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Returned Missionaries Develop Business Savvy at LDS Business College

March 2014

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Devin Zundel returned to his home in Arizona in 2011 ready to live his life with the same zeal he felt as he served in the Ecuador Quito Mission.

He enrolled in a real estate course and soon earned a license. His plan to follow his father into the family real estate business was unfolding like clockwork.

Yet something in his life felt ajar, he said. Something gnawed at his contentment. One day after attending the temple, he was suddenly struck with a desire to study at LDS Business College as his mission president had counseled him.

He called a close friend from his mission, Mike Lopez, who lived in Colorado, to share his decision. Even before Devin could finish his salutation, Mike cut him off, saying he felt a need to go to Utah.

Not long after arriving in Utah, each met a young lady and became engaged a week apart. They were sealed in the temple six days from each other in 2013. For their livelihood, they decided to renew a home business of filling ink cartridges that Mike had started prior to their missions.

They knew they were onto something when a comment from a frustrated customer prompted them to find a solution that no one else had considered. They developed computer software to track the patterns and trends of usage on home and commercial printers to predict when cartridges would run out of toner. The software is programmed to send a signal several days prior to a client running out of toner, giving them ample time to ship fresh cartridges.

They beat the business bushes for clients and soon landed contracts with notable companies. From this simple beginning, their clever solution to a common problem won the “Opportunity Quest” for entrepreneurship at LDS Business College.

Despite tough competition, their business is growing rapidly, prompting them to study business and learn all they can about social media.

“I don’t think we’d be where we are today without the College and those who mentor,” Devin said.

YOU CAN HELP

Mike and Devin are representative of the many bright-eyed, personable returned missionaries at LDS Business College who repeatedly distinguish themselves for their eagerness to learn.

LDS Business College is riding an early wave of returned elder and sister missionaries who choose an alternative to the traditional four-year education. Its concisely organized curriculum prepares returned missionaries for the next phase in life of providing, protecting and nurturing.

You can help by giving to the returned missionary fund. With your assistance they can enroll shortly after missions, enabling them to maintain the same habits of study and discipline developed as missionaries.

In the next year the College expects to see a significant increase in enrollment of students, perhaps as much as double its current 2,000 students. Many will be returned sister missionaries.

The College provides an ideal climate for returned missionaries where academic learning is enveloped in a spiritual setting - familiar to them for the same way they learned as missionaries.

You can help young men like Devin and Mike discover their talents and get established in life by donating to a returned missionary fund that offers a half-tuition scholarship, or $750, for the first semester.


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