Kevan Clawson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He served a full-time mission to Pennsylvania,
where he first met his wife, Terri. Kevan and Terri Hopkins were married in the SaltLakeTemple and have five
children (and five grandsons...so far!). Kevan has served as a missionary,
Seventy, Ward Mission Leader, and in a Stake Mission Presidency--in
all, over 15 years serving as a missionary! Also, Kevan and Terri served a
part-time mission working at the Utah State Prison, teaching inmates ESL,
English,and job skills. Kevan has also served in many teaching positions over
the years (Gospel Doctrine, Gospel Essentials, Temple Prep, Missionary
Prep, Stake Institute, Teachers Quorum, Seventies Quorum, High Priest Group,
and other classes)--in all, over 10 years as a teacher. Terri has also served
faithfully in many callings in the Church (Stake Missionary, Gospel
Doctrine Teacher, Primary Chorister, Primary Pianist, Choir
leader, trascriptionist for the Church Historical Department, Ward
Librarian, Genealogy Teacher, and in other ward and stake positions).
Kevan was prompted to begin
writing books by Elder Hugh Pinnock, who had served as his mission president in
Pennsylvania.
In 2000, Kevan was laid-up with back surgery and decided that he should finally
do what Elder Pinnock had been prompting him to do--write a book!
Unfortunately, Elder Pinnock died before any of Kevan's books were published.
The book "Becoming a Great Missionary" was written as a tribute to
Elder Pinnock. It contains the teachings and lessons Kevan learned from Elder
Pinnock over the years. Sister Anne Pinnock helped to edit the book, and wrote
the introduction. It may surprise people to know how difficult it is to write
books and get them published for people to read--even after the book is
written, it often takes over a year to get it edited and printed, ready for
sale. In his 'real life' Kevan was a roofer, working for several large
commercial roofing companies around the country to provide for his family.
Writing had been just a hobby for years, until back surgery provided him the
time to write his first book. After reading an entry from his
great-grandfather's journal about a special blessing he received at the hands
of the Prophet, and because of Terri and Kevan's mutual interest and
inspiration concerning the subject of obtaining one's calling and election to
the CelestialKingdom, they co-wrote the book on that
subject.
Terri was born in Steubenville, Ohio.
She was raised in Columbus, Ohio,
and then her family moved to Bloomington, Indiana, and eventually to Warrington, Pennsylvania,
where she first met Kevan. Terri attended BYU and graduated with a degree in
Microbiology. It was at BYU that Kevan and Terri met again, and courted. After
raising their five children, Terri decided to go back to school to gain a
Masters Degree as a Physician Assistant, with the goal of serving in
some underprivileged area. Terri was well prepared for this step: she had
worked in medicine all of her life. From a candy-striper when she was young,
she worked on an ambulance in inner-city Hartford,
as a Medical Assistant for several doctors, and worked as a Medical
Transcriptionist for years. Because of her wide experience, she taught
Medical Assisting at UtahTechnicalCollege,
prior to going back to college. Perhaps Terri's most unusual and impressive
accomplishments were associated with home construction. Terri began by
finishing a basement, then built a garage, then an addition to a home, and
finally ended up building her own 3,000 sf home in South Jordan, Utah. It's true! Terri
built her home with her own two hands: from framing the home to installing the
plumbing, the copper heating system, the electrical systems, etc. She is also a
gourmet cook, has wonderful needlework, and is a computer wiz (she worked as a
consultant to doctors and medical offices, working with them in selecting and
installing computer programs for medical use; and helping to organize medical
offices to make them more efficient). Time would not allow a list of all the
talents Terri has developed over the years (she also sings beautifully and
plays the piano), so let the foregoing simply wet your imagination! Terri is
also missionary-oriented, serving two Stake Missions prior to getting
married, and serving a part-time mission with Kevan at the prison.
Kevan and
Terri's children and grandchildren are scattered around the world: Michael and
his wife Priscila (from Brazil)
have two sons: Robbie and Gabriel. Mike served a mission to Brazil, and has
been a Marine for almost ten years. He is currently stationed in Germany, aiding the wounded returning from Iraq. Jeremiah
and his wife Jaime (from Utah)
have two sons: Ben and Kael. JJ served a mission to Chicago,
attended the University of Utah, and is a nurse living in Sacramento, California. Isaac
and his wife Jackie (from Mexico)
live just outside Mexico City.
Isaac served a mssion to Mexico
and is an executive with FedEx-Kinkos. Seth and Meg (from Pennsylvania) have one
son: Joshua. Seth served a mission to New York, and is a carpenter and
wood-worker. Seth and Meg will soon be moving to Pennsylvania. Elizabeth
graduated from UtahStateUniversity
and is a photographer living and working in Salt Lake City.
After they were
married, Kevan and Terri lived in Salt Lake City,
and then Bountiful, Utah. They then moved to Granby, Connecticut
for about seven years. Job changes sent them to Cleveland,
Ohio for three years; then to South
Jordan, Utah,
where they still own a home.
After their
children were grown, they moved to Middletown,
Connecticut, while Terri attended
graduate school. They then moved to Tinian, a tiny island that is a part
of the Northern Marianas in the Pacific Ocean.
Terri worked in their small clinic as a Physician Assistant and Chief of Staff
while Kevan spent his time taking care of Terri and writing his newest book:
The Enhanced New Testament. They are currently preparing to go on the US Mercy with a group of LDS medical and engineering personnel to give aid and comfort to people in the far east.
You can
read about Kevan and Terri's current adventures by visiting:
John E. and
Nancy M. Hopkins reside in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (just north of Philadelphia). They received their Bachelor
of Arts degrees in Elementary Education with John continuing on to The Ohio
State University where he received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees.
John taught and served as
principal in several elementary schools in Columbus, Ohio
and later became a central office administrator. Following the completion of
his graduate degrees he was employed as an Assistant Dean in the School of Education
at IndianaUniversity,
Bloomington.
From IU, John was hired to work for a non-profit educational research
laboratory in Philadelphia,
Research for Better Schools, where he served as the Executive Director for 20
years prior to his retirement in 1996.
Nancy has been a homemaker
and mother to five children during the 50-plus years of their marriage, while
also serving in a variety of positions within The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Their children are: Kim Griesemer, Terri Clawson,
Christopher Hopkins, Patrick Hopkins, and Jennifer Asplund.
John and
Nancy have
served two missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the
first as humanitarian missionaries in Mongolia in 1997–1998. During this
period, they coordinated the English project and John served as country
director for humanitarian service couples and activities in Mongolia. Nancy taught English as an International Language (EIL) in
several universities and the Ministry of Justice for Mongolia. Their second mission in
1999–2001 was served in the Asia Area Office in Hong Kong
as Area Welfare Agents. During this period they managed church welfare programs
in the countries of China, Taiwan, Laos,
Vietnam, Mongolia, and Hong Kong.
After nineteen months in Hong Kong (January 2001), they were transferred back
to Mongolia
and served another nine months creating employment programs for returned
missionaries and unemployed members. They returned home in late October 2001.
John now serves
as Patriarch for the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Stake of the Church, and Nancy is his typist.