Dear
Missionary Families,
We know that
missionaries love to receive emails, letters and packages from home. We realize how important it is for
missionaries to feel loved and remembered.
To help avoid problems in this regard, we have the following recommendations
for your consideration:
1.
Place “Gift Money” on your missionary´s
personal credit or debit card. This is the easiest and safest way to
give your missionary a gift for Christmas, his or her birthday or any other
occasion. There is no postage charge, no
customs fee and no risk of a package being lost or arriving late. Many missionaries have told us how much they
enjoy being given money to buy a gift for themselves while here in Argentina. We
strongly urge you to consider this safe, inexpensive and convenient option
instead of mailing a package to your missionary.
2.
Letters and Small Padded Envelopes. If you send letters, cards or small padded envelopes to your
missionary, it is best to send it to the mission office at the address
below. It normally requires two or three
weeks for letters, cards or small padded envelopes to arrive in Argentina. It may take an additional two weeks to be
delivered to the missionary´s area of service.
Letters and small padded envelopes are not usually required to be
screened through customs.
3.
Large Padded Envelopes and other
Packages. Please keep in mind that you are
required to make an honest declaration of the total value of the package you
are sending. We suggest that you include
a purchase receipt of the items in the package, if possible. If those at the customs office don’t have a
receipt, they will decide the value of the contents of the package. The price
they decide is often much higher than what was paid for the contents of the
package. Once your package arrives in
Argentina, it is inspected and an import fee of 50% of the total value,
declared in U.S. dollars, is charged.
Also many items are subject to special customs fees, but it is hard to
predict if additional customs fees will be charged and if so, how much will be
charged. Sometimes customs fees can be very high. Your missionary is required to personally pay
the customs fees charged upon delivery of the package here in Argentina, plus a
small mailing fee. For example, a
missionary recently was required to pay a custom fee of about $20 on a box of
assorted seasonal candies plus the mailing fee for a package sent from
home. In addition to the customs fees
and the charges to missionaries, the import restrictions are frequently
changing. We have recently been informed
by customs officials that all medications, vitamins, food supplements, seeds
(of any type, including roasted sun flower seeds), and used electronic items
will not be allowed into the country. In
addition, new items carry a much higher value here in Argentina than when
purchased in the United States. This is
especially true of electronic items. One of the reasons we encourage you to
consider putting money on your missionary’s personal credit or debit card is
that it avoids any potential problems with customs fees. If, in spite of these challenges, you
decide to send your missionary a package or a large padded envelope, it must be
sent to the mission office. Be careful
not to send perishable items. All
packages sent to the mission office will be delivered to your missionary as
soon as reasonable possible, but delivery might take a considerable amount of
time because our mission is one of the largest geographic mission currently in
the Church. Packages or mail sent to the
mission office should be addressed as follows:
Elder or Sister Full
Name of Missionary
Misión Argentina Neuquén
Zapla N 24 – Casilla de Correo 321
8300 Neuquén
Neuquén Argentina
Zapla N 24 – Casilla de Correo 321
8300 Neuquén
Neuquén Argentina
Thank you so
much for considering these guidelines.
Please share these guidelines with family and friends who might be
sending letters or packages to your missionary.
We love your
missionaries and are so grateful for the privilege of working with them.
Best
personal regards,
President
and Sister Paul R. Lovell
Argentina
Neuquén Mission
My daughter is scheduled to go into the MTC at Provo April 29th. We are interested in ANYTHING you can tell us about the area.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Gloria Smith
How exciting that her call is to the "Greatest mission in the world"! What specifically would you like to know about the mission?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to the "Greatest mission in the world" and i'm super excited..I report to the Provo mtc on June 5th, but what I wanted to ask is about the whole letter/packages/emailing ordeal. As far as emailing..do we receive emails? Can we just email our immediate family or can we as well reply to other friends and family? I know the receiving things through the mail is risky and can take a while, so I just wanted to get an idea of what my options were and what other missionaries do.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Jennsine
That is a good question. Yes...you will be able to receive e-mails on your myldsmail.net account. In the missionary handbook that you will receive it says:
Delete“E-Mail. You may communicate with your family (we interpret this as parents and siblings whether they are still living with your parents or are married) and mission president by e-mail, according to approved guidelines.”
Your friends are welcome to write through regular mail or through “Dear Elder”.
As far as receiving things that are mailed…we feel that we receive everything that is sent by mail.
Elder and Sister Ehmke go to the post office every week and are standing right there when the packages are opened for inspection. The only things we have had problems with are those items outlines in the post under “Letters and Packages”.
This is a good question. I will also include this in "Information for New Missionaries".
Sister Lovell,
DeleteI've heard rumors that the e-mail policy has changed church wide and that missionaries can now send and receive e-mails from friends, also. This change supposedly took place in the past week or two. Can you confirm this? If it is true, does it mean that missionaries will be allowed additional computer time to respond to these e-mails? We want to make sure we are following the rules to the 'T'
Thank you so much for all you do for the missionaries in your care. As a mom, I am comforted knowing my son is in very good hands :)
Thank you,
Annette Haroldsen
I served in la Gran Mision nequen from 2006-2008. I just found iout today that the mission was split for the new comodor mission. I am curious what the boundaries are for both missions. Any information? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAlex Cahan
Mi hijo Èlder Candia està en su primer sector en la misiòn Neuquèn y està feliz por ello y yo agradecida por el tiempo que dedica a la obra del Señor.
ReplyDeleteIn the mission packet, the physical mailing address is the same as above, but doesn't have the Zapala N 24 part...so we have given it out without it. Does that need to be on it? Not sure how the addresses work in Argentina, but want to make sure our missionary gets the letters that are sent to him. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe mission has the post office mailing address of Correo 321 which must be included for mailing letters and packages. However, the officials at the post office also know us as Zapla 24. I suggest that our mailing address include both pieces of information: our mission office physical address as well as our post office box number.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
ReplyDelete