Cleaning up old records

[Shanelawrence]

Is there a way to take old records in your unit of members who moved away and didn’t leave a forwarding address or didn’t have a new unit request the records, and tag them as a stale record or “no longer lives here”? Basically so the missionaries know who actually lives in an apartment that may have 3 different families attached to it?

[jdlessley]

When a membership record or household address is unknown, the procedure is to use LCR > Membership > Move Records Out, or use the mobile app Member Tools > Manage Records tile (or Move Records tile) > Move Records In and Out > Out. This will move the record(s) to the LCR > Reports > Finding Lost Members report. There is no corresponding report in Member Tools yet. The information banner at the top of the report states:

The members shown in this list are not counted as members of the ward and will not be included in any member list, report, or any statistical report.

When a member moves out and a new address is not provided, please follow each of the steps below to obtain the member's new address. The Church needs your help locating these individuals that were last known to be in your unit. Please do the following before moving the records back to Church Headquarters:

Seek to communicate using phone, email, social media channels, or other resources available to your area/community.
Contact known family or friends of the member.
Contact the occupant of the member's last known address.
Obtain the Bishop's approval to return records to Church Headquarters.

The Finding Lost Members report is a tool used as part of the ministering program and under the direction of the Elders Quorum and Relief Society. The ward council reviews the report regularly in coordinating the finding effort. There is a hidden menu link (ellipsis icon) to the right of each member on the Finding Lost Members report. The first item, 'View Member Information', provides additional information not provided for the member on the list of members. Unfortunately it does not include household, family, or previous unit information found in a membership record. That information is lost. The next three menu items are 'Move to Other Unit', 'Member Found In My Unit', 'Cannot Find Member'. The 'Cannot Find Member' action will send the record to Church headquarters 'Address Unknown'.

Missionaries do not have access to the report and there is no print function for the report. That makes sharing and coordinating with missionaries more work for the EQ, RS, or ward council.