irishmission

The Neeley Report

 

Dear Irish Missionaries and friends,

We just wanted to send a quick from the Neeleys here in Scotland.  Yes!  That is correct.  We have just gone from the southern most city in the Scotland / Ireland Mission, swapping the soft rolling hills, relative warmth, and soft rain of Cork, Ireland for the more rugged beauty of the heather covered hills of Elgin, Scotland (pronounced “Elgun”).  Elgin is located on the northern coastline of mainland Scotland.  Inverness is close by and it is the “capital city of the Highlands”.   We had thought that we would stay in Cork for the duration of our mission.  We had expressed our desire to do so to the Mission President and thought we had a plan.  Then one day we had received a phone call from the President asking us to start closing the flat, that he had some needs to fill in places that needed YSA help.

Leaving Cork was difficult.  We left so many friends.  We did not know how we would be able to make the change.  Well, with our car jammed with the necessities (For the older ones, we looked like an old bit out of a “Ma & Pa Kettle” movie).  We took about 3 days to make the trip (driving the length of Ireland, ferrying across to Scotland, a night’s stay in the Mission Home, then 3 ½ more hours of travel.  (This is the part of a mission that is kept a secret!)  We arrived in Elgin with no placed to stay.  We found a place, but could not get in the apartment until September 1.  We stayed with two older sisters (never married, members of the church). They are two of the funniest people we have ever met.  We haven’t laughed so hard for a long time.  They are charming, kind, gracious Scottish sisters.  We love them! We were camping out of our car and the nursery room of the branch here in Elgin where we stored our luggage (we had to go move our “stuff” and mop because of rain leaking into the room).

During our stay in the mission home, we asked the President about our assignment.  He shared this about our call to Elgin.  He said he wanted us in Dundee with the Young Single Adults and kept praying to the Lord for that confirmation but said that we were to go to Elgin.  Elgin is a very small branch with no YSA aged youth.  When we asked what he thought needed to be addressed here, he simply said, “I don’t know, that is between you and the Lord.  Go find out what He wants you to do.”

 The “tender mercy” from the Lord to us is that an hour away from Elgin is where Jayne’s Great Grandpa, Alexander Wright, was born.  He and his companion, Elder Mulliner, were the first missionaries to Scotland.  Both were Scottish born.  Jayne has a copy of his journal and it is full of entries where he came through Elgin and surrounding villages, preaching the Gospel and handing out “Voice of Warning” pamphlets as he spread the Word.  The kirk (little church) is still standing where he was christened and we were able to find the farm and the restored farmhouse where he was born.   Needless to say, it has been a very emotional experience for us.

As for what were are to accomplish here, we are not sure.  We simply pray for strength and guidance each day, put on our missionary badges and go out the door.  There are definitely a lot of less-actives to visit and to encourage them to return to fellowship.  Every type of problem you can imagine is out there as a stumbling block.  But everyone is a brother or sister that needs to be loved and encouraged to grasp the “rod” again.  The one thing that we know we can do is to love them.

There are such testimonies out here.  We are familiar with the Pioneer Saints and their triumphs over social, physical, and mental hardships as they crossed the plains.    The stories can still be echoed in the lives of the Saints here.  Many have paid a big price for membership in the Church. 

We love the land, people, and the Gospel in Scotland and Ireland.  We will continue to care for the missionaries and serve the people of Scotland.  We love it!

Haste ye back,

With  Love,

Elder Mike and Sister Jayne Neeley