Week 62 - A 5K Fun Run

  I was surprised when my phone lit up last Saturday morning to see a photo that had been sent from someone in CA of Elder Schaff and his companion at a 5K race. Very random and unexpected, but fun. I love it when people text me photos of Hayden, it always brings a smile to my face. This week wasn't very eventful, but sometimes, those are the best kind of weeks. This week, the first part of the blog is from an email he wrote to his Dad, and the last half is from an email he wrote to me (Mom).

 

Elder Schaff and Elder Noyes participate in a 5K race

  "Yes, we did run a 5K in that very attire we are pictured in. Elder Noyes told me he was going to burn out and would have to walk eventually, and he stayed true to his word, but it was okay. We accomplished our purpose there, which was to have a positive presence for missionaries in the community. We had some funny moments, like when a member and her friend passed us and she said: "and these guys are from my church, they're trying to..." and then she was out of earshot. But we were a topic of conversation I guess. When we walked, several kids made it their goal to have their parents speed up, so they could pass the missionaries, or the "fancy dressed guys."

  Thanks for sharing your take on motivation. I'm striving harder to make each week an opportunity to grow. I'm seeking to fill them with more purpose. They go by so quickly now being in the office. Like this week, I finished off a few things on my to-do-list, and all I had left was this master spreadsheet for supplies missionaries can order. I've spent the majority of the week repairing the formulas on that and putting it back in order. I'll finish it on Monday. I got so close. I had finished the sum formulas a while back, so I've done a lot of formulas that pull it from other sheets, such as:  =Fresno!B201, =Hanford!E59, or ='Fresno West'!C49. A bit tedious but I found that copying the formula and pasting it into the other cells and then changing them, broke up the existing merge cells the sheet had--which long story short, was more work in the end. Nonetheless it's a spreadsheet that goes from AM to 227 9 sheets (times) over, so I've done you proud I think.   (An XD face just couldn't fit there, despite my general disinterest in these emojis...)

   To be honest, I'm still trying to see how I'm growing from this position. Obviously, management experience and the whole desk job thing, but the missionary work we do in our area is largely with the members and it's hard for us to see what effect we have on them. Life is good, but at times it feels like it's not consecrated...I wonder if that's the nature of my assignment right now or just my perspective. I feel more like a spiritually-in-tune member and less like a missionary. It's interesting and certainly different. So that's my mind for today.

I'm always glad to hear from you and talk with you Dad!"

  "More and more Mountain View feels like a Utah Ward, small boundaries, lots of kids, few baptisms. (Because everyone's friend lives outside the boundaries!) It's okay though, the members are so loving, there isn't much to complain about. Actually, much would be the wrong word, there isn't anything to complain about!

  I've emailed Dad and Sydney accounts of my week. I've been relating that it's been rather repetitive, which has given me lots of room to think. I've been making a greater push to delve into the scriptures with what extra time I find myself with. Unlike last week, with all the different things happening, this week I really just hammered away at a spreadsheet that we are planning to use to make ordering supplies easier for the zones. I told Sydney I think I spent like 20 hours on it combined this week, I'll need one more day to finish it.

  I brought my camera today, but the computers don't read it without a SD card reader. If you happened to have cleaned the old one of the virus, I could use it. If not, not a big deal. (I used Elder B's before.)

  There's really not much more to tell, and I'm running out of time. Ask dad about the 5K, since I described it to him.

  Since I'm sure you'd like to know, Elder N and I are doing great. I think the biggest difficulty we might have in our companionship is if Elder N or I accidentally choke to death--when I tell him jokes, if it's a really good one, he'll just die laughing. It's like playing games with Schaff's at 11:30 pm. He'll often short himself of breath and do the silent wheeze thing, which at that point is such intense laughter, I start laughing too. We get along well and have optimized our schedule to meet the needs of the area and incorporate all of our studies. Life is peaceful and well.

Love you Mom!"

--Elder Schaff