Full-Time Missionaries

[mgcooper]

But do we count them in attendance when counting sacrament attendance? We went back and forth on this last year, and I never got a comfort level. We currently do NOT count them as present at Church, but I could justify it from either side.

I would say do not count them for sacrament meeting attendance purposes. Only the individual who physically attends the Sacrament meeting is counted. That count is a simple headcount and is not connected to any member's name. Full time missionaries are counted for Sacrament meeting in the unit they are attending while in the field serving, This makes sense, as we count visitors, members or non members, they are just bodies for the purpose of the report.
However, PH attendance would be counted in the home ward, as they are not counted in the field, since the membership record is still in the home unit.
The same principle applies to those who are assigned out of the unit, ie. Stake callings, temple and mission presidents. They are not counted for Sacrament attendance of the home unit if they are not physically in the meeting. They will be counted in the unit where they attend. Again, they should be counted for PH purposes in their home unit.

[znauga]

Ditto for us.

We have gone back and forth about counting them in the attendance metrics (Sacrament & Priesthood) as it seems to skew the results.

I believe this is the correct information:

The records of full-time missionaries remain in their home wards, and so you are going to see them on lists. The important things to remember are that full-time missionaries should be:

1. Marked as full-tithe payers at tithing settlement.
2. Marked as attending priesthood.
3. Marked as being home-taught each month.

Attendance at sacrament meeting is counted where you attend that meeting. Missionaries are counted in the ward/branch where they attend.

znauga