A GIRL NAMED SANDY

Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2012 23:18:14 -0400
Subject: Virginia Richmond Missionaries are riding out the storm!
From: jperry1218@gmail.com
To: 

All missionaries have called in and are safe this evening. The sisters in Kilmarnock are spending the night with the RS Pres and her family. All else remains the same. All missionaries have been instructed to stay in and hunker down tomorrow until further notice. We suspect many of them will take the opportunity to get a little sleep (they work so hard!) so they can be ready to roll when the storm is past. We are anticipating many opportunities to serve when the winds die down :) Thanks for all your prayers.

Sister Perry

Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2012 13:35:03 -0400
Subject: 
From: jperry1218@gmail.com
To: 

If you are receiving this and your missionary has come home, please e-mail me and I will remove you from the list.  Thanks!

Dear Parents of Missionaries in the Virginia Richmond Mission

This is the first of what will probably be several e-mails to keep you updated on the safety of your missionary during the next few days.  As I'm sure you are aware from reports on the news and weather channels the East Coast is bracing for a humdinger of a storm!  And you thought a mission in the states would be adrenaline free  o_0

In preparation, we are in the process of moving all of our missionaries inland from these areas:  Newport News 3rd, Poquoson, Hampton, Glouchester, Virginia Beach, Easter Shore, Norfolk, Sandbridge, Elizabeth City and Nags Head.  These are the coastal and low lying areas that will probably see the most damage from this storm.

In the areas inland the biggest effect from these storms is usually the power outages which can last for several days.  We have asked all of our missionaries to prepare by having water and food on hand (it's the end of the month and most missionaries will be low in funds on their Missionary Support Funds card -- if you maintain a separate debit account for your missionary now would be a great time to make sure it has a few extra dollars in it :) and a flashlight, etc.

President has set up a phone tree that will go into effect tonight (Saturday the 27th) with all missionaries checking in with their District Leaders who will report up the chain to President each night thereafter until the worst is over.  This will ensure that each of your missionaries is accounted for every day.

All of the local leaders and members are aware of and looking out for your missionary as well.  Also, I will be updating periodically on my Facebook page which is Virginia Sara Perry -- you are welcome to find that page and request to be friends.  It may help you while away some time looking at pictures while you are waiting for information :)

We appreciate all you do to support your missionary.  They are amazing young people and I suspect they will spend more time helping than being helped during this storm.

Please do not reply to this E-mail -- if there is an emergency and you must contact me please E-mail me at jperry1218@gmail.com.  That is my private E-mail so it is not the place to send inquiries about day to day things that need to be addressed by the mission staff such as travel arrangements, addresses, release dates, etc.  For day to day correspondence send E-mails to: 2011409@ldschurch.org.  We hope you understand that even though we would love to talk to all of you, we have 230+ missionaries and cannot reply individually to each parent.

There is a real possibility that our power will go out at the mission home so don't automatically panic if you don't hear from me -  it probably just means we are in the dark...literally.  We will make contact as soon as we can find someone with the lights on.

OK!  Here we go!  Batten down the hatches!

Love,  Sister Perry