I'm not following your math. A 24-month mission is about 104 weeks (plus 2-3 days). 17 full transfers make 102 weeks, plus 3 weeks in the MTC makes 105 weeks. That is 24 months plus 4-5 days. If they spend 8-9 weeks in the MTC plus 16 full transfers, that's about the same. It's within a fraction of a week of exactly 24 months. There are a few languages for which the missionaries can spend 12 weeks in the MTC; that's rare, but would pose a challenge of being a month late or two weeks early.lajackson wrote:Does this mean that for a missionary who returns home more than 15 days before the anniversary date the ward will be charged one less month?
For an English-speaking (or any native speaking) missionary who spends three weeks in the MTC, the release date is either going to be 21 days after the anniversary, or 21 days before the anniversary, depending on which of the six-weeks transfer dates the mission president uses for the release.
That means an elder would either go for 23 or 25 payments, or a sister would go for 17 or 19 payments?
For the sisters it doesn't work out quite as well, but of course that's far less common. An 18-month mission is about 78 weeks. 12 full transfers make 72 weeks, plus 3 or 8 weeks makes 75 or 80 weeks. So if they stay an whole number of transfers, they will leave earlier or later than 18 months. A 12-week MTC stay makes it work out perfectly. But in my experience, mission presidents are quite flexible with the sisters, and they may well leave in the middle of a transfer.