We are Elder and Sister Neeley, the Senior
Missionaries, from Orem, Utah. We have been in Ludington for a month now and are
enjoying the opportunity to be serving in the branch here and getting acquainted
with each of you.
Our family at home, consists of 5 married children,
20 grandchildren and 5 (almost 6) great grandchildren and Sister Neeley’s
89 year old mother who are all anxiously reading our E-Mails and letters
for the news we send home about our stay on the shores of Lake Michigan.
We spent the first 14 months of our mission working
in the Michigan Lansing Mission Office. Elder
Neeley was the Financial Secretary, the Supply Officer, and the Commissary
Manager for the entire mission. Sister Neeley was the Referral and Recording
secretary for the mission and spent most of all day, every day at the computer,
recording. She called referrals transmitted from Salt Lake City and by other
means, sometimes as many as 75 each day, to the missionaries . It was necessary
to call each companion ship once a week to check on their progress and also
involved many weekly, monthly and yearly annual reports.
She also processed and recorded, for church headquarters, all baptisms in
the mission, over 400 last year.
In addition to our office work, we fixed meals for missionaries once or
twice a week, helped with special occasions at the Mission Home, and were
involved in farewell dinners and testimony meetings, arrival and orientation
meetings, for new missionaries.
At an interview in April, President Church asked if
we would be willing to spend the last part of our mission in Ludington, Michigan
- We jumped at the chance
- And we are enjoying
the branch and people in this very beautiful part of Michigan and feeling very
blessed to have been given the opportunity of finishing our mission here.
Before we came here, we knew by sight and by name,
every missionary in the mission. We
truly enjoyed this contact with the missionaries who reminded us so much of our
own grandchildren. They are really
a great group of young people who when asked, always say they are fantastic,
and we heartily agree.
Thanks for your warm welcome here, we feel very
blessed to be part of your branch (soon to be a ward). We have
made some very wonderful friends and look forward to being with all of you.