How to Write a Letter to your Missionary

The easiest and least expensive way to send a letter to a missionary, if you are in the United States of America, is to use "the pouch." The Church has this thing called "The Pouch." They send a package of stuff to each mission in the church every week. They will enclose your letters in that package if you mail them to the missionary department in Salt Lake City. I think they want to keep those packages as light weight as possible, so they have asked that our letters not have enclosures or envelopes.  Just one page of paper.  

The paper needs to be heavy and straight enough to function as its own envelope, so not a sheet ripped out of a notebook:

Write it just like you would a regular letter: 

If you want to include pictures, they must be drawn or copied directly on to your one sheet of paper.  
 
Fold it once.

Fold it twice.
 
Tape it with one piece of scotch tape.

Turn it over

and write the address on the back.

Make it look like an envelope.  Use one U.S.P.S. first class stamp. 

Put in the mailbox. 

You may also send postcards via the Pouch. 

Any items that do not fall under pouch guidelines may be sent through the USPS or UPS or FedEx. I sent a small package via the USPS the other day and it cost me $22.00. I'm hoping that this will cost a little less.  
 
To do this, you must send it either directly to the missionary (which i wouldn't recommend, since they move ever 5 or 6 weeks) or to the mission home.   
 
Sending it from America is no guarantee that it will get there in one piece. Will told me that it is more likely to arrive unopened if you put a picture of the Virgin Mary somewhere on the outside of the box. I'm not sure how true that is, but it can't hurt, right?  

I bought some cute stickers here.  

Fortunately, they also have the internet in Zimbabwe and the missionaries are allowed to read and write email to their family for an hour on P-day(once a week). This is one of my favorite parts of this century.  

Pouch address:

Elder William Douglas Beadle
Zimbabwe, Harare Mission
POB 30150
SLC, UT 84130-0150

Other letter and Package address:

Elder William Douglas Beadle
Zimbabwe, Harare Mission
65 Enterprise Road
Highlands
Harare
Zimbabwe