Unable to Assign YW Sisters to be Ministered to

[walyssaa]

I am Stake RS Secretary and a Relief Society President reached out with a tech concern that I don't know how to help with. She says, "When I am populating the ministering sisters assignments some of the sisters serving in Young Women's callings don't show up. About 1/2 do and 1/2 don't. All the names show up to be assigned to be ministers, but not to be ministered to. This has been the case for the last 2 years, so I just write them in, but that is not the best solution. I did talk to the last ward clerk who tried, but couldn't figure it out." I am posting here on her behalf, as she says she isn't very tech savvy. Thanks!

[rmrichesjr]

If I were debugging a piece of software with those reported or observed symptoms, one of the first things I would ask is whether sisters who do NOT have YW-related callings are showing up closer to 100% or closer to the same percentage as those who DO have YW-related callings. If the percentages were drastically different, one of the first things I would look for is a possible bug that treats having a YW-related CALLING the same as being in a YW class and/or being younger than age 18. The symptom that half show up and half don't could mean there is another variable involved, in addition to the age or class question.

Just one personal idea, but here are a couple of suggestions that come to mind: 1) Find out how many wards in your stake see the issue--by asking ward RS president and/or secretary to look for the issue; 2) Inform the stake clerk as to whether all wards, only one, or in between are affected; 3) Have the stake clerk call the GSD with a report of a suspected bug.

[russellhltn]

In problems like this, I first look to the Handbook. What ages are involved? According to the Handbook, YW can be assigned to minister, but only "adult women" can be ministered to.

This seems like a bit of an oddity as it's possible that you have 18 year olds YM and 17 year olds in Relief Society. But that's what I'm reading.

[rmrichesjr]

I had understood from the original post that the difficulty related to

... some of the sisters serving in Young Women's callings ...

and not with YW younger than 18.

[russellhltn]

I had understood from the original post that the difficulty related to

... some of the sisters serving in Young Women's callings ...

and not with YW younger than 18.

True, but if that were the case, I think we'd see a number of posts on this. If we're dealing with very young sisters, this would explain it.

I always try to listen to the complaint, but I am on the lookout for a fact pattern that may be similar.

The other possibility is that they may have been moved into the YW organization and are no longer RS members. But I'd doubt that would be possible once they reach 19.

[BrianEdwards]

Can you see the same thing when going into "Ministering => Relief Society => Proposed Assignments", and then selecting the "Unassigned" tab? (I assume the sisters in question are not currently assigned in a companionship). If so, this is an easy way for others to check if they see the same thing. Have another RS Presidency member (or the Clerk or Bishopric should also have access) check what they see when they look at this list via their own church account. It likely will be the same as what you see, but it's a relatively straightforward way to make sure it's not just somehow specific to your account.

Otherwise, you could also have another leader with access, replicate your steps of trying to populate an assignment, and verify they also do not see the sisters in question.