Last week I finished the Christmas gift package for my daughter serving a mission in Chile. Following the tradition of her brothers, each gift had a scripture attached that correlated with the gift. This sister missionary Christmas package had a more feminine touch, but was fun to put together.
A few tips:
Keep the boxes under 4 lbs. so there are no problems with customs fees.
Use a postal scale at home before you get to the post office so you don’t have any surprises.
Choose gift items that are lightweight. Candy weighs a lot, so if I bought a pound of it, I only sent a few ounces of each kind.
Start out with a couple of ideas, but then get imaginative when you get to the store. I had the best luck at Walgreens.
I asked for ideas from my missionary in each letter I wrote her for the past month. Because her birthday is in January, I am saving some of the ideas for then.
It’s best to send things that can be eaten or worn. Missionaries don’t have much storage space. Especially these days with four of them in a room. I sent a few inexpensive Christmas decorations, but know they will be left behind in the apartment on transfer day.
Search for a correlating scripture using this online LDS Search The Scriptures link. That part was fun! You can get pretty creative.
Remove all cardboard and plastic wrap to help reduce weight for shipping.
This year I used clear plastic bags with toppers I printed (see below). But I did warn my missionary that she would see her gifts if she opened the box too much.
Remember a gift for her companion.
I packed a few Christmas decorations in the top of one box (I sent two). And also tucked several smaller gifts in a cute purple glitter stocking so she could not see them.
Missionaries like Santa hats, so hers has glitter. Thanks, Walgreens!
I found the cute Minion Whhhhaaa t-shirt in the men’s department at Walmart.
