Worlds I’ve lived in and visited

All of us live in certain worlds whether it be a type of work or religion and when you live in such a world you learn to understand those type of people and there is every specific terminology that goes with those worlds. When I went through basic training and AIT in the Army we used certain words that other people that are not part of those groups don’t use so if you are part of that world you get it and if you are not you don’t. I have a bit of OCD although I have been told I deal with it well. lol

I like to visit worlds that I don’t live in so I can understand people a bit better and see how they think. Recently I visited the Pride Center which is a safe place for LGBTQIA people. I don’t live in that world but it was nice to be welcomed and I strive to learn more about how they think and feel.

 

Worlds I’ve lived in

1.       The world of the LDS/Mormon Church which would now like to be referred to as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I have lived in this world my entire life. My mother took me to Church and later as I grew older I decided to stay in that world.  An example of a word that we use in this world is Stake House and when we say this word many people think we mean Steak House when in reality it is a large church building. Members of this Church are not looked at as Christians by many other Churches because of the way we believe that God the Father, Jesus and The Holy Spirit are three actual different beings with the same purpose so the definition of the Trinity in this Church is different from that of other Christian faiths. In the Church we are taught to love our neighbors as ourselves and strive to live the teachings of Jesus. The Church believes in ongoing revelation and modern day Prophets. A large part of the Church is based upon the belief in the Book of Mormon which was translated from Gold plates given to Joseph Smith in the 1800’s by an angel of the Lord Jesus Christ and gives an account of Christ’s visit to the Americas after his resurrection. My father was baptized a member of the church when he was small but did not attend Church and was very vocal against the Church my entire life.

2.       I have lived in the world of readers most of my life.  I love to read fiction and non  fiction books and now I also have a audibles membership where I can listen to books while driving. I am currently listening to “Cien Anos de solidad.” I loved the Book Hawaii by James Mitchner and I have read 23 of Stephen Kings book and all the Jack Reacher series books as well as most of the Tom Clancy books. I love reading because it transports me to new worlds where I can learn more about people, places and much more.

3.       I have lived in the world of cooking almost my entire life.  I learned to cook for my mother because after they got divorced when I was 11 my mom got a job as a nurses aid and I had dinner waiting for her when she got home. Later my Filipina mother in law taught me to cook more dishes and I just love to cook and I love to eat.

4.       I have living the world of hiking for much of my life.  I love to hike, mostly hikes although I have done my share of camping and I try to be prepared. I love to hike with my daughter Michelle although it has been a couple of years since we have gone. I love being out in nature away from the city.

5.       I lived in the world of Church leadership and I served as a Branch President for five years in a Spanish Church branch so I have been in the world of Church leadership where I was able to perform 6 funerals, 28 weddings and assist people in many other ways including being in charge of a large financial budget and running the Church unit which took much of my free time while I still held down a full time job. I also served on two  stake high counsels and as counselor in the presidency and I have served as Elders Quorum president, Sunday School President, Ward Mission Leader, In the Stake Mission Presidency, Young men’s president and many other callings throughout the years. I am an Ordained High Priest in the Church.

6.       I have lived in the world of the Catholic Church for many years now since more than half of my family is Catholic. I am a Godfather and I have had the opportunity to be with my goddaughter at her baptism when she was a baby and I walked down the aisle with her at her confirmation. I have attended mass with my family many times. I tease my Catholic friends that I attend mass more than they do.

7.       I have lived in the World of Filipino food, family and Culture.  My first marriage to Jenny Diamse lasted 19 years and we had two Children so those children are half Filipino (Philippine Islands) and while they were young we attended many culture events where I even danced with the groups and sang in Tagalog with the choir. We would go to Lola’s house almost everyday of the week since their culture is very tight with family so I learned to cook some of their dishes and I love their food and culture. We belonged to the Filipino association and we were active in their activities. We would go to Lake Powell as a family and the family had two boats and sometimes we would stay one to two weeks at a time. Being part of this family and culture forever changes your life. I still make rice all the time. I still eat dried squid, sinigan and many other things that people consider strange.  

8.       I am part of the Guatemalan family, culture and food. I remarried in 2006 to Lizeth de Jesus Barrera Morales de Love and she had three children 7, 10 and 12 at the time and I was a step dad and we went through a long process of getting my wife to become a US Citizen.  I have dealt in the world of immigration forms since we turned in around 40 forms.  We had some challenges raising the children as all parents do and we did the best we could although we made mistakes the children are becoming great people.  I have gone back to Guatemala twice since my mission and we intend to go back together for the first time as husband and wife. The beautiful flowers, incredible ruins, the people, the culture are a part of me now. My extended family had a great effect upon me in the last 13 years. Different countries have different vocabularies so Mexico is different from Guatemala in how they speak, live and their cultures and food are different.  

9.       I have lived in the world of alcohol and drugs throughout my life on and off. I have had family members deal with addiction and the consequences of alcohol and drugs and for this reason I have decided not to be a drinker because I know when I stay away from those things I will avoid much negativity. I do understand that some people can be social drinkers and only have one or two and be fine although throughout my life I have noted that many people cannot just have one or two but overdo it and this has brought great trauma into their lives including legal issues, health issues and they have messed up their families.

10.   I lived in the horse world for a while.  When  I moved to Magna in 1980 I rode horses almost every day and most of the time without a saddle. I was a City kid that moved to Magna and I needed to help feed and water the animals. I love being out in the middle of open areas on a horse.

11.   I lived in the Music world for most of my life and I still do. I was a Music Sterling Scholar and All American and I went on a month tour of Europe in 1979 with a band that had one or two people from every state in the US. I play clarinet, Saxophone, I learned to play the flute a little and I pretend to play piano. I love to sing and I have been in several choirs singing with Andres Paredes and Jane Felstead a few times with the Salt Lake Singers.

12.   I lived in the world as a Mormon Missionary for 18 months from 1983 to 1984 in Provo Utah for 2 months in the language training center learning Portuguese and then Spanish and then I went to Guatemala for 16 months where I learned to love the People, food, culture and the Country. Most missions now are for 24 months for young men and 18 months for women. At the time I served the time had been reduced and later changed back to 24 months.

13.   I lived in the world of a college student.  I was a sterling scholar but I did not take advantage of the scholarships since I went on a church mission so when I came back from the mission I worked full time and got married shortly after that and I did not go back to school until years later and I did night school and got my AA and AS degree. I did that while I was working full time and had a family.

 

14.   I lived in the Army world for some time when I joined the Utah Army National Guard 625th Military Police Unit in Murray Utah in 1982 until 1989. I attended my Basic training and Advanced Individual training 95B in Alabama and then we did once a month weekend meetings and once a year summer camps for 2 weeks each year except when I was on the 18 month mission. I extended my military service to make up for that time but I still am not considered a veteran because they lost my points and claim I did not attend enough summer camps to qualify as a veteran. I learned quite a bit serving in the MP unit. I was the Captain’s driver and I helped in the office making ID cards and I also taught classes during our training sessions.

15.   I lived in the world of unarmed and armed security guards when I worked  for Davis Security in the 80’s. I made 2.35 per hour to start with and 5.00 per hour when I was armed. At that time I worked with Leo Koetje who is now in charge of Peak Alarm’s guards 35 years later. I recently in 2019 went through both the MOAB training and the Weapons recertification program with Ethan Andrews who is a very talented instructor. In the 80’s I worked as an armed security guard in Mexican bars after my mission since I could use my Spanish to help calm situations down without getting physical.

16.   I lived in the world of medical interpreters for several years.  I worked for Linguistica international going to clinics and hospitals to interpret from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English. I still pay for a yearly pod cast with Doctor Molly Martin and she has an excellent program to help you learn medical terminology. I try to pick up a few words from different languages when I can and I strive to get better at Spanish every chance I get. Currently my wife and I teach English to 7 students as volunteers for English Connect. (2019)

17.   I currently live in the world of Law Enforcement  as a Police Chaplain for both Unified Police and Salt Lake City Police where I get called out to death scenes, car accident scenes, suicide situations and others deaths  to be with the families and assist the officers. I also ride along with the police officers and they can confide in the chaplains as needed. I do have a badge and uniform and once a month a have an unmarked police car for a week at my home so I can respond in an official car. This type of work can be difficult although it is rewarding because I feel very strongly that when a chaplain responds not only can we free up the officers to do their investigation sometimes we can actually help the people so they don’t feel so alone. Often there are no words of comfort to say so we just sit with the family and we explain what will happen next. We also work closely with victim advocates which are people that can offer resources and help to families. This position is a volunteer non paid position and I do feel like I am part of the law enforcement family.  I wish I could spend more time in this world because many of the officers need more help and they go through trauma and many of them keep it all bottled up inside.

18.   I have lived in the world of a Jewelry company and a refinery where I made over 2000 rings and I worked in a gold refinery for 5 years and I worked at OC Tanner for over 10 years from 1986 to 1996. At that time I got familiar with working in a laboratory testing water, liquid for gold content and other metals and I worked extensively with dangerous chemicals. We would take metal from gold fill or 10K gold clear to 999.5 percent 24K gold. While at OC Tanner I began beading necklaces at home and rosaries and I still do this to this day from time to time and we attend the gem show periodically.  Also I worked in Customer Service helping with the customers that spoke Spanish.

19.   I worked in the world of Boy Scouts for many years.  I have worked as a scout master and leader for many years now helping the boys with their badges and activities. I never personally got my Eagle scout but I was involved with many boy getting their eagle scouts. I would guess I have been a scout master on and off for about 13 years now.

20.   I lived in the political world when I was a State and County delegate.  I have been a registered republican for many years now although I am not happy with the republican  party right now overall. I have served as a delegate 3 times, twice as a county delegate and once as a state delegate  if I remember right and I enjoyed doing so. I try to stay informed and read about local and national candidates before I vote. I have taught my children that if you don’t vote you can’t complain.

21.   I lived in the world of community service and activism while serving in LULAC and I currently am in a group called RED. Lulac is a wonderful group with great purposes to help Hispanics and others in many different ways. I was the State Director for some times and I also serviced  in other assignments as well. With RED I help out once in a while where I can with Spanish.  RED is a service group that helps people with everyday issues.

22.   I worked in the world of Emergency Management for over 10 years as a certified FEMA instructor both in English and Spanish from 2009 to 2019 when the training has changed from actual 7 classes to online training. We taught extensive first aid training, search and rescue, cribbing, organization training and much more. The sessions would be seven weeks long for 3 hours once a week for 7 weeks.

23.   I currently in 2019 work in the Security Alarm industry and I have done this for over 24 years from 1996 to the present which currently is 11/29/19  I worked for Fire and Security Specialists (FSS) from 1996-1998 and then 1998 to 2014 with American Security and Fire, Inc which was also a small alarm company and I was a manager and later a VP of Sales and I have been with Peak Alarm from 2014 to the current date. Much of this time I worked as an estimator and salesman for commercial and residential projects. I have been certified in many products and I currently have certified with AXIS cameras, UL 2050 design for high security facilities, I hold a  NICET II Fire Alarm certification and a Master Fire Alarm tech certification with the State Fire Marshal’s office. Years ago I helped put the Fire Alarm test together when I served on the Utah State Fire Marshal board for the certification and testing.

24.   I served on the Utah Alarm Construction trade commission and the DOPL Alarm Board for over 7 years from 2004 to 2011 where I served as Chairman and on the Construction trade commission which is a State Policy making board unlike many of the other boards.  The Division of Occupational licensing board met once a month and dealt which issuing, limiting and taking licenses away from people for crimes or infractions. I was appointed by the Governor for this position. This was a non paid position with a small stipend for travel etc…This was the world of public service working with the Government.

25.   I visit the world of Gymnastics and dance. I love to watch movies about dancing and recently we went to a National Gymnastics meet here in Salt Lake City. My daughter Michelle wanted to go see dance movies so I would go with her. I can’t dance well  but I like to watch dance and gymnastics. When people ask me what my favorite sport is I say gymnastics. My son Josue dances in a dance group and is very good at it and we go see him every once in a while.

26.   I lived in the word of Martial Arts for quite some time.  I began taking Kenpo Karate when I was in Junior High school  and I got my green belt with Bill Reinhardt and later I got my Brown Belt with Bob Hermansen. I took some Kung Fu classes through community education and for about 20 years I taught beginning karate to young kids that could not afford to take classes. I never considered myself an expert but I loved that world. My daughter Kaneasha is currently taking Jujitsu 6 days a week and I am so happy for her. While I did martial arts it was very good for my health, confidence and it helped make me a more well-rounded person.

27.   I live in the world of grandparents.  I have 5 grandchildren and all of them live out of state so I love it when I get to see them and I try to send them gifts in the mail every once in a while. I am very proud of my children and grandchildren.

28.   I live in the world of social media.  I have a Tic Tok, Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler and a few other platforms I have tried to keep up with so I can increase my sales or share activities in my life. I also love to see pictures of family and friends on these platforms. My Son Tory Sheyn is “The Crashing Dad” on youtube and he has thousands of followers and even get paid a bit every month to do his channel.

29.   These are not all of the worlds I have lived in or visited although it is good representation of them overall.  Each one of these worlds has a different vocabulary and experiences that have enriched my life and made me into the person I am today. As we look at our lives when we lay out what we have done and experienced we often try to elevate ourselves to say how cool we are. Rather than doing that I just tried to lay it out how it was. I do wish I had continued college and I still may take more classes in the future. If I could go back and do it again there are a few things I may change although I honestly appreciate my life, my friends, my family and those I work with. I have enjoyed every job I have had and because of these experiences I am who I am now. I hope that if I have offended anyone that they can forgive and I hold no ill will toward anyone. I’m not perfect and as I see the world changing and friends living this world I appreciate my life even more and I strive to enjoy every second of it. If you made it to the end of this I don’t know if that makes you weird or not because not many people will read something this long. I did this more as an exercise and quick life history than anything else. I really did not expect anyone to read it all so if you did let me know since I am also a curious person.

 

1964 Born Salt Lake City Utah

1979 Went to Europe with a band

1980 Moved to Magna – rode horses almost every day for a while there.

1982 Graduated Cyprus High as Music Sterling Scholar (Also first assistant to the King at homecoming)

1982 Basic Training and AIT Alabama (US Army/ Utah Army National Guard)  till 1989

1983-1984 Guatemala Church Mission – learned Spanish

1986- Got married to a Filipina and had 2 children Tory and Kaneasha   1986 to 2005

1984-1986 Davis Security – Also worked for Davis before my mission

1986-1996 OC Tanner (Jewelry and Refinery and Customer Service)

1996-1998 FSS Fire and Security Specialists

1998-2013 American Security & Fire, Inc.  (VP of Sales)

2004-2011 DOPL Alarm Board service

2009- 2019 CERT Instructor for FEMA Salt Lake Emergency Management

2006 – Married Lizeth de Jesus Barrera Morales de Love (Guatemalan with 3 children)

2013 to 2018 Served as Branch President

2018 became a Police Chaplain

2014- 2020 Peak Alarm Sales

 

 https://www.larrylovesutah.com