The countdown has already started...

... and we are down to 8 Days before Scott reports to the MTC in Provo, Utah where he will be trained to become an instrument in the Lord's hands for the people in the Iloilo City Mission in the Philippines.

Amazing.

We are making this blog as an easy way to see what we've heard from Scott, and to find ways to contact him! If you want to leave a comment, I will be sure to send them to Scott in a letter!

Right away, I want you all to know about DearElder.com -- this is a wonderful, FREE service that is offered to help us keep in touch with our missionary friends! Simply go to http://dearelder.com, and select "Write a Letter". You will need to open an account. Then it will prompt you to select the mission you are writing to, and at FIRST you want to write to the "Provo MTC" (where he will train for 9 weeks). You will then fill out a virtual envelope, so enter your information in the top left corner, and then for Scott's information you'll enter:

Elder Scott Lowry
MTC Box #: (actually, we don't have this yet) Mission code: (don't have this yet) Estimated MTC Departure Date: November

Then scroll down and you'll see a blank box, and that's where you can write your letter to Scott! You can even do a spell-check when you're done, and then you hit "Send Letter" and there you go! They print the letter for you and deliver it to his mailbox THAT DAY if sent before 12pm MST, or the NEXT DAY if after that time. It's the fastest and cheapest way to contact Scott and at least for me, it's also the easiest! So I hope a few of you will take advantage of that wonderful service!

To missionaries, mail is like candy. It's like Christmas morning every time they open their mailbox and find letters from loved ones! And with something as easy as DearElder.com you can even just drop him a one line, "Hey, how's it going? Just want you to know I'm thinking of you today. Rock it today dude!" and let him know you're thinking of him!

So anyways. There's that. We'll get you his MTC address and box number as soon as we get that! Now, because his mission is so far, he is in what is called a POUCH mission. That just means that you do not write to his physical address, but to an address in Salt Lake City, UT where they will send a pouch of all the letters for missionaries in, let's say, Scott's mission that they have recieved. They do this only because the mail system in that part of the world is not reliable. They do not read your mail or infringe upon your privacy in any way. It's just the safest, most reliable way to do this!

DearElder.com offers a free mail delivery service called "pouch mail" for letters to missionaries serving in countries where regular mail services are not reliable. Every week, they send one packet of letters to each pouch mission office, with the goal of more successful, timely letter delivery.
Pouch mail is sent out every Monday, but letters must be submitted by midnight on Sundays (technically 12am on Monday) to be included in that batch.
We print the pouch letters that you write through our site for free, and send them weekly to the Church's pouch mail department. They, then, are responsible for sending the letters to your missionary.
This service is for letters only, and does not apply to packages.

Scott's POUCH address is this:

Elder Scott Lowry
Philippines Iloilo Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City UT
84130-0150
(This is the address you will use after his 9 weeks in the MTC- we'll keep you posted!)

So there you have it. It's even free to write to him the whole 2 years through Dear Elder.com! Get ready to support our missionary! We are so proud of him and can't wait to share all the neat pictures and stories and experiences he'll have in the Philippines!

Much love.