Office details

Hello Dad and Mom;

   I haven't written you in a while so i thought i ought to make it happen! These past couple of weeks have been really good. It has been pretty normal. All of the things that i thought were cool when i first got into the office are a part of the normal routine now. There is one cool thing that i get to do tomorrow though. I get to take the van up to Pedro Juan Caballero where i started the mission and do a Open House in two of the Chapels up there. If you remember right it is the city that is right on the border of Brazil. It will take about 7 hours to travel up there and 7 hours back. It should be a pretty fun road trip. I'm Excited to go but I'm also nervous too. We Will travel up on Friday morning and then do an open house in the Pedro Juan 1st branch and then on Saturday night we will have one in my old area, 4th Branch. We will stay the night on Friday and Saturday and then hit Sacrament up there and then travel back down after church.

  Before we head up there i have to give two baptismal interviews for some of the sisters in my district. We are a very "goal oriented" mission so we have set goals for our district as well. We base our progression by how many baptisms we get each month, how many of the recent converts came to church and what our attendance is like. Our goals for my district are 8 baptisms, 85% retention and 360 as an attendance. We had previously hit our goal for attendance so we pumped it up even more so that's great. We are so close to reaching our baptismal goal. We have 3 baptisms as of right now and we have 5 more secure baptismal dates coming up. I think that we can really do it. It would be great if we do because usually a baptismal goal for a district should be around 4 to 6, but my district works really hard and we are working towards 8. our retention is doing okay. we have 80% retention which is a lot better than the average for the mission. And we keep hitting our attendance goal so that's awesome as well.

  This whole numbers thing is a big part of my job as the Recorder here in the office. I have to find out all of the numbers (Baptisms, Retention %, Attendances and Contacts) of the whole mission. So I spend all day Monday figuring out where we stand as a mission. When i have them all figured out i have to send them to President and as well the the Area Seventy. Usually it takes about 9 to 10 hours to get them all figured out. Its a very tedious job but someone has to do it.

  Along with random P.J.C. trips, Planning district meetings, Housing, and Statistics i have to be a missionary at the same time. It hard to get out to work at 5 or 6 each day when I need to have numbers in or I have a housing assignment that needs to be completed but on thing that President always tells us is that being a missionary is our number one priority and an office elder second.

  Sorry i haven't told you a little bit more in depth about what i do here in the office until now but i wants really sure on what i was doing either. jajaja i hope this helped you understand a little bit more about what i do everyday.

  Each and every day my testimony of this gospel grows stronger and stronger. I love this Gospel and i know that everyone would love if they just knew about it!! so . . . lets get out there and share it!!

Thank you both for all of your support and everything that you have taught me. I love you guys!

Have GREAT week.

Love Elder Petersen