It's Hot in Fresno

Dear Family,

     This week due to schedule changes with transfers our preparation day is today which is saturday.  So I know this took you all off gaurd and you haven't been able to send emails yet but it is ok, I will just get them next week.  I am here in my first area still in Fresno for another transfer with Elder Wright and I am super excited for it.  We are both firmly dedicated to working as hard as possible at all times and we are both dedicated to being 100% obedient 100% of the time.  Obviously we are not perfect but I know we will be able to see some great miracles this up coming transfer with our companionship.  Elder Wright is an awesome missionary and we get along great.  He just got made district leader this transfer too so I am sure he will enjoy that.  We have two baptismal candidates who should be baptized this upcoming week when all goes well.  Please keep them in your prayers if you don't mind, their names are Irma and Sixto.  They are both awesome people who are preparing for baptism and they were both super solid and excited and ready to get baptized when some last second problems came up and we need to help them really feel the Spirit and recognize the importance and the blessings and the happiness that will come through their baptism.  I know the Lord will bless us and them as we are faithful.

      In other news it is not burning hot here in Fresno but just really hot.  Rather than 100+ degrees everyday it is just the high 80's every day so that is nice I guess.  I really love this work and don't think I can say that enough times.  I don't know what it is because this is really really really hard work but the Spirit that you feel and the happiness that other people recieve is a billion times worth the pain and the hard parts.  Serve when ever and where ever you can because it is some the most real joy one can experience and is when you really can get close to the Savior and the veil becomes ever thinner.  Dad tell me how the Bobcats did last night please and I love you a ton and miss you all and love you all.  Sarah I got the card and the SD card and all is going well.  I love you all so much and miss you a ton and keep you in my prayers always.  I love you!!!!

-Love your son/brother/grandson/nephew/cousin/uncle/friend Elder Neeley

Dear family,

 

          Things are well in Fresno and starting to cool off (but still in the 80's haha).  I am emailing today on this Tuesday because the library was closed yesterday so all the mission is emailing today.  Thank you so much for the picture of us at the temple.  I pulled it out last night while teaching an investigator and said " this is my family and I, and I know that we will be together forever through the blessings of this gospel.  If that is what you want you need to pray to know if it is true."  It is powerful to see and it always brings me joy to see us outside of the temple after being sealed and making those covenants with Heavenly Father.  This is the only true church of Jesus Christ on the face of the Earth and was restored in its fullness through Joseph Smith.  I really do know that and just try my hardest to share it with others.

      It is frustrating a lot of times to think why aren't these people praying or coming to church or being baptized and sometimes weighs heavily on how successful I think I am as a missionary.  But I do always know that it is true and through being obedient and listening to the Spirit we will find those sons and daugters of God who are ready.  You all can find them at home too.  Pray to know who they are because I know that they are there waiting for you to find them and reach out to them.  Ask the Lord who they are.  I promise He will tell you.

       We have transfer calls this thursday and so I will be starting up my 3rd transfer very shortly.  I am still in my first area and I love it but I still haven't baptized anyone.  It is tough work.  The spanish is going well and the food tastes great as always and there is a lot of it as always.  I know I am here for a reason and pray I can find out why exactly that is.  I pray for you all always and hope all is going well.  I didn't have time yesterday to respond to the letters from Eleanor and Alex and Olivia but I did get them along with the package, which was SOOOOOO delicious, especially the pumpkin bread.  Did you make that Mom?  But anyway I will be responding soon I promise.  I love you all so much and am greatful for all you support and love and prayers.  I will keep you posted and let you know how I am doing.  I love you all so much and think of you daily.

 

  -Love your son/brother/grandson/nephew/cousin/uncle/friend Elder Neeley

2nd Wave of Pictures from Stevie

At some point maybe Steven can give us his own captions to his mission pictures, but for now we can just enjoy what we have... which includes my own commentary. :)

A lot of these pictures are from when Steven was still at the MTC (Missionary Training Center).

These are the "dorms" at the MTC

Strong as ever, Stevie literally carries his mission friends when they are weak!

You may wonder why some missionaries in the pictures are in PJ's and some are in suits... well, either it was almost bedtime or Stevie was having his "P-day" or preparation day. It's one day set aside out of the week to do practical things besides missionary proselytizing: like write home, do laundry, get a hair cut (you can see there aren't any mullets among these missionaries) or whatever else you need to do.

If being a missionary doesn't work out, Steven is planning on applying for a sharp-shooting position with the BYU Police. 

Aw, yes, the Missionary Snuggie. Nice, Stevie. 

These are probably all elders' in Steven's district at the MTC

(The missionaries are organized into different groups, called districts, depending on what language they are learning)

At the MTC Stevie went to classes almost all day on scripture study, preparing and practicing sharing the gospel with others, and learning Spanish. 

Victory!

Hang Loose (?)

"He ain't heavy.... he my brother"

Outside the MTC

(That middle guy looks like Draco Malfoy... for real)

Practicing "Street Fighter" moves... just in case

Handsome as ever...

Packing up and leaving the MTC - now off to magical Fresno, CA!! Whew-hoo!

Usually elders are in a companionship of two, but Stevie had a group of three for awhile, so this must be The Three Musketeers in action. 

A meeting or training for Stevie's district

Doing service in the good old sunshine!

Out to dinner at a famous hunting lodge in Fresno

(I made that up, but they are out to dinner somewhere... and it looks like a burly, manly hunting lodge to me...)

Outside the Fresno Temple

Ready to take on anything, Steven's lookin' sharp in his tan suit

Gotta love that Steven...

Learning Patience

Dear Family,

 

Things are really well here in Fresno.  Some days are really hard but honestly those are the ones that build my testimony of prayer, faith and patience.  I really enjoyed all of the General Conference and thought it was awesome!  I especially enjoyed the talk from Elder Hales that said we must wait on the Lord and remember to have faith and patience in Him and know that He will lead us out of the storms and darkness of our trials.  It is especially through prayer.  I know that God is our Father and loves each of us and wants to help us in our hard times if we will diligently go to Him and continually ask Him for comfort and guidance in our lives.   We have two baptisms this month and I am super excited for them.  One is the mom of a family that are members.  She is super solid and ready to go.  The other has a problem with drinking but really he is a miracle.  We got done tracting through an apartment after our apointment canceled on us and as we waited for Elder Wright and Elder Moreno to come pick us up, a man was walking back to his apartment and it is the same one who will be baptized on the 16th of October.  He immediately had a desire to be a member and go to church and he hasn't missed one sunday since we found hime almost 3 weeks ago.  He is not super smart but he is so willing to listen and to learn.  The Lord prepared this man and we were worthy enough to be guided by the Spirit to find him.  There are people waiting for each of you specifically in your lives that only you can touch.  Pray to God and ask Him who it is and I promise as a representative of Christ that you will recieve a face or name and then with that name go back to God and ask Him what you should invite them to.  He will answer.  I love you all so much and miss you a ton and pray for you always.  

I did recieve mom's mail but not the pictures yet.  I have a letter for mom and Sarah that have been sent a few days ago and have one for Victoria that will be sent with in the week.  I am so greatful for all your support and love and prayers.  It really does help and I know that this work is true.  The Spirit speaks to all, every one of us, in the things we can do to serve and share in our own lives and we just need to pray to recieve the promptings and we must act on them.  It is just like President Monson's story about the Temple in Germany but remember we don't have to be a general authority, or a bishop or a missionary.  We just need to be a worthy member of Christ's Church and because we have the gift of the Holy Ghost, it must and will speak to us as we live righteously.  The angels and blessings of heaven CANNOT be with held or restrained in any manner or degree from the worthy Latter Day Saint who diligently seeks to have that heavenly guidance and help.  I love you all so much and am thankful for everything you do.  I think of you often and know that you are doing so much good in your homes even when you don't realize it.  Thank you for your examples,  share your testimonies.  I love you all so much!

 

-Love your son/brother/grandson/nephew/cousin/uncle/friend Elder Neeley

The Gift to Speak Spanish

Dear family,

 

       Things here in Fresno are going well!  We have 2 really solid baptismal canidates for October 23rd and I am very excited for them.  One of them is named Sixto and he is truly a miracle in how prepared he was by the Lord.  The Lord knows who is sheep are and will bring them home; we need to just be worthy enough to be the means that He brings them back to His fold.  We had known this man for 2 days and it was our second lesson and he was just like "I need to be a member of you church" and he came to church and wants to give money and all this stuff to the churhc and we have been explaining that it is not quite like that but it has been almost kind of funny how much he wants to do all at once so we are just trying to prepare him as fast as we can for his baptism.  I love this work!!  I do miss you all a ton and love your support and letters and prayers.  I am also glad to hear that the pictures are on the way because I know it will be a huge help to this work as I keep using my testimony about our family and the blessings of the temple.  I am also happy to hear that all the family is getting a chance to get together and see each other and do stuff together like that marathon.  Also the vacation plans sound great to me haha but I probably won't think on them too much since I still have almost 2 years to go haha!

       The language is coming along really good because of the help of the Lord and becasue of my native companion Elder Moreno, who leaves this friday for Mexico City.  I still have my other companion Elder Wright so we will just be moving along after that.  But I feel like I can just about understand everything that native speakers are saying and it is really cool to see and to understand and realize that the Lord has given me this gift to speak spanish.

       I am glad to hear that the football team is doing so well and I hope that they keep it up and I hope they know I am rooting for them.  Also tell Eleanor that I said congratulations on making the front page but that she shouldn't get too big of a head haha.  Tell everyone else too that I say hi and that the work is good and the way the time is going I feel like I will be home before I know it.

       I am so greatful for you examples to me in this gospel and know that you are making a difference in the missionary work around you and certainly have make a difference in my work out here in Fresno.  I love you all so much and love all the emails and the updates.  Congratulations to Marie for her 2nd baby and to Brad for getting his job!  I love to hear that our family are visiting each other a lot and active and doing fun stuff.  I hope all is well and pray for you daily and appreciate all that you do for me.  Love you!!!!   and PS thank you Sarah for the address, I will be sending Andrea and Rex's letter today or tomorrow.

 

    -Love your son/brother/grandson/nephew/cousin/uncle/friend Elder Neeley

Awesome Week

Dear family,

     This week has been awesome!  We read a talk as a companionship called "the challenging and testifying missionary" by Alvin A Dyer which talks about how our whole mission is helping others to recieve the blessings of the Restored Gospel through Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  In this talk, he says that we must testify always and challenge too.  He talks about how some Elders wait til the family is perfectly ready and set to get baptized to challenge them.  Then he goes on to say that if they are perfectly ready, then it is not a challenge.  We must challenge them and allow the Holy Ghost to testify to them that this is Christ's church and that he wants them in it.  Then they can take that step and we can continue to prepare them for their baptism.  So with this advice we have been testifying to all we come in contact with and challenging them to keep commitments and making sure that we atleast invite one person every day to be baptized if not more.  

Angency is one of God's greatest gifts to us and one of the most important.  If we don't share the gospel we are in fact taking away the agency of the people around us to choose if they want to accept the gospel or not.  It is our responsibility but really our privilege to share this great message.  We should want to share out of love for our friends and family and not for fear or guilt that we are not.  Love is the real motivator of change, where as fear or guiltt are feelings that are of the devil and cause only momentary change if any.  It is funny how there is a constant theme between the things that the devil offer and the things that God offer.  All good things that God offers has and eternal effect and promise for us and only momentary pain or difficulty, where as the "good" things Satan offers are always momentary and give us eternal pain and sorrow.  I know this Church is true and that Christ is our Savior and that we can and will live together forever as a family. This work is difficult but I already have seen myself grow and become blessed through it and I have seen in bless others' lives.

To keep in shape I have been exercising every day except sunday and I do 225 push ups, 3 sets of planks, 32 pull ups 3 days a week and the other 3 days I do150 crunches and 90 leg raises and 3 sets of bicycles and jump ropes.  All accompanied by riding a bike on different days through out the week. 

I am glad to hear you are taking care of the missionaries at home, as always and the members here take really good care of me.  They are very kind and helpful and love to see a white kid learning spanish so that is good.  They feed me well and go on team ups and help out the work a lot.  We are really working right now to get more members involved because we want every member to have the blessings of coming with us and sharing the gospel.

It sounds like it is busy as always and lots of fun at home.  I am glad to hear that the team is doing so well and that they haven't let up one point yet.  That is very impressive.  I hope they keep it up and please tell them I say hi and I miss them and wish them luck.  That is way cool too that mom got to do a marathon because I am sure she did awesome because she is an iron woman.  I am happy that all is going well in family sports and that Ruthe scored a goal!  That must have been awesome.  It is still smoking hot here and I am just loving it haha.  But I have been getting lots of letters and support and Mom and Sarah, I am going to respond to your letters and I am sorry it takes so long but there are a lot of Preparation Days that I don't even get to write so am I sorry.  But I am greatful for the letters and love to hear what is going on at home.  I hope you all keep strengthening your testimonies and always keeping Christ first.  I love you all a ton and am greatful for your prayers and pray for you too.  Love you so much!!!!

-Love your son/brother/grandson/nephew/cousin/uncle/friend
Elder Neeley

First Transfer

Dear family,

  

        I am done with my first transfer and I will be staying here in Fresno in the Echo ward and I love it.  I will get my new companion tomorrow and his name is Elder Wright and he has been out only for 3 transfers so we will hopefully just have a lot of enthusiam for the work and to be obedient in all things.  My trainer, Elder Moreno, will stay around another 3 weeks to be in a triplet with us to really focus in on our spanish and then he will go home.  We still haven't had any baptisms since I have been here but we have had some interesting circumstances with other Elder's that some times slows the work a little but I really think that we will start seeing our investigators start to enter the waters of baptism as we stay obedient and diligent.  I love this work a ton and I just pray that I truly am affecting people's lives.   I know this church is true down to my very core and I love to share it with others.

          The mission is way different than I thought it would be and harder than I thought it would be but I am so greatful for it.  I feel personal growth and also see change and hope in others as we share this message.  There are people that truly feel a second chance in life through this gospel and there is nothing more I could ask to do than to share this wonderful message with everyone.

       The language is coming along super well but I still have a long way to go.  I love the spanish language and the people and the food.  I have been learning how to cook different things from members when they feed us dinner and I love it!

      I miss you all a ton but I am very greatful for all your letters and  emails.  Sarah I got your letters the other day and I just got Mom's today so I will be writing back to both of you soon.  Also I have a whole hour to email here in the field so if you want to email that is fine but the letters will be more personal obviously.  Also I don't think these computers will let me send pictures cause we are at the library so I will just send the card home and when ever you send it back is great Sarah:)  Really don't feel bad about last time cause it is not a big deal.  Also Uncle Keith I will try that challenge that you told me.  Also that is exciting that everyone is doing well at home and you get to spend so much time with your grand daughter.

        Dad, let me know how the Tennessee was and Uncle Keith told me that BYU won so that is awesome.  I bet you and mom had a great time.  I love you both so much and am more and more greatful every day for your examples for me and as a family I am so greatful for each of your examples.  I think of you and pray for you everyday and I talk about you all the time and use our family as an example in our lessons all the time.  I am so greatful that our family was sealed in the temple and that we will be together for ever.  I bear testimony and gratitude to all our investigators of this great blessing we have in our lives.  I love you so much and thank you for all you have done in raising me because you have truly shaped me to be the person I am today.

       I love you all and will stay in close contact and try to send some pictures back quickly.  The Church is true, make sure to pray and read daily, personally and as a family.  I love you all a ton.

 

-Love your son/brother/grandson/nephew/cousin/uncle/friend Elder Neeley