Tech Forum

I am the stake clerk. I just received a call from a senior missionary having troubles getting access to maps on lds.org for the ward he is assigned to. I told him that I would work with the ward clerk to get him set up as an out-of-unit member. He told me that they already tried that and that both a pop up message in MLS and either local unit support or the missionary department (he wasn't very clear on this) said that the stake clerk must input something into MLS. I have never heard anything like this before. Am I missing something?

Under the classic LUWS system, the stake could input out-of-unit members.
The only other thing I can think of is if the stake assigns them a calling, but I'm not sure what what would be.

Playing with my test MLS, I see the stake can input out-of-unit members. Perhaps that's what they're talking about?

I saw this post yesterday about obtaining access to Directory for a senior couple serving in a ward/branch. Although you're referring to LDS Maps, I think the cause is related. Missionaries, as far as I'm aware, typically don't have access to this information electronically. I'm curious to know if adding them as out-of-unit members (in the stake MLS system) worked for you. Can you let me know? Thanks!

wertdl wrote:I saw this post yesterday about obtaining access to Directory for a senior couple serving in a ward/branch. Although you're referring to LDS Maps, I think the cause is related. Missionaries, as far as I'm aware, typically don't have access to this information electronically. I'm curious to know if adding them as out-of-unit members (in the stake MLS system) worked for you. Can you let me know? Thanks!

Adding them as an out of unit member wouldn't do any good (other than allowing a position). They have to have a position in the ward/stake to have the out of unit access.

JonesRK wrote:They have to have a position in the ward/stake to have the out of unit access.

Any position, or just some position, such as a custom one?

RussellHltn wrote:Any position, or just some position, such as a custom one?

A custom one will not work. I think any other one will. We did some testing here for the Salt Lake inner city mission project and they are adding their service missionaries as employment specialists in the wards they serve. It has given them access to the online tools, at least the ones that support out of unit positions.

Hello,
I know this is perhaps a dated thread, but I am a Ward Mission Leader and an struggling to coordinate the work of 3 sets of missionaries in a large ward area. I had thought some time back that the missionaries (who are somehow automatically listed in our online ward directory) also have access to the ward directory online AND more importantly the map showing all the ward members. I learned today this is not the case. Do they still need to be added as an 'out of unit' person to get access? Does this work? Why is this the case? They NEED to access this map. Our missionaries have iPads, but can't use this tech effectively if there is no way for them to see the info that will help them. -Kent

kew33 wrote:I had thought some time back that the missionaries (who are somehow automatically listed in our online ward directory) also have access to the ward directory online AND more importantly the map showing all the ward members.

The only LDS.org tool that I know missionaries have access to for their service ward is the Directory. They may also have access to the Calendar, but I am not certain. It is the area mission office's responsibility to update their software for this to happen.

kew33 wrote:Do they still need to be added as an 'out of unit' person to get access? Does this work?

Not only must an out of unit record be created but a calling with a standard position must be given.

This thread has been discussing senior missionary access. Senior missionaries generally serve longer in an ward than do the younger missionaries. The turnover of younger missionaries makes the use of out of unit membership records and callings quite impractical and a daunting task for clerks to keep up to date.

Note that not all the LDS.org tools currently provide multiple unit support like the Directory. Further programming is needed for all the tools to have that capability.

The use of mobile technology for missionaries is still being tested. Those who have mobile devices are part of the test. As such there may be capabilities that are not currently available. Further development may be needed. In this case I recommend you, as well as the missionaries you are working with, provide feedback through the mission office about this need. The developers may well be working on it now. But it doesn't hurt to provide feedback to add development capabilities not yet fielded for the missionaries.

kew33 wrote:They NEED to access this map. Our missionaries have iPads, but can't use this tech effectively if there is no way for them to see the info that will help them.

The church development department is quite small. I'm sure they're working on things as quickly as they can.

Note that the Mission President probably has better access to those who make the decisions than anyone in this forum.