An e-mail from the Mission President

We received an e-mail from President Roggia and his wife with with some information about Elder Vaughan and his initial assignment. Below are some excerpts from the letter which may answer some of the questions you have about his mission:

"We are pleased to have him here in Sierra Leone. He has been assigned to the Njaie Town area of the Bo District. His trainer is Elder Priddis, who will take good care of him and help him become familiar with the area."

"You should also know that English is spoken differently here and often takes time to understand. Many still use their tribal language, which requires an interpreter."

"Your son will find the food and living conditions much different. We work diligently to keep all missionaries happy and healthy. There is a water filter in each apartment so they can drink purified water."

"Most of the time, an apartment will hold 4 missionaries with one companionship per room. They have single beds, a bathroom, table and chairs, and not much other furniture. Apartments meet their needs but are not what those from the U.S.A. are used to. He will however, adjust to all of this and come to love his companion and the people as we have learned to love them!"

"Missionaries love to hear from both family and Ward members. We encourage you to write to him often. It always gives the missionaries a lift to get a letter from home. It is easy to send letters through the church pouch by addressing it to him at the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission. Send the letter to P.O. Box 30150, Salt Lake City Utah, 84130-0150. He should have informed you of the newly created procedures regarding the pouch, all letters must be an individual sheet of paper folded into thirds, taped together, and having the address written on the outside of the paper in order for the letter to be sent. If not as described, the post office will return the letter to you. This is due to certain restrictions put on the pouch system by the governments of the various countries to which the pouch is sent. You can send a regular letter or package directly to us by addressing it to him c/o of: Sierra Leone Freetown Mission, P.O. Box 263, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. We hold the mail for them here in the office until someone travels to his area (approximately every two weeks)."

"Thank you for sharing him with us! We are sure he will be a great missionary! We do love our missionaries. The Lord’s hand is on West Africa today. This is a special mission; we know he will come to love it."

President Richard P. Roggia
and Sister Cathy Roggia