This is a personal laptop not used for business. Never realized it was not
available for a standalone machine. I see I can address this with rules. I
am at the place where I must select a 'template". I assume the template can
be a word document but would like some advice/guidance on my options.
No, it cannot be a Word document, it has to be a message template
(oft-file).
You can create one by creating a new message and then choose Office Logo->
Save As... to save the message as an oft-file somewhere on your system.