Week 60 - New Companion

  Elder Schaff seems to be doing well in Fresno, new missionaries are arriving this week and he is getting a new companion. One thing you can expect on a mission is change!

  "Well, a lot has changed this last week. I'm sorry that I haven't written much about Elder B, or explained with greater detail all that is happening here. Some changes are being made with companionships. The changes are that we were put into a Tri-panionship, gaining a new companion of Elder Noyes. Elder B revealed to me Monday night that he would be preparing to return home. He has had to make some changes with medication and has been advised to return home for further medical care. He has decided to do that, and has been out for 22 months already. So that is what is happening. Elder B will be departing this Wednesday. He has been training Elder N in the vehicle coordinator responsibilities. The mission will go on.

  We're already back to transfers, 21 new missionaries are coming in, and one visa-waiter as well. President Mackay said that we'll end up with about 60% of the mission involved in training efforts. That's crazy! A new generation of missionaries is arriving.

  That's the lowdown for now. We made a make-shift Shepherd's Pie, and it was surprisingly delicious. After our attempt with brownies, we had no idea how this was going to go. I also have a picture of Elder N that I took 30 minutes ago. He has good energy and likes to laugh, I think it will help me make a good shift.

  As for your questions, the young man who was baptized is 17. His family consists of just he and his mother. They live together, and Elder D and I actually met her first, and then Kevin. She is interested in being baptized as well, but wants to take a bit more time than her son, because she has already been a member of 3 other churches and wants it to be true for sure or just wrong, so she can move on. Now that he has made his way, hopefully his mom will be more inclined as well.

  I'm running out of time here, but my date for release is still listed as August 17th, 2018, exactly 2 years from when I entered the MTC. It may get changed though, because Elder D calculated transfers out on a calendar and it would be 2 weeks into a transfer, so I may depart a bit earlier, but I won't make those prospects. President is thinking about having office missionaries serve for a staple of 6 months. (That will be a rough transition!) So I'll be out of the loop when the end is nigh. That's my report.

  I love you too mom! Thanks for everything you've done, did and do!"

--Elder Schaff