Scott Neff never expected that the word of wisdom would save his career or his life. Laurie Neff never expected to marry everything her bishop warned her about. And neither of them expected that decades later they'd be managing a bishop's storehouse in Jeans, logging 12-hour service days and loving every minute of it. In this episode, I sit down with Scott and Laurie to talk about their journey from marriage in a Lutheran church to missionaries knocking on their condo door in Old Town Scottsdale to a hard-won conversation, conversion that meant walking away from alcohol, drugs and a lifestyle that had already led Scott to two DWIs and time in jail.

You'll hear how tithing, not the word of wisdom, almost stopped his baptism and what a simple lunch conversation with the mission president did to change his view on money, faith and priorities. We also dive into the early and intense church service that shaped them. Scott being called as an elders quorum president after just one year in the church, two decades in the young men's program, long Sundays of strong gospel mentors and how those experiences prepared them without them realizing it, to one day manage the Mesa Bishop Storehouse.

Scott and Lori pull back the curtain on how the storehouse really works. The semi-truck deliveries from Salt Lake, the youth service missionaries in the back, Wayne Produce, the humanitarian grants that quietly feed people all over Arizona, and the tender mercies they witness daily on the front lines of temporal and spiritual welfare. You'll hear stories of parents pleading for blessings for their children, of a widower whose grief began to heal through the service of a forklift driver whose cancer disappeared, and of how a simple decision to just serve on Tuesdays turned into a mission that reordered their calendar, strengthened their marriage, and blessed their business and family in ways they couldn't have anticipated.

If you've ever wondered whether tithing and fast offerings really bring blessings, what senior service missions actually look like, or whether ordinary people can make a real difference in the lives of the poor and the needy, this conversation is for you.

Stay with us as Scott and Lori share how the Lord used missions, money, and a warehouse full of food to change their lives and how those same principles might change yours.