blessed. Upon returning from Jerusalem, I finished my B.A. in Near Eastern Studies at BYU, then went to work at the Library of Congress in the Near East Section. I later received my master's in Library Science from the University of Washington, and returned east to work as a Middle Eastern librarian at Princeton University. Some years later I received my doctorate from the University of Utah in Middle Eastern Studies and Anthropology while working at BYU.  I have remained a librarian while also teaching a bit of anthropology of religion and working in systems and web design (some of my websites can be found at http://nielsonpi.com/). I love to read--especially mysteries, and I enjoy learning about animals all the way back to the dinosaurs. I continue to study the peoples of the Ancient Americas and the Middle East, their cultures, history and religions.

Sister Nielson in Nazareth

 

Sister Nielson at Library of Congress

 
 

Elder Danny Niitsuma

Mar. 1976 - Mar. 1978

Takaoka, Nagoya, Tsu

  
 

Sister Noriko Ohya (Minaki)

Sep 1975 - Mar 1977

  
 

Sister Kazuyo Ohyama (Tsukasa)

Jun 1975 - Dec 1976

  
 

Elder Mitsuo Omine

July 1974 - July 1976

  
 

Elder Brent Orton

?? - ??

  
 

Elder Kevin Otteson

1977 - 1979

Nagoya, Kanazawa, Gifu

  
 

Elder Akihiko Ozaki

Aug. 1974 - Aug. 1976

  
 

Elder Karl E. Paget

1976 - 1978

Nagoya 4, Komatsu, Chikusa-ku, Numazu, Kawasaki, Machida

  
 

Elder Leslie W. Pardew

May 1978 - May 1980

Yokkaichi, Owariashi, Fukui, Okazaki, Nagoya, Ise, Seto

  
 

Elder Val Parrish

1978 - 1980

Ise, Unuma, Fukui, Takaoka, Okazaki

  
 

Elder Keith Patterson

May 1976 - May 1978

Numazu, Okazaki, Kanazawa, Shizuoka, Yokkaichi, Nagoya

 
 

Elder Kent Payne

1976 - 1978

Gifu, Okazaki, Kanazawa, Shiroko (Suzuka), Ise

  
 

Elder Darrell S. Peck

1976 - 1978

Nagoya 4, Toyohashi, Shimizu, Ichinomiya

  
 

Elder Blaine Pike

June 1976 - June 1978

Shizuoka, Nagoya 5, Gifu, Nagoya 7

  

Elder Scott J. Poulsen

1976 - 1978

Fukui, Nagoya 6, Yokkaichi

 

Companions were David Marshall, Paul Schwen, Vaughn Palmer, Onuki Choro, Curtis Tengan Choro, David Kravetz, Robert Pruitt, Don Lowry, Tom Pruess, Keith Patterson and David Ford.

After returning home a few of us had the opportunity while in Provo to meet with President Tanaka when he came out to a conference. It was great to see him and it hurt to realize how much of the language that I loved had been forgotten. 

I married my wife Kristy who grew up in Logan, Utah. We were married in the Logan temple exactly 1 year to the day after returning home which has been almost 29 years.  We have 4 wonderful children. Jared, Wade, Tina and Nicole. Jared and Tina are now married. We have one Grand-Daughter who we look forward to being with in the next life and a Grand-Son due in January. 

I graduated from Utah State University in Accounting and have worked for the same company for the past 25 years in Finance. 

After graduating, Kristy and I lived in California for about a year and then settled in Smithfield, Utah were we have been for the past 24 years. 

Kristy and I have had wonderful opportunities to serve in the Church and we currently serve as Stake President in the Smithfield Utah North Stake. 

Interesting Notes: 

Elder Bingham and I were raised in the same ward in Linrose, Idaho where we lived 1 mile from each other. We were able to serve together in Fukui. 

Elder Rich McKenna's son Mark and our son Wade, were mission companions in Chicago North Mission in 2004.

Elder Thomas Pruess

Jan 1976 - Jan 1978

Tsu, Hamamatsu, Nagoya Dai 3, Nagoya Dai 6, Kanazawa, Takaoka

 

After returning from Japan I married Janice Isom (who waited and did not date during the two years I was gone) and then finished school at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.  I graduated in 1982 and by then our first two children (son and daughter) were already born. 

  I started my professional career as a hospital pharmacist at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. Since then I was a partner in a home health company that eventually grew to include an infusion pharmacy, a retail pharmacy, a home health nursing agency, and a durable medical equipment division.  We sold that about 12 years ago and I now manage a retail pharmacy in one of Intermountain Health Care's Health Centers.

  Our second two children (daughter and son) were born after graduation but now all but the youngest (disabled with autism) are married and each have a child of their own.

   We have lived in Kaysville, Utah for the last 13 years and love it here.  There is lots of room for gardening and other landscaping which has become sort of a hobby for us.  I also enjoy construction and building, our most recent project being a sun room on the back of our house.

   Church service has included most areas of the church.  I currently serve as a counselor in the stake Sunday school presidency and as a family history consultant and staffer at our stake's shared family history library.
 

Elder William Pulsipher

1977 - 1979

  
 

Elder Robert Purcell

Jun 1976 - Jul 1978

Fuji, Kakegawa, Nagoya, Shiroko

  

Elder Alton Quist

?? - ??

After graduating from Ricks College and BYU as a single man, I took a job in Phoenix Arizona. My wife Lauri had been waiting for me to graduate, so that she wouldn’t have to put me through school. She had traveled with her parents on vacation to Japan in 1980, so she already had a love for Japan and its people. We were married in 1982.

After spending some time in southern California, and the Washington DC area, we moved back to Chandler Arizona, where I’ve been working in the aerospace industry at Honeywell, for the last 21 years.

We have 5 children, Calvert (23) in college, served a mission to Hermosillo Mexico. Bethany (21) married and living in Sanger California with our first grandchild, and her husband. Blaine (20) currently serving in the South Africa, Johannesburg mission. Lauri and I are planning a trip in August to tour with him for a couple of weeks at the end of his mission. Carla (18) in college, and living at home.  Jeslyn (15) attending Chandler High School.

I currently serve on the high council.
 

Elder Kraig Raines

1975 - 1977

Nagoya 7, Kakigawa, Nagoya 4, Gifu, Tsu, Mie-Ken, Ishikawa-Ken

  
 

Elder Edward R. Rasmussen

1975 - 1977

Nagoya

  
 

Elder Darcy A.  Rausch

1975 - 1977

Yokkaichi, Fukui, Shimizu, Nagoya

  
 

Elder Mitchell Redd

?? - ??

  

Elder R. Lee Richan

Nov. 1976 - Nov. 1978

Ise, Fuji, Nagoya Dai-ichi, Komatsu, Nagoya 6-3

Funny how a person's life is usually described on their tombstone by the little summary dash between their birth and death dates. Stuffed into my own little dash are years in Japan, Singapore, Europe, and America; twice automotive factory General Manager, thrice President of my own companies. Yet some days I wonder what sprawling structure, precisely, the Architect yet builds. Enjoy then some introspection, rambling, and stumbles as I lurch forward, working to keep straight and true my little dash before the second date arrives.

 See Lee's Blog
 

Elder Randy Robinson

Sept. 1977 - Sept. 1979

Toyohashi, Kuwana, Nagoya, Gifu, Yokkaichi

  
 

Elder Kerry Rose

Nov. 1975 - Nov. 1977

Toyohashi, Shiroko, Nagoya 7, Kanazawa, Yokkaichi

  

Sister Sharon Ryan (Shay)

Feb 1976 - Aug 1977

Kanazawa, Nagoya, Fukui, Hamamatsu

After returning from Japan, I moved to Salt Lake City.  I worked for several years for the Utah State Fire Marshal's Office where I met my husband, John Shay.  He was a fire fighter for the  Salt Lake City Fire Department.    We have three children and 8 grandchildren.  I retired from Delta Air Lines and we have returned to my home in South Carolina. 

Most of my callings in the Church have been with the Young Women.  I have recently been released from our Relief Society Presidency here in S.C. and will begin teaching early morning Seminary soon. 

John and I love to travel especially back to Utah to see our grandchildren.  We also have 3 grandchildren who live in SC.  Being with them is the thing we like to do the most. 

I loved my mission and can't wait to see everyone again.

  
 

Elder Kenneth Sakauchi

April 1978 - April 1980

Matsuzaka, Kuwana, Fukui, Owariasahi, Matsuzaka, Gifu, Ogaki

  
 

Elder Rodney Schmidt

Aug 1976 - Aug 1978

Toyota, Toyama, Numazu, Tsu

  

Elder Paul Schwen

Jan. 1976 - Jan. 1978

Ichinomiya, Fukui, Toyohashi, Shiroko, Nagoya Chubu Naka, Nagoya

 

I returned home from Japan to Jimmy Carter’s high unemployment, double-digit inflation, gas lines… well, you know the rest. While I had been gone my parents moved to a small town in northern Nevada (about as far away from the glory of my mission experience as I ever wanted to be and as I possibly could be). With no assets and no possibility of college or a real job in the near future, I dropped out of the world for a while. When I resurfaced, I found myself divorced with a year-old child in my care.

 

By Nov 1979, I had gotten my act together and was able to move on; packing my belongings and son into my car, I headed east. I got as far as Provo, UT where I stopped to visit friends. Within a few days, I had found a house, a job, and great daycare facilities, and have been here ever since.

 

I remarried in 1981; over the next 10 years I finished college, had five children, and established a business. I thought life was going pretty well when without warning my wife began showing signs of serious mental illness, and within a short period had descended into her own private hell where she’s been ever since. We divorced shortly afterward, and I struggled to deal with the repercussions of her illness and its effect on my children in particular. Once again I found myself ‘swimming in deep water’ as the saying goes. I was no longer able to travel and had to sell my business to take care of the kids.

 

Fast forward a few years – I was blessed to find myself with a new job and marriage in the SLC Temple, with a beautiful wife, two more  sons of my own, and some  inherited children. Besides being a Dad and husband, I find great satisfaction in my work developing and providing community safety education programs and products for children. My company produces well-known safety mascot costumes and animated robots, including McGruff the Crime Dog®, Smokey Bear®, Sparky the Fire Dog®, and more. So you see, after everything I am still able to be ‘genki’ and make a living doing it – plus my kids think it’s great!

Two of my children are Japanese linguists, one in the US Army currently serving in Iraq while another is majoring in Japanese at BYU and currently in Japan teaching English. My oldest son is an Arabic linguist (US Marines), having served in Afghanistan and as a member of the I.S.G. in Iraq, while one daughter is a French linguist and another served her mission to the Vatican in Italy. At one point I had five kids in college – two at the University of Utah, two at BYU, and one at UVSC. Of those, three have now graduated and been married in the temple. Another son will be receiving his mission call in a few months, while another is high school and the youngest in junior high. My wife is a first grade teacher at Westridge Elementary School in Provo, UT.

  

Sister Deanna Scoggins-Tanner

June 1976 - Dec 1977

Nagoya, Tsu, Kanazawa, Ichinomiya

My husband, Mike, and I were married in the Washington D.C. Temple a few years after I graduated from BYU.  My husband managed his family's grocery store in Redding, California, until 1996, and I was employed as the bookkeeper which allowed me to stay at home with our two boys.  We raised our sons, Andrew and Jeffrey, in Shingletown which is located in the mountains east of Redding.  Andrew (23) graduated from U.C. Berkeley and is now working on his Masters in Asian Studies at the University of San Francisco.  Jeffrey (22) is autistic and lives at home. 

Our store closed in 1996, and my husband presently works as a firefighter for the US Forest Service.  I went back to school for my Teaching Credential and for the past 8 years I've been teaching in a rural elementary school.  Last June I quit my job in order to take care of Jeffrey and decide what my next career should be.

I enjoy horseback riding, horse packing into wilderness areas, deer hunting, and reading historical novels and children's literature.

 I love the gospel and cherish many wonderful memories of the mission field and the friends I made there.  AND I still bake pies occasionally......blackberry pie anyone?

 

Elder James G. Selander

Jan. 1977 - Jan. 1979

Nagoya 1, Nagoya 5-2, Okazaki, Kuwana, Tsu

  
 

Elder David M. Senior

1979 - 1981

Nagoya 1, Komatsu, Higashigaoka, Nonami, Hombu, Kanazawa, Yokkaichi

  
 

Elder Mitsuo Shimokawa

May 1975 - May 1977

  
 

Sister Junko Shino (Tsuda)

May 1975 - Nov 1976

  

Sister Andrea Shirts (Nelson)

1976 - 1977

Nagoya 1, Fukui, Tsu, Yokkaichi

My family was so surprised when I received my mission call to the Japan Nagoya Mission, particularly my father. He jumped from his chair and said "I can't believe it. Nagoya was my first bombing run in WWII and the only city we ever bombed twice." I had quite a different mission than his generation! I was assigned to Nagoya daiichi with Miyazato shimai then to Fukui with Fujita and Wilcox shimai's then Tsu with Higuchi, Imamura and Barnes, and Scoggins shimai and ended in Yokkaichi with Monji shimai.

When I returned home I finished my education at Southern Utah University and was married to Rick Nielson (Swiss -German mission) the following summer. We lived in Cedar City where he taught school and spent three years for further schooling in So. California. (No. Hollywood and Van Nuys) I managed the apartment buildings we lived in return for the rent. By this time we had two little girls. We moved back to Utah and built a house in American Fork. Four years later Rick found someone with another offer and I found myself a single mother of four ( 3 girls and a boy.) I went back to Cedar City to renew my teaching certificate and was hired by the Iron Co. School district where I taught Am. History and Gov't. at Cedar City High School and was the debate coach and also built a Japanese program. After five years of traveling to debate competitions every weekend and leaving my kids with my parents I moved to the private sector and became the Assistant to the President of a manufacturing firm in Cedar City (Metalcraft Technologies-builds parts for airplanes). My Boss was a bishop and sympathetic to my needs as a single parent. I was able to attend my children's school functions etc. during the day without problems at work. My lunch hour was very flexible!!

In 1998 I was reacquainted with one of my older brother's friends when he attended a high school class reunion. (Roice Nelson) His wife had left him and the church. He lived in Texas and asked if I would be interested in going to dinner sometime when he was in town visiting his mother. I figured it was a safe date as he lived 2,000 miles away and it was free food at the best restaurant in town. We were married in May of 1999 and I moved to Houston. In this combined family we have 10 children and 8 grandchildren. Our family is a good example of the parable of the 10 virgins as we have 5 wise children and 5 foolish children but are trying to develop the faith of Alma the elder in praying for our prodigals. Here is the run down if you aren't bored yet.

Roice III (Sara) programs black boxes for Swissair UT graduate Austin TX Ben (Sarah) Finance mergers and acquisitions Calgary Canada (Ethan) A&M graduate Paul (Kate) Novasirbrisk Mission, BYU grad St. Louis, Boeing engineer 3 children Melanie (Jared Puerto Rico mission Pre-dental) Univ. TX graduate 3 children Heather Nielson SUU graduate Quality control Deseret Labs St. George UT.

Audrey Nielson Waldron (Joshua, look for his photography and music on Paul Cardall CD's) baby Sophia, SUU graduate, they live in SLC.

Sara Ellen Nelson Univ. TX Graduate, Peace Corps in Benin, Works for Dell Computers Rachel Nielson SUU graduate working for Intercontinental Hotels in SLC.

Rob Nelson, Houston off and on student.

Matt Nielson Attends SUU and is in the 222nd National Guard from Utah being deployed to Iraq this summer. Unit activated before mission papers sent in.

I teach 1 class (maybe 2 this year) of Japanese a day for the Katy ISD, my husband is a Geophysicist (UofU and MBA SMU) and served in the British Mission. I am currently in the best position in the church and _love_ teaching early morning seminary. I haven't enjoyed studying the gospel this much since my mission. Shall we not go on in so great a cause!!

Elder Stewart Simons

Feb 1976 - Feb 1978

Nagoya, Fuji, Shimizu, Kanazawa

 
 

Sister Kathleen O. Sorenson

1976 - 1977

Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Yokkaichi, Tsu

  
 

Sister Sachiko Sota (Fujita)

Nov 1975 - Mar 1977

Ichinomiya, Fukui, Tsu, Gifu, Nagoya 1

  
 

Elder Mark Stevens

1976 - 1978

Nagoya, Fukui, Takaoka, Kakegawa, Okazaki

  
 

Elder Christian J. Stevenson

Jan 1975 - Jan 1977

Shimizu, Nagoya, Komatsu, Toyota

  
 

Elder Allen K. Stewart

Sept. 1975 - Sept. 1977

Nagoya 4, Ogaki, Honbu, Kasugai, Hokuriku

After returning to Denton, Texas, I stayed home and worked until returning to Georgia Tech in September 1978. Graduated 5 September 1981 and was married to Phyllis Virginia Wellington at the Washington Temple 18 September 1981 (that was quite a month!). Have two children: Cameron Michael, born 23 August 1984 (recently returned from his mission to Mexico Monterrey East, currently studying Building Construction at Georgia Tech) and Kathleen Gabrielle (Casey), born 28 September 1989 (currently a senior at Duluth (GA) High School.) Received my architectural registration in 1991 and am currently a Project Architect with Cooper Carry & Associates. Work actually took me back to Japan twice in 1993 to Tokyo and Fukuoka, but that's as close as I've gotten to Nagoya since. Have stayed happily active all these years and am currently serving as an Ordinance Worker at the Atlanta Temple and a Ward Family History Consultant.

  

Elder Ted Sumrall

1977 - 1979

Kariya, Toyama, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Okazaki

 

  
 

Elder John C. Sutherland

Sept. 1975 - Sept. 1977

Nagoya 1, Gifu, Toyota, Kuwana, Ise, Toyohashi

  
 

Elder Scott Swofford

?? - ??

  
 

Sister Yasuko Takahashi

June 1975 - Dec 1976

Hamamatsu, Fukui, Nagoya 3, Gifu 2

Currently teaches Institute in Miyazaki

  
 

Elder Shinji Takagi

?? - ??

I go to Tokyo almost every week to serve as an ordinance worker in the Tokyo Temple with President and Sister Tanaka, often on the same shift. Elder Utagawa is the Temple Recorder. I see him each time I go to the Temple--meaning just about every week.

I have worked on Japanese church history on and off over the past 15 years or so, and published four articles. Perhaps you can display those articles at the reunion, as a substitute for my presence. Incidentally, two of those articles are reprinted in the book Preaching the Gospel to the Japanese, published by BYU Press in 2006.
 
 

Elder Mark Tateoka

1976 - 1978

Nagoya, Kasugai, Hamamatsu, Kakegawa

  

Elder Curtis Tengan

?? 1975 - ?? 1977

 

  
 

Sister Kyoko Thayne (Miyasato)

Aug 1975 - Feb 1977

  
 

Elder Blake Thomas

?? - ??

  
 

Sister Karla Thompson

Feb. 1976 - Aug. 1977

Nagoya, Hamamatsu

  
 

Elder Kerry Thompson

?? - ??

  
 

Elder David Lance Tracy

1976 - 1978

Kanazawa, Toyama, Shizuoka, Komatsu

  
 

Elder Seiichiro Utagawa

Nov. 1975 - Dec. 1977

Hamamatsu, Ise, Nagoya 3, Gifu, Nagoya 1, Hombu, Owariasahi

  
 

Elder Craig J. Wahlquist

1976 - 1978

Gifu, Nagoya, Okazaki, Shimizu

  
 

Elder Thomas D. Waite

1977 - 1979

Nagoya 1, Nagoya 7, Toyohashi, Gifu

  
 

Elder Thomas A. Ward

Dec. 1974 - Dec. 1976

Nagoya, Kanazawa, Takaoka, Shizuoka, Gifu, Ise, Hombu

  

Elder David Warren

Jul. 1978 - Jul. 1980

Inazawa, Nagoya, Inuyama, Gifu, Nagoya

 

David currently lives in London, England, and works for Tahitian Noni International.  He and Adrienne (Tingey) have been married for 23 wonderful years. They have 5 children, the first 2 of whom (see pic of Rachel and Samuel) were born with severe handicaps and lived in this world for just 6 ˝ years and 9 ˝ months, respectively.  The next 3 (Nick, Ellie, and Mike) are all too healthy at times ;-), and are a great comfort and blessing to their parents.  In short, we have two angels among our family, who motivate and help the rest of us to keep our heavenly bearings, lest in all of our getting we miss the real treasure: eternal, loving bonds.

David graduated from BYU in 1983 in Japanese, received an MBA from Harvard in 1987, and a post-graduate certificate in Advanced Japanese Studies from the Stanford Center (now called Inter-University Center) in 1988.  From 1983-1985, he worked as a trainee, then analyst for Mitsui Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles.  From 1987-1995 he worked with Sumitomo Trust, out of Tokyo and New York, in such functions as originations/syndications, research, corporate communications, new product and market development, and finally corporate strategic planning. From 1995-2005, David was mostly an international management consultant, although he had brief stints as CFO and CEO of two startups .  His main focus in consulting was strategy, innovation, and value optimization.  He loves opportunities to help the world’s poor become self-reliant, that they might then be able to blossom spiritually, and help others to do so, having their basic temporal needs met.  Accordingly, he is happy as a clam in his current positions as the European regional executive for Tahitian Noni and as Asst. Ward Mission Leader in the Hyde Park Ward.  Life is good! 

David’s wife, Adrienne, served a mission in Argentina, from 1981-3, and graduated from the Y.  Although she has occasionally worked as a 5th grade teacher (and probably will again), she is a full-time mom, now, and we are all grateful for her tireless, loving service on our behalf.  She makes our home a sweet oasis.  Nick is in 11th grade, enjoys history and running, and is hoping to first attend BYU then become a dentist.  Ellie is in 9th grade, enjoys writing and rowing, and hopes to attend USU, then become a landscape architect.  Mike is in 6th grade, loves reading and being a ham, and hopes to attend the U, then become a family counselor, if he doesn’t become a history professor or a police detective.

 

Elder Richard C. Welch

Feb. 1975 - Feb. 1977

Nagoya 3, Toyohashi, Gifu, Shizuoka

  
 

Elder Mark M. Wells

1976 - 1978

Komatsu, Kanazawa, Tsu, Ise, Nagoya 6

  

Elder Marcus E. White

Feb 1976 - Feb 1978

Nagoya 2-2, Fukui, Gifu, Hamamatsu

 

  
 

Elder Alvan B. Williamson

Feb. 1976 - Feb. 1978

I married my wife Cindy on June 8th 1979. We have four wonderful children and 1 grandchild. I am currently working at BYU as a Building Supervisor for the Tanner Building. In addition to this my wife and I have our own cleaning business. I also have two websites as a sideline WWW.pinewoodstore.com and WWW.stoneknapping.com. I currently serve in our ward as the membership clerk.

  

Elder Steve Wilson

May 1976 - May 1978

Shiroko, Matsuzaka, Kakegawa, Ogaki, Hamamatsu, Tsu, Nagoya 5

After returning from Japan I finished school in Chemical Eng and took a job in Cody Wyoming. I met my wife – Sylva at a Young Adult dance that Mike Dorny dragged me to on Valentines. He drowned June 10, 1979 a couple of months before we got married. We stayed in Cody for 3 years and went back to grad school for an international MBA from the U of S. Carolina. That took us to Japan  for 1.5 years and 1.5 in S. Carolina. I took a job in Michigan with Dow Corning and have been with them for 20 years in tech service, marketing and sales. We had 3 kids when we entered grad school and 4th and final one in Japan during school. My wife has never quite forgiven me for putting her through that experience. We spent 11 years in Michigan, 6 in Gilbert, AZ and 2 in Nampa, ID where we presently are.

My oldest Mike(named after Dorny Choro) graduated from the ‘Y’ and works as a mech eng for Bell Helicopter with 3 kids. He also went to Nagoya on his mission. Michelle and her husband live with us with 2 kids while he is finishing school at Boise State. My 3rd DJ is in a punk rock band called Scary kids Scaring Kids( Google it sometime but turn down the volume). Not the best thing but he stopped listening to me many years ago. Our baby Marni is our Yokohama mama, born during grad school in Yokohama and is getting a degree in math and planning to teach.

We have loved all the places we have lived but Michigan is where are kids really grew up and many great memories and friends. I travel quite a bit for my job and have been able to visit Pres Tanaka and his wife at the temple many times. It is so good to see him with that great smile and heart of gold. Those 2 years serving in Japan made all the difference in my life and the direction it has gone. I will be forever grateful for the chance to serve with you all in Nagoya.

Elder Leon Wiswell

July 1976 - July 1978

Nagoya 1, Matsusaka, Fuji, Toyama

I was raised on a farm located on the border of New York and Pennsylvania, and although it wasn't far from many Church history sites, I wasn't introduced to the LDS Church until 1972 while working in Yellowstone National Park the summer after my freshman year at Penn State University.

After returning to Penn State that fall, and while living in a fraternity house, I quickly gained a testimony and was baptized at age 19. I transferred to BYU the following year and received a BS degree in Microbiology in 1975. As a convert, I had not planned on going on a mission, but after hearing President Kimball speak on the obligation of every young man to prepare for a mission, I became convinced that I should serve a mission. So I then worked for a year in a nursing home and sold my car so that I would have enough money. I had a premonition that I would serve my mission in Japan, so I was thrilled when I received my call to the Japan Nagoya Mission. I entered the MTC and began my mission the same day as President Tanaka (July 1, 1976). Because I was 23 when I began my mission, I was often considered the old man of the mission. I can remember an occasion where after introducing ourselves to a Japanese housewife, I was asked if my companion (Elder Dyreng) was my son! During my mission, I had wonderful companions, including three who were native Japanese. I served in four areas: Nagoya Dai Ichi, Matsusaka, Fuji, and Toyama.

After returning from my mission in July 1978, I moved to Logan, UT and began working at one of the many cheese factories (Schreibers) in Cache Valley. I attended a USU student branch and met my first wife there, and we were married in the Logan Temple in June of 1978. Soon after this, we purchased a house in Smithfield, UT and began our family. After having 3 children (Annalee, Tonya, and Noah), I realized that I didn't want to be a cheesemaker for the rest of my life, so I decided to pursue a second college degree, this time in Computer Science at Utah State University. After graduating in 1988, I accepted a job with Hewlett-Packard, and our family moved to northern California, where our 3rd daughter (Kelli) was born.

The 1990's and early 2000's were not very pleasant for me (understatement).

Both of my parents passed away, I had some health issues, and I was involved in a serious accident when a policewoman ran a stop sign and into me, totaling my van. In 1996 my wife decided that she did not want to continue this life's journey together with me, so much to my surprise I found myself single again. I rented an apartment and continued living in the same town as my children so that I could be close to them, help to raise them, and be there if they needed me. In 2002, following the dot com bust and the merger of HP with Compaq, I was among the 50,000 employees that HP decided to lay off, and so I found myself unemployed for the first time in my life. However, a few months later I went back to work at HP as a contractor.

As my kids grew older and my two oldest daughters found great young men to marry in the Oakland Temple, I decided it was time to move on with life and away from California. In 2004 I found a job with EDS in Salt Lake City working on medical records software that's used in the Veteran's Hospitals throughout the USA, and so I moved back to Utah. About this same time I met a wonderful and lovely Filipina woman online named Mira who had served a mission on Temple Square. We were married in February 2005, and later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. My son moved in with us in the summer of 2005, and soon afterwards we purchased a nice home on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley where we currently live and hope to stay for a long time.

Mira and I are the Young Single Adult advisers in our ward. My wife and family, including my 3 grandchildren, bring great happiness to my life.

 

Sister Hatomi Yagame (Nakashima)

Oct 1977 - Apr 1979

Tsu, Yokkaichi, Ichinomiya, Nagoya 6, Nagoya 1

  
 

Elder Yoshio Yamanaka

Apr 1976 - Mar 1978

Shimizu, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Toyohashi

  
 

Sister Kyoko Yamano (Kobayashi)

Feb 1976 - Aug 1977

Yotsukaichi, Fukui, Nagoya

  
 

Elder Randall Yeates

1977 - 1979

Gifu, Hamamatsu, Tokyo South

  

Elder Jerry Zant

Feb. 1976 - Feb. 1978

Kanazawa, Matsuzaka, Hamamatsu, Tsu, Nagoya-hombu

The Zant family resides in the West Texas city of Midland, only 20 miles East of Odessa, where I was born and raised.  Life has been great being close to home, where we have enjoyed living near our extended families. 

Like David Kravetz, I had only been a member of the church for a year when my mission began February 12, 1976.  At the LTM and in the field, my testimony of the gospel blossomed because of all the wonderful experiences shared with each of you.  My genki and hard-working companions were as follows:  Mark Tucker (LTM), Richard Stokes, John Dyson, Alton Quist (all in Kanazawa 1), Gordon Jensen (Matsuzaka), Matt Crum, Scott Russell, Brian Davis (all in Hamamatsu), Kraig Raines, Craig Fredrickson (both in Tsu), Seiichiro Utagawa and David Marshall (both in the Nagoya hombu)

After returning from the mission field on February 21, 1978, I was completely broke and worked construction until leaving for BYU in the fall.  I immediately went to the MTC and applied for a job as a teacher.  For the following two and a half years, I was privileged to serve a second mission teaching newly called missionaries heading to Japan and later, supervising the Japanese teachers.  That first semester at the MTC, I was called into the Branch Presidency of one of the MTC Japanese Branches.  I loved being with the missionaries seven days a week! 

I graduated from BYU with a Business Finance degree in 1981, after failing to find my eternal mate.  I left Utah for West Texas, and spent the next three years in Lubbock earning a Law Degree from Texas Tech University School of Law.  The very first Monday night I was in Lubbock, I met my wife Heidi at a Young Adult FHE.  I called her later that night to ask her out, but she declined, and I spent the next 20 months trying to get a date with her.  When her boyfriend of two years left town on family business for a couple of weeks, I finally convinced her to go out with me.  I made sure we spent time together every day and took roses to her on the day the old beau returned to Lubbock.  By that time, Heidi had decided to stick with me a while.  We were engaged two months later and sealed in the Salt Lake Temple the day after Thanksgiving in 1985.  Two of my former mission companions, Matt Crum and Craig Fredrickson, were at the temple to celebrate with us; and they treated us to a wonderful meal at the Hotel Utah afterwards, since neither Heidi nor I had any family at the temple with us. 

Following Law School in 1983, I accepted a job with a law firm in Midland, Texas, as an estate planning practitioner, where we have been for the past 23 years.  Heidi, and I have three beautiful children, who have provided us a fun and exciting journey in life.  Amber is 22 and is finishing her final semester in college, capping her 4-year college volleyball career as her NCAA Div. II Conference’s Libero (defensive player) of the Year.  She’ll student teach and coach volleyball at her high school in the fall, and may pursue a Masters Degree after that.  Michael, 19, is serving in the Idaho Boise Mission after red-shirting his freshman football season at New Mexico State University.  His head coach promised to hold his scholarship until after his mission, so he’s excited about that.  Michael loves serving the Lord and has enjoyed being in Meridian and now Jerome, Idaho.  David, our 17-year-old, is a senior in high school, and has been admitted to BYU-Hawaii for the fall.  He turns 19 next January, and hopes to serve a mission in a warm climate (he’ll probably be called to Sapporo!). 

Heidi has a Bachelor’s Degree in biology, with a teaching certificate, but we’ve been blessed for her to be able to stay home to care for the children and me.  She took up tennis a few years ago and now coaches an after-school tennis program for elementary students.  I’m serving my third year as Bishop of the Midland 2nd Ward, and I’ve learned more about the Atonement in three years than during my prior 29 years in the church.  I am grateful for the gospel of Christ and am eternally indebted to the Satos, the Tanakas and all of you for the way you influenced my path in life.  I look forward to remembering those days and embracing you all in October!

Visit Jerry's page at his firm