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Web mail services help missionary correspondence
by Tammy Walquist
Scroll Staff
For anyone with a missionary in the field, several ways of keeping in contact are available.
Many Web sites have been created to enable users to send e-mail to missionaries. These sites include missionmail.org, dearelder.com, called2serve.com and pouchmail.com
The purpose of these sites is to speed up the communication between missionaries and those at home.
“The main point [of the site] was to help missionaries get mail faster,” Marci Stringham, manager of missionmail.org, said. “Missions such as Germany, for example, get mail regularly, while missions such as the Philippines can take up to six weeks to get mail.”
Each of the sites charge fees for their services except dearelder.com, which asks for a donation.
Dearelder.com sends mail to the Provo MTC with a guarantee that the letter will arrive the same day. This will cost users 34 cents per letter. Missionmail.org charges $5 per month for service plus 25 cents per letter, and pouchmail.com charges $8 a month. However, missionmail.com does allow visitors to send a free letter to find out if they like the service or not, Stringham said.
In using pouchmail.com, the user logs on and types his or her letter. It is then stored in the service’s database. Representatives from the company will print it out and put it in an envelope that is then stapled shut. The letter is kept private. It is taken to the Church Office Building mailroom where it is delivered to the correct pouch for the mission, according to www.pouchmail.com.
The mail sent to missionaries is still delivered through the Church’s pouch service. However, the e-mail system eliminates the extra time for the letter to reach Salt Lake City.
Called2serve.com differs from the other sites. Instead of being a service to send letters to missionaries, it is an online store. Family and friends can send their missionary packages, cookies, healthy snacks or even health-care products.
Both family members and friends use these sites.
“We’ve had a lot of mothers use this site, but we have had a few girlfriends, some dads and grandparents,” Stringham said.
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