Meet Elder Robert D. Schamel

In March, I flew to Denver to attend my nephew, Robert Schamel's, missionary farewell. He was leaving the following Tuesday for South Africa. He really is a neat kid, and I was so proud of him, as are his parents. He gave one of the best farewell talks I have ever heard. That night, LOTS of his friends (he's a popular guy) came over to say goodbye, and ended up entertaining us. Robert has been singing in a quartet, and the other three guys were there, so they treated us with an impromptu concert. It was the first time I had ever heard them, and halfway through the first song, I realized that they were really good, and since I had my camera in my hand, I set it to record. Here they are--enjoy!






Here he is with his Dad right after he was set-apart and got to put on his name tag.
Schamel kids--Andrew, Leslie, Robert, and Aaron.
Robert and his mom--my sister, Melinda.

Here we are at the airport. We had to be there about 6 AM, and it was snowing like crazy. Leslie, Andrew, Robert, and I were all flying out that morning. Good planning--Only one trip to the airport for Randy and Melinda.A great story here. We were all going headed over to security, when this girl saw us and noticed Robert's tags. She was excited, because she said this was the first time she had ever seen a missionary leaving from an airport with all his family there to see him off. (Obviously, she's not from Utah.) Anyway, a little while later, I guess she got up her nerve to approach us, and said that she was in a lot of pain because of her arm, and wouldn't be able to do anything about it until she got to her destination (Atlanta I think) which would be several hours from then. She asked if Robert and his dad had enough time to give her a blessing. Well, there we were, in the middle of the airport, with time to do it, but where? Melinda turned and saw a NTSB guy standing nearby and asked if perhaps there was a room they could use for a few minutes. His response was, "Oh, do you want to give her a blessing?" Yep! He was LDS--what are the chances?--this is Colorado, not Utah! Anyhow, he said he'd ask for permission, which was granted, and they were able to use the room right next to us, and the blessing was given. I thought it was a perfect experience for Robert at this important time in his life. Anyway, here they are. Unfortunately, I have no idea what her name was.


After boarding the plane, I think he met up with his companion in New York (or somewhere back east) and then they flew straight to the MTC in Johannesburg, (although he is in the Cape Town mission) and is now serving in a town called Knysna. He is absolutely loving it despite having been robbed at knifepoint on one occasion, and finding himself in the middle of a riot on another, all in the first month. Scary stuff! But his letters are filled with enthusiasm and love for the work. What a great kid he is.