Letters & Packages

Editor's Note April 15, 2014: The following is a request from President Thurgood, Hermana Newman's leader in Argentina. He is asking us to no longer send packages. For information on where to send letters, continue down the page.

"Due to the constraints imposed by the government of Argentina for imports, we are having trouble receiving packages from other countries. Because of these constraints, we recommend that the next time missionaries communicate with their families via email, that they ask them to not send any more packages.

"If packages are sent, they will probably remain in customs and never reach their destination.

"We want to clarify that there is no malice in this, but removing these packages from customs is a costly process for the Church and can be avoided, if appropriate measures are taken."

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Missionaries love letters, and I hope you write me as many as you can. This page will help you understand what you can send, and where you can send it.

The first thing to understand is that I will not have much time to write back to you. Missionaries have one day per week, called Preparation Day, that we get to write or send e-mail back home. Most of that will be spent sending a letter to my beloved mother and father, who will, in turn, get someone a bit more technologically advanced than them to post it on here so everyone can read it.

I only get 30 minutes on the internet, which means I do not have time to read everyone's letters, if you send them to me via e-mail. It would be much better to write me a regular letter so I can use that 30 minutes to write a big e-mail to everyone back home.

Just because I don't write you back doesn't mean I don't enjoy the letters or that I'm not thinking of you. Please be patient and keep the letters coming — you never know when I'm going to need something you say, or something that happened in your life, to inspire me and keep me motivated to hard times.

Letters telling me about what things are going on in the world are fine, but I'm more interested in what is happening with YOU. Your life might not seem so glamorous, but since I don't get to hear about anything from the outside world, the smallest things are interesting.

And PLEASE let me know how you are doing spiritually — what new insight to the gospel did you learn this week? How was church? Did some experience really give you a testimony of something? Are you dying to share a scripture that just hit you like a ton of bricks? I'll want those, and need those.

You're more than welcome to send "snail mail": in fact, sending something like that shows me the love and effort you had to write and send it to me. One option is to write me a letter on DearElder.com. It's free to send to Argentina, but it will take a lot longer to get to me because it is Pouch Mail (see instructions on that below).

• Go to www.dearelder.com
• Select "Argentina Buenos Aires South" on the drop-down bar right next to the elder, once I'm in Argentina.
• Click "Write letter", and off you go.

When I get to Buenos Aires, I'll figure out how the mailing system works. In some missions, you mail it all to the mission office, where it gets forwarded from there. In others, the mission office doesn't forward, so you get mail sporadically, and it's best to send it to my apartment. But for now, here's the mission office address

LETTERS:
Sister Sara L. Newman
Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission
Quintana 447
1846 Adrogué
Buenos Aires, Argentina

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SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE BUENOS AIRES SOUTH MISSION OFFICE: 

Receiving Packages

Argentine customs holds any package that looks valuable or weighs over 2 kilos (about 4 lbs.).   Our registrador will go into the city from time to time to retrieve these packages and pay the fees required for holding.  These fees can be extreme.  All mail fees must be paid by the missionary, and it sometimes requires a trip to the airport for the missionary to pick them up which is a whole day out of missionary work.

Warn family members to send packages that weigh 4 lbs or less.  These packages are sent directly to the office with no fees.  Also, they should be wrapped in plain brown paper without a declaration of value or insurance stamps on the outside.  Argentine customs will tax and hold even small packages that appear to be valuable or that contain any type of medication.  A sticker of a picture of Christ on the outside will usually guarantee safe delivery.

Do not use a private carrier such as Fed Ex.  Delivery is good but the customs fees, which must be paid by the missionary, can be $75 to $100 or more.

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Pouch Mail instruction: Postcards or 1-page correspondence, written on one side only. No envelopes, notebook paper or other lightweight paper will not work. No photographs. Items that do not comply will be returned to the sender, or discarded.

Letter folding instructions:
Lay the blank side down. Fold the bottom of the letter about one-third of the way up the page and crease. Fold the top of the letter to the bottom of the first fold and crease. Secure the long side with two pieces of tape about one inch in from each end, but do not seal the ends. In the top left corner write your name and complete the return address. Affix first class postage in the top right corner. In the middle write the missionary address as follows:

Sister Sara L. Newman
Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

*** You may also send me POUCH Mail for free on DearElder as well. 


*please know that the mail in South America is slower than the United States, so please don't be sad if it takes a while.