Local volunteers at the Winn Food Pantry held a sendoff during their Nov. 16 food distribution for a Washington state couple who have been faithful in their service over the past two years here in this community.
Les and Janine Michie of Moses Lake, WA, are the Mormon missionaries (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) who have been here since January 2022. Unlike the younger missionaries Winn normally sees, the retired couple is Member Leadership Support (MLS) who have been assisting and guiding some 220 missionaries in Louisiana and Mississippi during their stay.
Active in Kiwanis, they have been a mainstay at the Food Pantry. “They have been faithful, diligent and willing to do anything,” said Jan Beville. “They always let you know when they can’t make it and often brought additional volunteers with them. They made their mark as friends to everyone.”
Jane Purser added that Les and Janine “always filled in the gaps, no matter what. They’d see a need and step in. We don’t want to see them leave but realize that they will take their blessings wherever they go. They didn’t prove their mission through preaching…they showed God’s love through their service.”
Janine told the Journal that they “loved the Winnfield experience. The community is wonderful, right here in the middle of the Bible Belt. The weather is perfect.” Les clarified that observation by pointing out that temperatures in Moses Lake in a high desert of the Columbia Basin will range from 0 degrees in February to 110 degrees in July. “But it’s a ‘dry heat’ and it cools every night.”
Their hands-on activity started shortly after they arrived. “I remember exactly,” said Janine. “We wanted to get involved with the community. We attended the Community Feast at the Fairgrounds in February 2022 and Jane invited us to the Food Pantry. And we were thinking about joining Kiwanis and our landlord Jerry Williams is a Kiwanian and invited us to come the next day as his guests.”
Sometimes it’s the little things that make impressions. Les explained that when they arrived, they’d never seen a corn casserole. “This year, we made one.”
The couple will soon head west on their four- or five-day drive across the country to home where they’ll have Louisiana tales to share with their family of 6 children and 19 grandchildren who now all live in the state of Washington.