Letters and packages to the MTC.

Your LDS missionary's MTC mailing address comes from them: they get it by email a few days before they travel, and MTC staff can't give it out. Send letters and packages by US Mail, or by a delivery service such as UPS, FedEx or Amazon, and don't deliver anything yourself. That's the Provo MTC's rule, from its page on communicating with missionaries at the MTC  (opens the Church's page in a new tab).

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Get the address.

This guide follows the Provo MTC's instructions to families. If your missionary trains at another MTC, follow that MTC's instructions instead.

A few days before they travel to the MTC, your missionary gets an email with their full MTC mailing address. Ask them to send it to you, and to anyone else who wants to write. MTC staff can't give it out.

The street address on the MTC's arrival page  (opens the Church's page in a new tab) is for finding the MTC on drop-off day. It isn't the mailing address, so use the one from your missionary's email.

Send it by mail or delivery.

Letters and packages can come by US Mail, or by a delivery service such as UPS, FedEx or Amazon.

Unlike at a home address, Amazon delivers to the MTC only Monday to Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Whatever you send, your missionary may read it whenever they have time during the week, and they reply on P-day, or sooner for a special occasion or an emergency.

When a package reaches them.

Tracking texts and emails aren't always right about when a package actually reaches the MTC.

Once a package is in the MTC's mail room, staff put a notice in your missionary's mailbox, and your missionary takes the notice to the mail room's window to pick it up. So a package can read "delivered" before your missionary has it.

The mail room handles a lot of mail, and the MTC says delays are common. A package timed to arrive just in time may not reach your missionary in time, so for a birthday or another day that matters, send it early.

What not to send.

The mail room has no refrigerator, and a package may sit there a while before it's picked up. So the MTC doesn't accept:

  • anything that needs refrigeration, refrigerated juice included
  • fast food of any kind, pizza included
  • ice cream, smoothies and other frozen or cold treats
  • ice packs, hot packs, coolers and foam containers
  • dairy, such as cheese, whipped cream or cream cheese
  • cream desserts, such as cheesecake or cream pies
  • fresh condiments, such as freezer jam, guacamole or fresh salsa
  • cooked or raw meat and seafood, sushi included
  • fresh fruit and vegetables
  • matches, lighters and fireworks

Some things are fine: jerky, shelf-stable juice from the juice aisle, and condiments that are commercially packaged and shelf-stable.

Perishable food often arrives leaking or smelling, and the MTC then has to throw it away. The full list is on the MTC's package guidelines  (opens the Church's page in a new tab).

Nothing by hand.

Don't deliver anything to your missionary yourself: not at the security booth, during temple visits or gym time, or over the fence.

Food delivery apps such as DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats are turned away at the security booth too, because they deliver only to the person.

For a local, same-day delivery, use one of the services the MTC approves. They're listed on its page about communicating with missionaries  (opens the Church's page in a new tab).

The MTC also asks families not to visit, even as missionaries leave. The MTC, from a parent's side covers that and drop-off day.

After the MTC.

The MTC's pages don't say what happens to mail that reaches the MTC after your missionary has left for the field. Ask your missionary when they're scheduled to leave, and send with time to spare.

In the field, some missions have families send mail and packages to the mission office, to help prevent theft and mail lost when missionaries are transferred. Ask your missionary which address to use.