So its been a pretty crazy four days since the last time I wrote you, I don´t have tons of time to write, but tons of things to say, so I´m just going to devote this email to all the questions.
Do you live in the mission home or do you have an apartment?
We actually don´t live in the mission home, we have a separate apartment that all the office elders live in and it is one of the nicest houses I´ve been in, in Paraguay. We have three bathrooms, four toilets, 7 beds, dressers for everyone, two refrigerators, sports equipment, a huge patio to play on in the mornings, tons of exercise equipment, it is very nice.
Is there a mission cook and dining and reception area in you mission home?
There isn´t any dining or reception area or anything. There is a mission cook, there was an older sister missionary that is in this mission that was cooking for us for free, but she decided that now that the move to the new office is over she has a little more time, so she started working at the temple more and is only going to cook for us once a month now, which is sad because her food was completely American. President´s wife has been cooking for us lately, but we going to start having the mission cook lady cook for us, but it is going to be a little expensive so we´ll see what happens.
Is the mission home part of a church building?
No, they have this huge house close to the mission office. The mission office now is in a church building, it is brand new and looks super nice, they are just getting all of the final finishes on everything.
It will be interesting to find out what your duties are?
Honestly, I still don´t really know all of what I do, I kind of have a good grasp on some of it now though. I am in charge of all the people going in and out of the country, mostly making sure that everyone stays here legally. I send out all the flight plans for old and new missionaries, file everything about everyone, put all of it in computer databases, send out call letters to missionaries and their families. I just sent a letter to you from president talking about me getting called as the executive secretary, I thought that was kind of funny to mail a letter home to you. I take all the phone calls, and do pretty much anything president asks me to do with the districts he is over and things like that. Elder Peterson, my trainer, tells me I´ll have a lot to do with missionaries trying to get out on missions from the districts here. I´ll work close with district presidents here and the area office in Argentina, and related things. It has been pretty fun so far, but I still have a lot to learn.
Tell us about you new companion? Is he patient? Is he a good teacher?
My trainer is an awesome guy and he is doing an awesome job with the whole transition getting me into the office. I actually am companions technically with Elder Gage, the Financiero, or the missionary that works with all the money. Both of them are super awesome and I am super grateful for great comps. I have companions who are really willing to keep the rules and do exactly what they should be doing. So far in the office it has been super easy to keep the rules and do everything how you should, but we were having this discussion the other day and my companions were telling me I´ll see, its hard to keep the rules in the office because of how much freedom and trust you do have, but all the more reason to keep them right? Anyway, my companions are just great, even out teaching, hopefully we can get some sweet investigators in church tomorrow.
What is the new president like, what is his wife like?
The new president is super awesome. He is a whole lot different from the last mission president, but he is one of the best men I have ever met. He will be my mission president that I will remember as my mission president from my mission I think, being his secretary I´ll be with him pretty much every day and starting my mission out lejos I only saw the last mission president once a change, so I think I will be getting to know this new mission president really well. He is latin, so English is his second language, but he sounds exactly like in General Conference when the latins get up to give talks, that is what it reminds me of. The whole first day I didn´t even hear him speak Spanish, he just loves English. His wife doesn´t speak as much as he does, but she can speak English too. You can have a conversation with her in English just fine, but she prefers to speak in Spanish more. They are from Buenos Aires so the Spanish is a lot different> It is surprising how different the accent is. I have had to talk to a few people from the Argentine area office also and sometimes it is really hard because the accent and the whole way they form sentences is so different. The Presidents wife told me the same thing, that sometime she has a hard time understanding my Spanish because I speak like a Paraguayan, hopefully that's the case. They are getting used to the Guaraní here too. President is super excited about it and wants to learn the language, I think he could be speaking it by the time he goes home, or even by the time I go home.
What is the process to get a driver´s licence?
Honestly, I don´t really know, Elder Gage takes care of all that and he just took my one from the States, talked to a guy for a while, then told me I have to get my picture taken on Monday and I´ll have it, so it isn´t hard, I don´t have to take any tests or anything, so next week I´ll be driving!
Is your Spanish coming along well and how is it in relation to this new assignment? My Spanish has been coming along well, it seems like there are days though where it wants to come and others where it doesn´t. I´m a little worried with the new calling ruining my Spanish though, the only Spanish speaking people from Paraguay I´ll be speaking to are the lawyers I work with in Immigrations, so I´ll have to make sure I practice a lot, plus I have the three proselyting hours at night to keep me in shape, so I´m not too worried. I will be speaking a lot more though with Spanish speaking people in Argentina, so I just hope my accent doesn´t change.
What are the other elders in the mission home with you like? All of the Elders here are super awesome, we have a way fun office group right now. There´s Elder Adams and Elder Vance, who are the Assistants to the President; Elder Decker, he is the Fichero, or the guy that files and logs in the computer everything to do with numbers and membership records; Elder Wilkinson, he is the Cartero, or the mailman, but he is also in charge of all the mission materials and the mission´s vehicles; Elder Gage, the money guy, and then me and Elder Peterson. As for the apartments, that is also part of Elder Gage´s job, on top of all the money business.
How many cars are in the fleet?
Right now, only two, President´s car and the office van, and we just switch off nights who gets to use it for the proselyting, but it all works out well. There used to be a separate car for the assistants, but I don´t know what happened, maybe in the future...
Anyway, that is all I have time for, anymore questions about the office just let me know. I love you all so much and I am grateful for your support, love you all, Elder Adamson V
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