John A Gonzalez spent his professional career undercover with the Central Intelligence Agency, retiring after twenty-five years of service. He started a security consulting company and was working in that capacity when he and his wife were called to preside over the California Fresno Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon their return, John accepted full-time employment with the Church, first as a Seminaries and Institute Coordinator in the Washington, DC area, and later in the Church’s Missionary Department.

A native of El Paso, Texas, he served a two-year mission as a young man in the Mexico Southeast (Veracruz) Mission. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Political Science. He and his wife, Karlena (Bond) of Farmington, New Mexico, have been married for forty years and have lived throughout the U.S. and overseas. They currently reside in Draper, Utah, and are proud of their four children and seven grandchildren.