Here's the thing...you've got to write letters to get letters. People are great to send a letter to your missionary occasionally but if they never hear back, then the writing slows down and they just don't think about it any more. It's a rare person who writes letters expecting nothing in return. Our lives are BUSY!!
I had a goal while serving my mission to reply to each letter that I received. I did it! It was hard, but I did it. I remember many a p-day when I would pump out 14 letters. My handwriting has never been the same. I used to get a blister on the callus of my writing finger. Seriously!
When Mason was on his mission I realized that most missionaries just don't have the time to reply in long letters. Maybe it's a 'girl thing' but he just couldn't do it. He would write, but it was taking him forever to get caught up and he was getting stressed and missionaries NEED mail and they DON'T need more stress. It occurred to me that many of us (mom's and dad's NOT included) don't really need a LONG letter. They just need something...
"Thanks so much for your letter!
It's wonderful to hear from people at home.
Things are great here! I love missionary work.
Stay strong and keep the faith...
Love,
Elder Brown
Doesn't take much to keep a niece or nephew, aunt or uncle, or ward member happy but all will be thrilled to receive anything in return. Every missionary, no matter how busy, has time to jot a few lines. Postcards keep things nice and tidy and short and simple AND the postage is less. Winner, winner chicken dinner!
For the Elders...
...and for the Sisters.
When Mason was serving in Ohio I was able to go through some of his photos and have them made into postcards (see that post here) but Matt wasn't as...creative?...with his photos and I just couldn't find anything that would translate into a good postcard so I searched the internet for free photos that were applicable and went to work on Photoshop. I came up with four styles for the Elders and four for the Sisters. Had them printed (front and back) at Alphagraphics (love that place!) on a heavy cardstock that is glossy on one side (for the photo or picture) and matte on the other (for writing). Tied them up with ribbon and sent them on their merry little way with some postcard stamps. I even had his mission address printed at the top for the return address. All Matt's mail had to go through the mission home anyway and that way I didn't have to worry if he was transferred.
Printing Tip: If you just copy these files on 8.5x11 paper you will have a .25 inch white border around the entire edge of the paper as the copy machines are not designed to print right to the edge of the paper. You could have them shrink down the file (for the front and back) so that the entire post card prints...or...you could have them print on larger paper and print two copies on each page. This is the option that I usually do as I am always sending more than four post cards in my package. Print the 'back' of the post card onto the back side of the front image and cut out.
Here's the postcards for the Elders:
click here to download the Elder post cards (fronts)
click here to download the Elder post cards (backs)
...and for the Sisters:
click here to download the Sister post cards (fronts)
click here to download the Sister post cards (backs)
And just so 'ya know: Here's what the back of the post card looks like...
I wrote and included this sappy little poem to use as a package topper...
(with the help of my good friend, Tonya)
For the Elders:
you can download the poem by clicking here
For the Sisters:
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