How to do I extract multiple characters from a string in excel and use VLOOKUP?

I think you should follow @teylyn's advice and have lookup colum to make things easier. In case you can't, try the following:

Assuming the first table extends from columns A to C, and the second from columns G to I, in cell B3, enter the formula:

=VLOOKUP(LEFT($A3,1) & MID($A3,FIND(" ",$A3,1)+1,1),$G$1:$I$4,2,0)

And in C3:

=VLOOKUP(LEFT($A3,1) & MID($A3,FIND(" ",$A3,1)+1,1),$G$1:$I$4,3,0)

Drag the formulae down.

To have one formula instead of the two mentionned above, in C3 enter:

=VLOOKUP(LEFT($A3,1) & MID($A3,FIND(" ",$A3,1)+1,1),$G$1:$I$4,COLUMN(I$2)-COLUMN($G$2)+1,0)

Drag the formula down.