Day After Arrival

Dear Brother and Sister Dooley ,

I wanted to update you on your son's progress so far in the mission field. As you know, his group left Salt Lake Tuesday morning early and flew all day, arriving here in Halifax around midnight. As you are aware there was considerable concern about the winter storm but it really turned out to be  nothing in our area. They arrived in good spirits when my Assistants, and I met them at the airport.

After taking pictures and hunting down luggage, we took them back to the Mission Home where they were fed a late night  (1:00AM)  meal of chili, buns, and cookies.  We have a dormitory in the basement and the upper floor of the Mission Home where we can accommodate up to 14 missionaries..

They were pretty tired when they got up and started the next day at 6:30 AM. After exercise and breakfast they had a nap before we started the day's instruction. They had the opportunity to go out and do some proselyting in the evening. They then went to bed early, got up at 5:00AM and are now on their way to their new area.

In discussion with them over the last two days , I found out a bit more about your son, your family, and  his feelings about serving in the Canada Halifax Mission. During the interview, I explained to  him about the various areas and about how we are organized.  I told  him who his first companion would be and a bit about his first area. You will get the details of that from him this coming Monday, when he writes you on preparation day.

Sister Leavitt and I feel Elder Dooley has come prepared to serve the Lord, and we will endeavor to help him have a successful mission and one of the greatest experiences of his life.

I meet with the missionaries on a frequent basis and receive a detailed letter from them every week. My Assistants, the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, Trainers and Sister Training Leaders all are focused on helping new missionaries make the adjustment to missionary life.

You can do your part by writing to Elder Dooley weekly and encouraging him in a positive manner. Detailed updates on sports teams, friends, current affairs, or unnecessary detail on problems at home tend to distract the missionaries and often cause a number of problems.

I do my best to communicate with the parents of all the missionaries on a regular basis to keep them informed of the progress of the mission in general. I do this by way of a quarterly update letter sent to you via email. We have a Facebook page called "Mormons of Atlantic Canada" where we post various  information and pictures from the mission. We posted a picture of all of the new missionaries at the airport with their luggage. They are an impressive group. As well, I try to send specific updates as various areas of responsibility change. Please let us know if your email address changes.

I firmly believe the African saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," applies to missionaries as well. Each of us doing our own part will contribute to the overall success of your son's mission.

Please do not hesitate to email me any concerns or questions that you might have.  May the Lord bless us all in this sacred and important endeavor.

Best regards, President Brian D. Leavitt

The Elder has Landed!

Dear Brother and Sister Dooley ,
 Just a quick note to let you know your son arrived safely at the Mission Home and has had a good but short nights sleep. They missed their plane in Toronto due to the time it took to get visas so they did not get in until 12:30 am. I will send you more complete information later today with further information regarding his assignment and other relevant matters.
 Best regards,
 President Brian D. Leavitt

The Canada Halifax Mission was blessed with the arrival of 7 new missionaries. Atlantic Canada was supposed to have a terrible snow and wind storm on the day they were to arrive. But undaunted they pressed forward. The "big storm" turned out to not be all that big, but the customs process in Toronto proved to be a bigger problem, causing them to miss their connecting flight to Halifax.

They arrive at 12:30 am and were back to the mission home, fed and in bed by 2:00AM. They will be up at 6:30 doing their exercises and ready to meet their first day in the mission field.

Post by Mormons of Atlantic Canada.

Storm Warnings

Dear Parents
As you have probably heard there is a snow storm currently affecting most areas of our mission. It has just started but weather forecasters are predicting it will be a bad one with quite a bit of snow and high winds. At this point very little snow has fallen but in anticipation of the storm, schools have been cancelled, doctors offices closes and non essential travel restricted.

Our missionaries live in nice apartments, most have 4 wheel vehicles of some sort and are prepared for such weather conditions.

Of course as the storm develops we will ask them to stay at home and use the telephone to do their missionary work. We have a well developed means of communication through the Internet and telephones to keep in touch with them all.

It is important to note that the worst of the storm will be in the New York and Boston areas where snow falls are predicted to be in the 1-3 foot level with winds gusting up to 65 miles per hour. It is not anticipated that weather in Atlantic Canada will be as severe.

As the situation unfolds we will keep you posted of any developments. The safety and security of the missionaries is our highest priority.

It is of interest that this storm coincides with our transfer week and will undoubtedly affect the arrival of our new missionaries today. As these storms usually only last a day or two we are hopeful it will not impact those missionaries who will be travelling home this Friday.

Best regards,

President Brian D. Leavitt

First Letter Home

Ran into Josie Tueller at the Provo Temple!

Sounds like all is well, so far, and I have very little to report on other than the MTC being awesome. I hope you heard I need a blanket, because I am freezing, then I'll keep you posted on if I will need nerf guns or not for when we're "snowed" in.

I have felt the spirit a lot, and it has really helped me to grow spiritually. I am a zone leader in my zone in the MTC, and I'm entering the field with half of my zone, which is four. The other four are splitting up and going to Edmonton Canada, and Orlando, Florida. Tell Jacob to watch out for them. The two going to Florida are sister Woolley, and Sister Guynn. 

Everyone in the district gets along great, and we all just love hanging around in class, and we all just want to be in the field. Honestly, it's only felt like a day since I entered, but I know that once I enter the field, I'm going to blink, and then six months will have gone by. I'm loving the work of the Lord, and am stoked to get started. I look forward to hearing from you all soon. Also, thanks for the food you gave me. While the food in the MTC is good, it really overworks your bowels. 

Until next time, and I love you all, Elder Dooley

Elder Dooley Enters the MTC

We went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast. Finished quickly so we killed some time and got a Krispy Kreme too. Elder Dooley was pretty anxious to get going so dad and mom kept teasing him saying "oh, we gotta stop at the store", and "lets drive up to the Canyon first" and such. He didn't think that was too funny.

Stopped across the street to get the luggage all situated and to get a  picture with the MTC in the background. 

We pulled up to the MTC and mom turned around and snapped this picture of Elder Dooley in the car. "Let's do this!" he said. 

Everything is out of the rental and Elder Dooley has just met his greeter who met us with a big "Konichiwa". Guess he is going to Japan. That was kinda funny considering Elder Dooley took Japanese in high school.

One last picture with mom and dad and there. . .

 . . .he . . .

 . . .goes. See ya in 2 years Elder Dooley!

Set Apart

President Hafoka, Elder Dooley, Bishop Elkington