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Note 1: Communicating With Recordings
| Hi everyone,
Something really neat to buy your missionary son/daughter is a microcassette
recorder. We bought one for our son and one for us so we can send audio tapes
back and forth through the mail to each other.
We bought Sony 'clear voice plus' at Walmart for around $25-$30 each. We just
listened to the first tape and hearing "God Be With you Til We Meet Again" sung
by the district (in Spanish) at the MTC was wonderful!
Lora
Elder - England 2001-2003
Elder - Arizona 9/06-9/08
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Note 2: From MTC to Airport
| Hi All,
I thought I'd pass on a bit of advice my neighbor gave me.
When her oldest went to Italy and her youngest to Russia and they called
from the airport she asked them to bear their testimony in their new languages.
I asked my son to do that and I was amazed! They can do it and it's very cool!
Julie,
Anziano, Italy Rome 9/05-9/07
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Note 3: Gift Ideas
| Send little squeeze flashlights that can be attached to their key rings. You
might be able to get them cheaply at a discount store, especially if you
bought several. Perhaps you could attach to them something about being a
light to the world. Our sons both have appreciated having a little
flashlight when they have to unlock their apartment door and there's no
light in the hallway or on the street. They would be very lightweight
and even though they don't have replaceable batteries, they seem to last
a long time and YOU don't have to send the batteries.
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Note 4: Gifts for Missionaries
| If you are near an LDS bookstore, go pick up stamps with pictures of Christ,
or little lapel pins with pictures of Christ on them. Sometimes they are
great conversation starters in countries that are not "Christian".
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Note 5: Holidays Valentines
| I was at JCPenney yesterday and saw that their ties were drastically reduced.
Knowing that Elders are sometimes very tired of the same ol' stuff to wear, I
bought 2 of them with red in the design. I'm going to send them in a heart
shaped box with a note attached that says something like, " tied together in
the love of the gospel". does anyone have a better idea for a note to
attach? Of course, there will be the required goodies as well.
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Note 6: Holidays Valentines 2
| For Valentines I was thinking about making one of those candy bar posters (the
ones where you substitute candy bars for words) and cutting it up like a puzzle.
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Note 7: Mailing Valuables
| I wanted to make sure that this worked before I made this suggestion about
sending cameras and valuables through the mail to Uruguay, etc. I sent a
digital camera through the mail disguised in a mac and cheese box (Velveeta
shells & cheese). I took out all the mac & cheese, put the camera in its case
in a Ziploc bag with the batteries outside of the camera for safety. Put the
Ziploc bag with the camera in the box. Then I put some of the noodles back
on top to make it sound like the original contents, making sure that it
weighed the same as the original contents (12 oz) - at least by my cheap
kitchen scale. (The package did bulge just a little.) I glued the box shut
and sent it in a small box along with some padded envelopes, a couple of Pay
Day candy bars and copies of pictures for our missionary. I put bubble wrap
inside to keep everything well packed. Postage was a little over $13 and I
marked the Customs Declaration as "missionary supplies -- mac & cheese."
(I didn't send the camera manual or anything that might call attention to
the camera in the box.)
Joel got the package just fine and said the packing was ingenious. He mentioned
that he would have had to pay around $200 for it if I hadn't sent it that way -
not sure if he meant buying a camera there on his own or if he would have been
assessed fees for receiving valuables sent through the mail.
I should mention that I prayed every day that the camera would arrive to him
safely and not get "lost in the mail" or confiscated.
Hope this helps someone out there.
Jeanne
MM of Elder
Uruguay Montevideo 11/05 - 11/07
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Note 8: Postage Mail Pouch
| It does not help to send U.S. stamps to a foreign country. The missionaries
have to buy postage there when using the postal system. If they use the pouch
system they do not need postage. The letters go into a pouch and do not enter
the postal system until they arrive in Salt Lake City. I have heard that some
missionaries think that the mail is faster if they do not use pouch (ie.
Brazil) so they use regular mail and must pay for the postage. Only letters
are allowed in the pouch and they will return them if you put anything else in
with your letter (this is for customs)
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Note 9: Postage and Pouch Mail
| I asked Neil about pouch mail in Romania. the missionaries didn't pay
postage--the church did. But in Ty's mission in Mexico we have to send
stamps. I guess it just depends on the mission.
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Note 10: Pouch Mail
| I called the Missionary department to clear up these questions about the
pouch. What I was told is that missionaries are encouraged to bring with them
and use appropriate postage. In the event that they do not affix appropriate
postage (the price of stamps went up, they ran out of stamps) the church will
take care of it and make sure you get the letter.
I'm not to sure why some missions make a point of telling the elders to bring
stamps and others don't. But regardless if a stamp or sufficient stamps aren't
affixed you get it anyway.
It seems to me that if you have the means to provide appropriate postage
(imagine 33 cents times however many Elders are on the pouch-- a hefty sum for
the church) it would be well to do so. If you haven't been told to provide
stamps make it a matter of prayer. Obviously any less demand on the missionary
funds for stamps frees up money to be used for other missionary needs.
Bottom line is we still get our missionary mail!!!!!
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Note 11: Saving Emails
| I have copied my sons emails on a special designed paper. I put email from
his sister, father, myself, on plain colored paper. I have made a calendar
with each transfer noted, names of his compaions, where they are from. Then
I place each email between the pages of the calendar according to transfer
dates so when he gets home, he'll have a chronological history based on area.
I also have a map that I print of each area in BAN he has served. I have
saved each map and can type in each location. I've enlarged each map so
we have been able to track his moves. A large wall map would not fit a photo
album. Then I've copied his pictures, the few we get from each area and search
the internet for additional pictures of each area.
So far we have a really great looking missionary album.
I bought two of the same type of album that have a slot in the cover for a
picture. I made a label for each so we know which book represents which year
of his mission.
Mary,
MM to Elder in Buenos Aires (Argentina) North Mission
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Note 12: Scrapbook Ideas
| Save the pink missionary tags from the temple. Since we have 5
boys, and my husband is their escort, we saved the escort tags from when
Neil went, and we used the same tags for our second son. On the back we
wrote the son's name and the date he went through the temple. We'd like
to continue with each of our sons as they go through the temple.
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Note 13: Scrapbooks
| I have been keeping my sons scrapbook up to date since he left in July. I
find I have just loved it and it has made me feel very close to him. I took
it to the airport when he left for Atlanta and he was thrilled with it so far.
If you need an idea for a beginning page, I put CALLED TO SERVE in gold
letters shadowed with black and his picture we had taken for the plaques they
have in our ward. Then at the bottom of the page I put his favorite
scripture. It made a very striking page.
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