I began working with BYU grounds while attending college there. I had just finished serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where I taught and served people in Arkansas and surrounding states. I still attend BYU during the school year, and live in Mesa Arizona during the summers. While I worked as a groundskeeper I did many different forms of lawn and plant care under the direction of a gardener, including planting flowers, mowing and edging lawns, and blowing leaves.