Jerry Redd was raised in southern California and saw snow fall for the first time when he moved with his family to Utah at the age of 16. He served a mission in Peru, South America. He received his Master’s Degree in Ancient Near East Studies and recently completed a Ph.D. in Family Science and Human Development. Jerry has worked in the LDS Church Educational System for twenty years, has taught at BYU for five years, and at the Orem Institute of Religion for three years. He has a passion for family football excursions, his dating and courtship classes, and pina coladas. He has a great love for the geography, language, people, spirit, and scriptures of the ancient Near East and Central America. He and his wife Beverly are the parents of seven children.