Kerri, the second of seven children, grew up in Sandy, Utah. Kerri and her husband, Bob, met at Brigham Young University. After Kerri graduated with a BA in design and a minor in business, they moved to the Seattle area where their three children were born. The Brown family later moved back to the Wasatch Front where Kerri has enjoyed volunteering at her children’s school and extracurricular activities.

Brent

Kristin Candland Simmons is from Mesa, Arizona, where she lives with her husband and 12 and 14-year-old daughters. She served a full-time mission (Spanish speaking) in Fresno, California, which is where she met Tammy Uzelac Hall the last two months of her mission. They loved being companions so much that they decided to be roommates while finishing their degrees at BYU. She earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish in 1996 and worked, wandered, and traveled as much as possible before discovering that she wanted to become a speech pathologist. She earned her Masters of Arts in Communication Disorders with a bilingual emphasis from CSU, Los Angeles, in 2001 and has worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist ever since. She was honored, intimidated and basically frozen with fear when Tammy asked her to be a guest on the podcast with her sister-in-law, Jill Candland, but her love of these two women and the gospel gave her the strength to take the challenge.

Jill was born and raised in the small town of Heber, Arizona, where God chose to concentrate a high percentage of “salt of the earth” people. Raised by two great parents, one Latter-day Saint and one who doesn’t believe in God, her 50/50 upbringing shaped her perspective on God, families, the gospel and the Church (pssst they aren’t the same thing). She graduated from ASU in ‘97, worked a while, then stayed home to raise kids, and in 2014 jumped back into the workforce where she created and ran a youth program for kids who have a loved one with ALS. She has a super cool and genuinely nice husband (Kristin’s brother) who is a really good psychiatric nurse and amusing storyteller. They have four very fun kids each with hair that spans the neapolitan ice cream spectrum (strawberry = redhead) which draws amused comments from most people. She currently lives in Spokane, Washington, where God prompted them to move during a pandemic because apparently He wanted to have more conversations with her. That hope was fulfilled as she honed her skills of sincere and honest prayer conversations because as it turns out, pandemic + teenagers + move across the country = hard. She hearts all the good things in life: road trips, going barefoot, artisan ice cream, and Canada.

Trace was born in Quincy, Illinois, part of the Nauvoo district and final resting place to his relative Frederick G. Williams. Later his family moved to Grass Valley, California, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento. Northern California is where Trace calls home and the place that shaped his interests in snowboarding, the outdoors and art. Trace enjoys landscape photography and travel with his wife, Susan, (a former guest on the podcast) and his four children. Two of his children are serving full-time missions. A daughter is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission and his son is called to the Japan Fukuoka Mission with a reassignment near his sister in the Washington Tacoma Mission. Trace served in the Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission and has fond memories of the people, food and being branch president to an all-sister branch.

Robert is the seventh child out of eight and grew up in Dallas, Texas, and then the Bay Area in California. Though having pioneer heritage on all sides of his family, Robert felt detached from his roots until attending BYU and being surrounded by others of his faith. He really got to feel his roots when he was called to the Idaho Pocatello Mission (The Lord really knows what we need). With a new found love for eastern Idaho, Robert returned to Provo, Utah, and met his wife and worked toward becoming a dentist. Life happened, and bills for babies were due, and Robert took a role in sales thinking the dream to work in peoples' mouths would always be there. Twenty-five years, five children, two dogs, and lots of backyard chickens later, Robert is loving his life with all the twists and turns and working as the Chief Revenue Officer for Tech9 in Salt Lake City, Utah. When not in a Zoom meeting, Robert loves to ride his bikes (both road and mountain), eat breakfast cereal, and play keeper for the family co-ed indoor soccer team.

Marcos Orozcos is Chicano, an American of Mexican descent, and was born in Santa Monica, California, and raised in west Los Angeles near the ocean. Marcos is an “ex-gang-banger” and lived what he would describe as a very difficult life that included death, abuse, and poverty. Growing up, Marcos believed in prayer and always prayed for others but never for himself. Born and raised Catholic, Marcos never had any intentions of every leaving his faith, but God had other plans that steered his life in a completely different direction.

Haley Moreno is a full-time working mom of two kids (and Ralph the dog). She was born and raised in Salt Lake City and obtained a business degree from the best school in Utah, The University of Utah. She met her husband during her first couple weeks of college. After they dated, Haley and her husband were married in 2014 and sealed as a family of four in 2017. Haley is a mortgage loan officer and loves people and numbers. Her family loves traveling, especially to Puerto Rico to visit family where they enjoy the culture (and beach). Haley doesn't love to read so podcasts are her jam!

Susan is a full-time working mom and a full-time lover of people, especially her people, which includes three amazing daughters, one talented son, one clever husband, one adorable dog Nigel, and many hilarious friends! Her latest life motto hangs in her kitchen: “Love is always the answer,” and this rings true to her, as her mother had always told her while growing up in Holladay Utah, to be kind. Susan loves to read, eat sushi, go for walks and listen to music while cooking a delicious breakfast. Susan loves to travel! From the shores of Norway with her family, the towns of Slovenia with work colleagues, and even to the city of Atlanta with her Bible Study Besties! Susan loves the Lord and studying the scriptures.

Bonnie was born and raised in Southern California. She is the daughter of both a Palestinian father and a Mayflower-descendant mother, which made Bonnie’s love for the world ever so strong. She is currently living in Kuwait where she is serving with the USO, United Service Organizations. Over the last year she was grateful for her membership in the Church, which gave her immediate connections as she served in Iraq, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The summer of 2020 was time never soon to be forgotten as she worked to support thousands of refugees and soldiers that fled Afghanistan. She is most known as “Aunt Bonnie” and delights in all things “Auntie.” Bonnie’s career has given her the opportunity to live in some of the greatest cities of America. She has lived in San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, New York, Austin, and Boston, currently calls Southwest Asia home. Somehow, she always makes it back to the Wasatch Front where she is happy to enjoy the beauty of each season. Bonnie enjoys traveling and has a fierce love for people and cultures and thrives on immersing in the customs and traditions of places she visits. Her travels have proven to be a great source of learning and faith building. She loves the gospel and is grounded in knowing she is a daughter of heavenly parents.