April was born in the South and was raised in Alaska. She loves both Massachusetts & Washington state for the changing seasons and rain. Her favorite place on earth is the wilderness because she loves to admire the places that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ created. She also enjoys the peace and quiet of the wilderness! She has many hobbies which include biking, hiking, photography, people-watching, listening to children communicate with one another (specifically, her nieces and nephews) and reading children's literature. April loves Italian food - particularly the garlic and pastries. She would love to visit Africa to see the wild life.
I asked April about her most embarrassing moment and here is her response:
"I have a lot of embarrassing moments, let me see, okay well I am pretty organized and habitual that way things are always where they are suppose to be, at the time they are suppose to be there and that way I can never be wrong. Right, well wrong. After I graduated high school I went to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. It was a large campus, in order for me to not EVER FORGET where I parked I always got to the campus at the same time every day and parked in the same general area every day. Well I never run late either, wrong, one day I was running late and had to park in a place I normally do not park. After my classes were over I came out to get in my car and go home. I was shocked to find my car no where around. I called the campus police we looked everywhere in that parking lot, two officers and I. The campus police called in and reported a stolen car to the city police, after an hour of looking. Then one of the campus officers asked me, "Is it possible that you parked somewhere else?" And at that moment it donned on me where I had parked. I was so sure where I had parked and now some thief had stolen my car, but I was wrong. I just looked at the officer with a blank look, then asked "How much is this going to cost me?" "What?" One officer stated. "All of you helping me look for my car," I said. The two officer looked at each other then at me and said, "Where is your car?" I said, "I forgot that I parked at the stadium, so how much is this going to cost me now?" The officers looked at each other again then at me and one said with a stern face, "This time we will let you slide, next time you forget where you parked and call us to help we will charge you, and we could charge you with a false reporting as well."
Pretty funny, April! Finally, I asked April what was the most difficult goal she has ever accomplished and she said, "The most difficult goal? Honestly, I can not think of any. Because I do not see the goals I set as difficult or they would be just that, difficult, and I might not achieve them."
Gwyn Nichols
Gwyn is a mother to two sons - Drew and Nathaniel. Drew recently returned from his Spanish-speaking mission in Arkansas and is now majoring in music composition at ASU. Nathaniel is eleven and his goal in life is to make it to Mars someday! Gwyn is also a writer, teacher, and ward history specialist.
Gwyn was born in Ontario, Canada to American parents, and grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin, Louisiana, California, Connecticut, Maine, and Arizona. Once her children are grown, she'd like to teach in New England every fall, enjoy the Arizona spring, and then travel and write during the summers. She says, "Yes, frequent uprooting left me with a vague and perpetual homesickness, common ground with almost everyone I meet, and unbeatable writing background: dialects galore, regional cultures, and plenty of characters."
Gwyn has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature from ASU and is nearly finished with her first novel! "It's set in 1970 Louisiana, based on my experiences as a white Yankee girl bused to a Black school under Supreme Court order," she describes.
When I asked Gwyn to share something that most may not know about her, she responded, "We're hard to feed. I'm a vegetarian and gluten-intolerant. If you remove wheat and meat, many American Mormon banquets are reduced to lettuce. I love Mexican and Asian vegetarian dishes."
Regarding her calling as ward history specialist, Gwyn says, "My life has had plenty of drama, but I prefer the history all of you make: how the Spirit comforted you or helped you solve a problem, how you overcome the daily private challenges as well as the dramatic public ones. I hope you'll share your personality and your experiences with us and let posterity listen in."
