Ward missionary category creation

At what point will a missionary-specific sub-category be created under the ward mission account? We have a sister will be leaving for Brazil in May - at what point will her account be created and show up in MLS?

aclawson wrote:At what point will a missionary-specific sub-category be created under the ward mission account? We have a sister will be leaving for Brazil in May - at what point will her account be created and show up in MLS?

If she's leaving in May, I would think it likely that she only recently received her call. The creation of the missionary-specific subcategory happens well before the mission begins, but it does take some processing time after the call is issued. I don't know the precise details, but we've certainly seen these subcategories appear two months before the mission begins, and perhaps even earlier.

She received her call about a month ago - the lead time is a touch longer than normal as she will be MTC'ing at the Brazilian location instead of the Provo one.

aclawson wrote:At what point will a missionary-specific sub-category be created under the ward mission account?

In our experience, if the call letter is dated in the first two weeks of the month, the sub-category usually shows up the following month. If the call is dated later in the month, the sub-category usually shows up two months later.

The sub-account was created but since she is currently in the YSA ward (within the same stake) the sub-account was created there and nobody noticed so I'm not sure when it was created.

This lends to a membership question, I'll post that in the other group.

aclawson wrote:The sub-account was created but since she is currently in the YSA ward (within the same stake) the sub-account was created there and nobody noticed so I'm not sure when it was created.

The financial responsibility for a missionary belongs initially to the ward that submits her missionary application. But when an application is submitted by a YSA ward, the missionary application system has a mechanism for specifying the home ward. If that is done properly, I believe the default financial responsibility goes to the home ward.

But regardless of how this may have been done, the financial responsibility can be transferred to any ward whose bishop is willing to accept it. That transfer of financial responsibility can happen even before membership records may be transferred. The subaccount will then be created in the new responsible ward shortly after the transfer of responsibility happens.

This is a common issue, I carefully watch our YSA branch as many of our mission papers are generated from the branch, but the missionaries are from units in our stake, it's so far 100% the case for me. If we miss it in the paperwork, I make sure and get it transferred to the home ward.

aebrown wrote:...the financial responsibility can be transferred to any ward whose bishop is willing to accept it. That transfer of financial responsibility can happen even before membership records may be transferred. The subaccount will then be created in the new responsible ward shortly after the transfer of responsibility happens.

What is the requirement for accepting financial responsibility before membership records are transferred? How do you know that the family will actually move into your ward? I can think of several examples off the top of my head where a family was all set to move and cancelled at the last second, or found a house in another ward or actually moved to a new ward just to turn around and move back immediately.
Our Bishop received a notification from CHQ that listed a currently serving missionary and that they had

"... received a request to have your unit set up as the unit responsible for the financial support of this missionary. This change will take effect on the effective date shown (08-Dec-2011)"

We have not received any records for this missionary or his family, who show up in the Stake directory as living in another ward in our stake. I don't know if our ward received the notice by mistake, and it should have gone to the ward they are listed as residing in. The letter doesn't say where the support payments have been coming from up until now, so I don't know if they just moved into the other ward in our stake, or if they have been there all along and are planning to move to our ward. At any rate, the effective date was 08-Dec-2011, and his release date is 10-Feb-2011 which is in about a week. Given that it is unlikely that we will receive his records before he is released are we obligated to make his support payments for his last few months of his mission?

funaddict wrote:What is the requirement for accepting financial responsibility before membership records are transferred? How do you know that the family will actually move into your ward? I can think of several examples off the top of my head where a family was all set to move and cancelled at the last second, or found a house in another ward or actually moved to a new ward just to turn around and move back immediately.

The bishops of both wards have to agree to the changeover, and the effective date. Then, someone just has to send an MLS message to LUFS providing the information. If the effective date is in the past, the original ward will be credited any amounts that the Missionary Department has already taken from the Ward Missionary account, and the new ward will see charges for each of those months.

Our Bishop received a notification from CHQ that listed a currently serving missionary and that they had

"... received a request to have your unit set up as the unit responsible for the financial support of this missionary. This change will take effect on the effective date shown (08-Dec-2011)"

We have not received any records for this missionary or his family, who show up in the Stake directory as living in another ward in our stake. I don't know if our ward received the notice by mistake, and it should have gone to the ward they are listed as residing in. The letter doesn't say where the support payments have been coming from up until now, so I don't know if they just moved into the other ward in our stake, or if they have been there all along and are planning to move to our ward. At any rate, the effective date was 08-Dec-2011, and his release date is 10-Feb-2011 which is in about a week. Given that it is unlikely that we will receive his records before he is released are we obligated to make his support payments for his last few months of his mission?

If the bishop wants to refuse responsibility, I'd send a message back to LUFS saying that the bishop doesn't know anything about this missionary, and the change wasn't authorized. Seeing as the financially responsible ward is not necessarily the ward where the parents reside, I think it's a message you should send quickly.

I guess I didn't fully explain: No one in the bishopric nor any of us clerks have ever heard of this missionary or his family. I wouldn't say that "the bishop wants to refuse responsibility", but that he wants a reason why we are being asked to accept financial responsibility before he agrees to the changeover. Since the family does not reside in our ward and the missionary's records are not nor have ever been in our ward, and we are not receiving any donations towards that specific missionary's support, I don't think the bishop is being unreasonable. Perhaps if you give me some reasonable situations where the "financially responsible ward is not necessarily the ward where the parents reside", I can pass those on to the bishop.

Update, I just called someone who lives in the other ward, and they confirmed that that family is in their ward and moved in last Sept., so it appears the message from CHQ was indeed sent to the wrong ward. I did check and as of last Sunday, there had been no sub category created in our ward for his support.
I still am curious about situations where the financially responsible ward is different from the missionary's home ward.
Alan

aebrown wrote:But regardless of how this may have been done, the financial responsibility can be transferred to any ward whose bishop is willing to accept it. That transfer of financial responsibility can happen even before membership records may be transferred. The subaccount will then be created in the new responsible ward shortly after the transfer of responsibility happens.

funaddict wrote:What is the requirement for accepting financial responsibility before membership records are transferred? How do you know that the family will actually move into your ward? I can think of several examples off the top of my head where a family was all set to move and cancelled at the last second, or found a house in another ward or actually moved to a new ward just to turn around and move back immediately.

aebrown's comment about transferring responsibility before membership records are transferred was made in the context of a missionary who is currently attending a YSA ward/branch. The responsibility can be transferred to the home ward before the missionary's membership record has been transferred back to the home ward. The family in this case would already have their membership records in the home ward.

In the case of where the family is moving, I'd wait to transfer responsibility until the family has actually moved. CHQ will back-date the effective date if requested by both bishops (for example, if the family starts donating in the new ward before they finish moving in). Technically it could be done before the family moved but for the reasons you mentioned it's generally not a good idea.

funaddict wrote:I still am curious about situations where the financially responsible ward is different from the missionary's home ward.

I see the situation that has prompted your query seems to have be answered. As to that specific question, the only thing I can think of is if someone in your ward had promised to support that particular missionary.

I do know of cases where the missionary in question was a convert and was not being supported by their parents. In that case, the singles ward they were in, along with the stake took care of the mission costs.

I just spoke with SLC and was told that this account will not be appearing in our MLS until after she has departed and they attempt to draw the first payment. I have been told that this is normal behavior and nothing can be done about it and the account is showing up in the YSA ward because of a "bug" in MLS.