Letter from the presidency regarding risky activites?

I am the clerk in our ward and as such receive the letters from the presidency on various topics. Before I was called, the bishop remembers a letter regarding risky activities that the ward youth programs should not participate in. We're considering a trip to the lake for the YM/YW and want to see if boating/wakeboarding was included in this letter. However, no one can find it. Is there a database in which I can search for this letter? Does anyone else remember it? Where might I find or search for it?

If it is a letter read from the pulpit it would be here. If it is a letter to bishops and stake presidents then it is accessed at the letters archive. The letters archive is only accessible by the stake president using his LDS mail password.

You may want to ask the stake clerk if he has a copy before asking the stake president to search the letters archive.

The page titled Safety in Church Activities on LDS.org contains all the resources you need, including the 1 March 2011 Letter from the First Presidency: Safety in Church Activities that I'm pretty sure is the one you are referring to.

jdlessley wrote:If it is a letter read from the pulpit it would be here. If it is a letter to bishops and stake presidents then it is accessed at the letters archive. The letters archive is only accessible by the stake president using his LDS mail password.

Actually that link is old. Letters are now found in the Official Communication Library which is now more widely accessible. I certain that Stake Presidencies, the Stake Clerk, Bishoprics and the Ward Clerk can all access it (I'm a ward clerk and I can access it so I'm sure these others can too). I'm not sure about assistant stake and ward clerks or executive secretaries. And after a quick search it looks like a letter was just sent out on May 10th, 2012, entitled Safety in Church Activities. You can probably find your answers there (although it doesn't have a specific list of prohibited activities, just general counsel).

jdlessley wrote:If it is a letter to bishops and stake presidents then it is accessed at the letters archive. The letters archive is only accessible by the stake president using his LDS mail password.

That information is out of date. The letters archive is no longer available there. You can read all about the new library here. It is accessible by authorized leaders using the LDS Account. The list of authorized leaders is considerably larger than with the old library, which was only available to stake presidents. The new library is accessible by stake presidencies, stake executive secretaries, and stake clerks, as well as bishoprics, ward executive secretaries, and ward clerks, (but not assistant clerks).

Thank you!

aebrown wrote:That information is out of date. The letters archive is no longer available there. You can read all about the new library here. It is accessible by authorized leaders using the LDS Account. The list of authorized leaders is considerably larger than with the old library, which was only available to stake presidents. The new library is accessible by stake presidencies, stake executive secretaries, and stake clerks, as well as bishoprics, ward executive secretaries, and ward clerks, (but not assistant clerks).

Do you know when assistant clerks will get access to the new communication library?

dfchamplain wrote:Do you know when assistant clerks will get access to the new communication library?

I doubt that they will ever get access. Generally the decisions are made as to who will get access and they don't change. It's not like it's any more work to give assistant clerks access -- there's just a list of callings with access stored somewhere in the application. So the fact that assistant clerks don't have access seems to be a pretty strong indicator that someone in authority decided they shouldn't have access.

I know that not every stake operates the same, but in our stake, it would be far more helpful for me (an assistant stake clerk) to have access than for our stake clerk (who never looks at the Official Communications Library anyway). I suppose we could send in feedback requesting that assistant clerks be given access, but I'm not too hopeful....

I would imagine that access is along the same lines as access to Handbook 1. IIRC, the wording of "clerks" could be interpreted locally to include or exclude assistant clerks. It has been interpreted at CHQ as to exclude them.

Any change in access would only happen if the policy is changed. It's not up to the developers.

aebrown wrote: I know that not every stake operates the same, but in our stake, it would be far more helpful for me (an assistant stake clerk) to have access than for our stake clerk

I, too, find myself saying "I can't do that, you'll have to" far more than I would like as an assistant stake clerk, but I think it's not as much that an intentional decision was made NOT to allow assistant clerks access as it is that certain accesses were granted originally, and they don't seem to be revisited often. It would help if we knew why....