How can I link the data in the database to a word document and for it to know what to write in the letter based on what information had been requested.

Hi Sally, Thank you for your question, in answer I can only surmise that you are looking for some sort of mail merge operation, if you wish to use the data fields in Word, you will need to undertake this route.
There are a number of solutions in Word that you can investigate, for example; if you go to the menu command Insert>Field and Select Mail Merge, you will find options that will allow you to insert individual fields into your document at specific points, of course this is very dependant on your requirements and like all mail merge operations will apply data that you filter and/or sort. I hope that sets you on the way to finding your solution, best regards Pete.