1. Is the mission office air conditioned?
Yes the office is air conditioned.
2. Is your apartment at the mission office? Nice apartment or about the same?
We have an apartment separate from the mission office. Our apartment is really big and older, because there used to be a bunch of mission secretaries. It has 3 bathrooms, 3 rooms, a kitchen, a family room, and a balcony.
3. How many elders serve in the office besides the AP?
Right now we have 3 of us in the office. Elder Price (still) Elder R. Nunes (my comp) and Elder Couto. R Nunes is the housing secretary, and Couto is the financial secretary. But we have two missionary couples and a sister that also work in the office. So Elder Couto is training Elder Merrell to take over for him next transfer. So the only two secretaries next transfer will be Elder R. Nunes and me. President doesn't use a ton of secretaries, and the couples help out a ton.
4. Tell us more about your duties.
So I handle the weekly schedule. Mostly the interviews that President has to do with every district, and special interviews on P-days. I have to handle the visas for all of the missionaries, and all of the temple missionaries too (that come from out of the country). I prepare the mission journal or newsletter that has President Houseman's message, birthdays for the week, important information (for everyone), the baptisms that happened the previous week, the mission calendar (about 3 weeks into the future). But the biggest task is the visas. And I kind of do security. I have a second monitor that lets me see all the cameras here, and I can open up the gates to let people in, so that is pretty fun.
5. Are you companions with one of the APs or with another office staff missionary?
The AP's are comps, and I am comps with Elder R. Nunes (who is an elder from my group). Elder Price is with Elder Couto. So I am Elder Price's comp when we are in the office until we leave at 5 pm. Then I am Elder R. Nunes's comp.
6. Is your new area a good part of the city?
It's a pretty good area. I am still trying to get to know it. There are lots of buildings and apartments, and it is really tough to enter them without a referral. We work a lot more in the ghettos where the houses are more accessible. In the apartments the standard of living is pretty good, but the ghettos are about like the ghettos in every area that I already have served in.
7. Is the mission home part of the mission office or separate? Is your apartment near the mission office?
The mission home is separate from the office. It is about 10 minutes from the office in a car and about 20 or 30 minutes walking. Our apartment is really close to the office. It's about 4 minutes walking distance.
8. What is Elder Price doing?
Elder Price is training me in the office. He will help me to learn everything that I need to in this transfer so that i can take over and keep up the work next transfer.
We don't eat lunch with the members during the week. We only get a half hour for lunch every day, and we receive extra money to grab something to eat quickly during the week. We only eat with the members on Sundays.
It is pretty cool, I am liking it a lot. There is a lot of things to remember, but I know I can do it.
9. Your thoughts on the new policy for missionaries calling home.
I don't know how I feel about it. I feel like it could turn into a pretty big distraction for a lot of missionaries. It would be good for missionaries that don't come from a family of members to help them see their testimony grow, and help their family join the church. I even think it would be worse in the start of the mission. If I was suffering with homesickness and was seeing you guys weekly, I think it would slow down the adjusting process. Sometimes you just need to be thrown in, it will hurt to adjust, but it will happen a lot faster. So I will see what happens here. There is a pretty good chance we won't get to Skype every week, but I think its pretty likely that we will be able to use chat and talk back and forth on my P-day. We are waiting to see what President wants to do.
Love you too!
Elder Nielson
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