About Travis Alexander… in his own words (taken from his MySpace page).

I’m a simple man really. Smart, successful smashing good looks, a real suitor. I love nature, helping the homeless, and cooking with my grandmother just to create memories.

Do I work out you ask? Well I’d like to be modest, but can you say triathlete, and if you can’t say that well simply say 16 1/2 inch biceps. If I look familiar you are probably an avid reader of GQ or Mens Health.

Any way I enjoy going to Church, teaching Foreign Children English, and gourmet cooking. You might say to yourself yes but what are Travis’ Talents. Well if I must answer, Poetry, playing the Spanish Guitar (or what I like to call the strings of Love) and understanding more than just peoples voices, but understanding peoples hearts. At least that’s what Maya Angelou said at the awards ceremony when I was nominated for my first Nobel Peace prize.

If you’d like to know more. Don’t be shy, go ahead and drop Travis a line. Unless of course a common phrase you use is “Thanks for the add” in that case, you are wasting your life on MySpace, you should probably go do something more productive like read a book, or build an ant farm. Ciao

Music
Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Pete Yorn, OutKast, Saves The Day, The Huxtables, Wedgekase, The Siren Six, The Adventures of Jet, The Huntingtons, The Ramones, Darlington, The Young Hasselhoffs, Me first and the give me give me’s, Aqua Bats, The Hippos, Unsteady, Jem, Jurassic 5, Swollen Members, The Smiths and Morrissey

Movies
The Secret, Zoolander, Dumb and Dumber, Life Aquatic, The Royal Tennnbaums, Ferris Buellers day off, and most old Movies

Television
TV is for the weak. But if you have Tivo Lost, and The Office.

Books
Think and Grow Rich, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Slight Edge, Richest Man in Babylon, You were Born Rich, The Greatest Salesman in the World, Atlas Shrugged.

Heroes
Gordon Hinckley, Harland Stonecipher, Killer Kane, Jeff Olsen, Travis Alexander, Darnell Self, and Adam (for getting this party started)

About Travis Alexander (adapted from his eulogy given by Deanna Reid)

Travis Victor Alexander was born on July 28, 1977 to Gary and Pamela Alexander in Riverside, CA.  He had two older brothers, Gary and Greg, and was followed by three sisters, Tanisha, Samantha, Hillary, one more brother, Steven, and then another sister, Allie.  This is an excerpt from Travis’s blog, recalling when he was a small child he says:

During this time I can think of two fond memories of my childhood. The first is Sesame Street. My Sisters and I watched it everyday and it took our minds to where kids were happy and learning.

The other was visiting the home of my Great-Grandfather Vic. He would grab me by my shoulders and shake me. Then he would follow with these words, these words that alter every aspect of my life, “Travis, you need to know that you are special, that there is not anything that you can’t do. There is something great inside you. You’re special Travis, don’t you ever forget it.” That was quickly followed by a rigid hug that would squeeze the breath out of me.

I remember the day I came to the conclusion there was a God. I was 6. I screamed as loud as I could all day long to God, for my near by grandmother to get me and take me for the weekend. Sure enough that evening she came and picked me up.

Travis moved in with his grandparents Jim & Norma Sarvey when he was 11 years old.  Things were rough at home with his parents, so one day he walked over to his Grandmother’s house and said to her, “I’m going to live with you now.”  Travis used to quote Abraham Lincoln when referring to his grandmother changing the quote slightly by saying, “All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel (grand) mother”.

It may be a surprise to some people that when Travis first started high school, he was very shy.  He went to Rubidoux High, and most of the time, would eat lunch in the library all by himself.  He considered himself to be an introvert, but started to break out of his shell after he became active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was 16 years old.

He was on the wrestling team, and loved to practice his wrestling moves on his sisters.  He would also flex his muscles whenever an opportunity presented itself… or even when it didn’t!

After high school, he worked to save money to serve a mission for his church.  He was called to serve in the Denver, Colorado South mission from 1996 to 1998.  Travis returned with honor from his mission and began attending a church in Riverside for singles.  He loved to be social and date and made special efforts to be friends with everyone.  He also continued to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ by striving to find those that were searching for something more, so that he could share his knowledge of the gospel with them.

Doing his family’s genealogy was very important to him.  He would get excited when he would find members of his family and link his family tree together.  This was a passion of his, and brought him great joy.

He worked many different jobs in search for a career.  None of them seemed to be working out, so he prayed that he would find something.  The next day he had a feeling he should go up to Chris Hughes, at church, and ask him what he did for a living.  Meanwhile, Chris had been praying for someone that could be a leader in his developing business with Pre-paid Legal Services—someone with the same vision he had.  Sure enough, Travis became an associate with Pre-Paid Legal and worked and thrived in this business opportunity.  Travis quickly became a superstar in this company.  He was a popular trainer across the US.

In 2004, Travis packed his bags and moved to Mesa, AZ where he purchased his home on Queensborough Avenue.  He loved to decorate and make improvements—so much that he bought Martha Stewart and Feng Shui books to help him achieve his vision.  He would often call his brothers, Gary and Greg, for advice on how to fix things—such as wiring in a ceiling fan.  He had a specific goal on how he wanted to decorate the house, and he truly made it happen, from colors he was going to paint the walls, to the theater room he wanted for UFC parties.  He was proud of his closet and took special measures to have it organized.  It was important for him to be in style and looking good.

Goal setting was a big part of Travis’ every day life.  Every morning he got up and pulled out a 3 by 5 card.  He would write a list of everything that he wanted to accomplish that day, and then go through and check it off as the day progressed.  He would always put things like read my scriptures, write in journal, random act of kindness, walk 2 miles, and read 30 min. of a good book.

In 2005, Travis adopted Napoleon, a black pug.  Travis loved this dog like he would a child.  He would teach him all kinds of tricks and take him along on road trips. Traveling was important to Travis.  Among the many personal development and spiritual books he had in his impressive library, he had a book called 1000 Places To See Before You Die and was working towards that goal.

Some would say that Travis was a walking musical.  He would hear something that would remind him of a song, and would immediately break into song.  It didn’t matter if he was with a few friends in his home or theirs, or in a public place.  He would often leave singing voicemails. Travis loved to entertain and make people smile. Travis had a contagious laugh.  We called it his “hyena laugh.”  He would lose complete control, and his laugh would get louder and crazier. He loved the French Fries at Red Robin.  Often when putting his name on the list at a restaurant, after the hostess told him how long the wait was, he would pull up the sleeve of his shirt exposing his bicep, flex, and ask, “How ‘bout now?”  If the hostess was quick on her feet, and responded, “Still 20 minutes.”  He would hike up both sleeves, flash her a double flex, and ask, “And now?”  He would have everyone in the waiting area laughing.  Travis wasn’t just funny, he was very deep, and an amazing friend to so many people.

Travis loved training fellow PPL associates on developing leadership skills, commitment, and personal development. One of his favorite mantras was, “The greatest leader is the greatest servant.”  He was always looking for ways to serve and help people. From helping others completely change their lives for the better, to more simple things like collect the trash from the bins throughout the church building and take them out every Sunday.  Whenever a volunteer was needed, or something needed to get done, Travis was the first to raise his hand.  One of the scriptures he quoted most comes from Isaiah 6:8 when the Lord says, “Here am I, send me.”

Near the end of his life he was writing a book and titled it Raising You.  This was his attempt to inspire and help even more people to become the best person they could be no matter who they were, or where they came from.  In his introduction to the book he writes:

I pray that you will allow the words you read to stare deep into your eyes, and instill into you that there isn’t anything that you cannot do. My desire is that this book will do for you what Grandpa Vic did for me. Help me believe what is already true. That you are special.

Like Travis, we know that we are children of a Heavenly Father who lives and loves us. We each have divine potential, and it is our duty to recognize and develop our potential. It is through our Savior Jesus Christ that we might gain eternal life and exaltation. This was Travis’ passion and his message.