Elva Taylor Cowley (1898-1987) was a school teacher, missionary and the wife of former Mormon apostle Matthew Cowley.

Elva Taylor Cowley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 3, 1898 to Stanley Franklin Taylor and Matilda Elizabeth Sims, the third of five children. She worked as a school teacher in Heber City, Utah while courting Matthew Cowley. She married Matthew Cowley on July 13, 1922 in the Salt Lake City temple. They had one child together, Jewel Cowley in 1926. In 1938, she was called with her husband to serve a mission in New Zealand. While serving, they adopted a Maori boy named Toni who they then raised. They returned from their mission in 1945. Elva was widowed in December of 1953. She died on August 18, 1987, in Glendale, California.

Linda Sheffield (1952- ) is the wife of Matthew Cowley Sheffield.

Linda M. Payne was born in 1952. She graduated Brigham Young University in Provo with a B.S. in Child Development and Family Relations in 1975. She is married to Matthew Cowley Sheffield and they have two daughters, two sons, and several grandchildren.

Matthew Cowley (1897-1953) was a Mormon ecclesiastical leader in Utah and New Zealand.

Matthew Cowley was born on August 2, 1897 in Preston, Idaho to Matthias F. Cowley and Abbie Hyde. He attended L.D.S. University in Salt Lake City, Utah prior to receiving a mission call to New Zealand in 1914. As a missionary he was involved in revising the translation of the Book of Mormon into Maori, and helped to prepare translations of the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. After his return to Utah he studied at the University of Utah, and later attended George Washington University Law School. He returned to Utah from Washington, D.C. after his graduation to open his own law firm. In 1922 he married Elva Eleanor Taylor in the Salt Lake Temple, and they had one daughter. In 1938 Cowley was called by the Church to return to New Zealand as mission president, where he remained until 1945. He was then called to serve as an apostle, where he continued to assist with the growth of the Church in the Pacific. His service included presiding over missions in the region, as well as contributing to the building of the New Zealand Temple and the development of the Church College of New Zealand. Cowley died on December 13, 1953 in Los Angeles, California.

Matthew Cowley Sheffield (1956- ) is a grandson of Matthew Cowley.

Matthew Cowley Sheffield was born 1956 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is third of four children born to Val Jolley Sheffield and Jewell Cowley Sheffield, and one of the grandsons of Matthew Cowley. His family moved to Glendale, California when he was still in his youth. He graduated from Hoover High School in 1976, and served in the Missouri Independence Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1978-1980. His church service has included, primary teacher, counselor in 3 Elders quorum presidencies, young men leader and many years as a Boy Scout leader. Matthew is married to Linda M. Payne.