troubleshooting continues. Sometimes even a nice map and well thought out plans don't lead to success on the first try.
I've disconnected the mini commander and put all the jumpers back in place on the MP3 module. I verified sounds all trigger with included remote of the MP3 module. I then removed all the jumpers and reconnected the minicommander. I verified the HC1 and HC2 output are still working.
I received new reed switches and connected one to one of the sound outputs and LC1, held the magnet to the switch and no sound.
My next step for troubleshooting is connecting the LC1 output to each remaining sound individually without any reed switch in the middle. This should help point in a direction on what to explore next. I have sneaking suspicion there is some sort of connection issue with one of the MP3 inputs; one of the sounds wouldn't trigger ever with the old reed switches, the other sound wouldn't trigger consistently. I should've marked the more troublesome reed switch connection before starting my troubleshooting steps. Always fun to tinker and learn 
