The MTC, from a parent's side.
On drop-off day, your LDS missionary arrives at the Provo MTC at their scheduled time, usually between 1 and 2 p.m., and only one car per family can drive in. Have the farewell before you arrive, and keep the goodbye at the MTC short. After that, your missionary can write home once a week, on their preparation day (P-day).
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Before drop-off.
This guide follows the Provo MTC's instructions to families. If your missionary trains at another MTC, follow that MTC's instructions instead.
Most missionaries start at home, with one or two weeks of online MTC training before they arrive. A few do all of their training at the MTC, because of their assignment.
For the setting apart and how those weeks at home work, read set apart, then the home MTC.
Their arrival time shows up during that online training and is updated weekly. A more exact time is posted on the MTC's arrival page (opens the Church's page in a new tab) about a week before. Arriving at the scheduled time matters.
If they have to fly in early to make that time, they may arrive the day before. If they take the shuttle from the airport, they should come straight from the flight rather than wait for their arrival time.
A few days before they travel, your missionary gets an email with their full MTC mailing address. Ask them for it: MTC staff can't give it out.
Drop-off day.
Only one vehicle per missionary family can enter the MTC grounds. It carries your missionary, their luggage and a few members of the immediate family. Other family and friends can't drive in or walk onto the campus.
Have the farewell with family and friends before you arrive. The MTC asks families to keep the goodbye short, so it can welcome every new missionary arriving that day.
Tall vehicles, such as RVs, can't enter the drop-off area. For directions, use the street address on the arrival page, which isn't the mailing address. If you'll be late, the arrival page has a number to call.
A day at the MTC.
The Church describes a full day: up at 6:30 a.m. and in bed by 10:30 p.m., with roughly six hours of classes in two sessions.
Around the classes, your missionary and their companion plan their own personal study, study together, exercise and language study. They practice teaching, do service projects, go to the temple each week where they can, and attend church and devotionals.
They're taught in a small group of missionaries called a district, usually by instructors who teach only that group.
When you'll hear from them.
At the MTC, missionaries write home on their weekly P-day, by letter, email, online message, or audio or video chat. P-day at the MTC ends at 6:00 p.m.
P-day comes once a week, so the first days after drop-off can be quiet.
You can write any day. Your missionary may read what you send whenever they have time, and they reply on P-day, or sooner for a special occasion or an emergency.
For the weekly rhythm once they're in the field, read how your missionary writes home.
Letters and packages.
Send letters and packages by US Mail, or by a delivery service such as UPS, FedEx or Amazon. Amazon delivers to the MTC only Monday to Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and shipping notices aren't always right about when a package actually reaches the MTC.
Don't deliver anything yourself: not at the security booth, during temple visits or gym time, or over the fence. And send no perishable food, such as fast food or anything that needs a fridge.
For the mailing address, how a package reaches your missionary and the MTC's full list of what not to send, read letters and packages to the MTC.
No visits, even at the airport.
Family and friends are asked not to visit missionaries at the MTC, during temple visits, or anywhere near the MTC. That includes the day they leave: not on the bus or train, and not at the airport.
How long they'll be there.
The MTC's pages don't give one length for a stay. Ask your missionary when they're scheduled to leave for the field.
Over Christmas, a stay may run a week longer: no missionaries travel to or from the Provo MTC during one holiday week.
Where this comes from.
This guide follows the Provo MTC's and the Church's own pages, checked in November 2026. If anything here has changed, follow their page.
- Provo MTC: Arrival Information (opens the Church's page in a new tab)
- Provo MTC: Communicating with Missionaries at the MTC (opens the Church's page in a new tab)
- Provo MTC: At-Home MTC Training FAQ (opens the Church's page in a new tab)
- Provo MTC: On-Site Training FAQ (opens the Church's page in a new tab)
- For the Strength of Youth, July 2026: What to Expect at the MTC (opens the Church's page in a new tab)
Have the email list ready for the first P-day.
With the Pro Email List, friends and family can join with a link or QR code before drop-off, so your missionary's first email from the MTC can reach all of them. Each letter sent through the list is saved, ready to become a book when they're home.
See how the Pro Email List works