Records sent to my ward with no address?

How is it that I have received records of individuals that have no address and no phone number? All I have on the record is the name, city and state. We have four wards in our city so how is it that I am getting these records. To complicate the matter there is a little note attached that said that the previous location of these individuals was unknown. There is no previous unit number so I am assuming that HQ is sending this to me. Can someone please clarify this for me?

There was an official notice sent out on June 21, 2013 to Bishops and Clerks about members whose address is unknown (accessible at the Official Communications Library). Here's a snippet:

Beginning with the third quarter of 2013, up to 20 membership records previously
moved from your unit into the address unknown file will be returned for further research,
and each quarter thereafter additional records will be returned until all such records have
been reviewed. Specific instructions for clerks are found on the reverse.

And here are the instructions:

ADDITIONAL STEPS FOR FINDING AND RESCUING LOST MEMBERS
For each of the returned membership records, the following steps should be taken:
1. Contact the occupants at the member’s last known address and ask them if they
have a forwarding address.
2. Use postal services to find a forwarding address.
3. Call any last known telephone numbers.
4. Send an email to any last known email addresses.
5. Contact known family members and relatives.
6. Contact known friends, Church members, and full-time missionaries.
7. Contact ward priesthood and auxiliary leaders.
8. Check available online social networks.
After following the above steps:
• If a forwarding address is identified, move the membership record to the new
ward or branch using MLS.
• If no address is found, forward the membership record back to the address
unknown file (these records will not be returned again to your unit).

My impression is that the intent is for wards to have a second try at locating members whose last known residence was within the ward boundaries. Perhaps the sleuthing department at SLC ran cold, and the hope is that there is some local "stone left unturned." My ward received records for a family that we sent to Address Unknown two years ago, whose address is still unknown. After we try again each of the steps for finding lost members from the October 29, 2012 letter, I suppose we can return the record again to CHQ and iterate.

This is good to know as we also had some of these records returned today and it showed the previous ward was our ward it also had the date when it was sent out.

I had not seen this letter yet. I will be sure to ask the Bishop about it on Sunday. We will need to come up with a plan on how to get these turned around quickly.

Not necessarily in the ward boundaries, though. We overhauled our boundaries a few years ago, and records sent from before then are coming back to the wards they were sent from. I'm going to tell the clerks that got those records to investigate them rather than pass them to the "right" ward.

jwtaber wrote:Not necessarily in the ward boundaries, though. We overhauled our boundaries a few years ago, and records sent from before then are coming back to the wards they were sent from.

I noticed the same thing with several records within the batch our ward got back. These particular addresses used to be in our ward, but another ward annexed them about a year ago.

I think the immediate first step, as it is with all questionable records that arrive from the Address Unknown heap in Salt Lake, is to mail to those addresses (if present at all) with Return Service Requested and see if a forwarding address pops up. But since these addresses are old and stale, and normal USPS forwarding service is only good for 18 months, that will reduce the likelihood of such hits.

RossEvans wrote:I think the immediate first step, as it is with all questionable records that arrive from the Address Unknown heap in Salt Lake, is to mail to those addresses (if present at all) with Return Service Requested and see if a forwarding address pops up.

That is actually step two of the eight-step process to be followed, according to the June 21, 2013 Notice. jaj78 posted a copy of the instructions earlier in this topic.

jwtaber wrote:I'm going to tell the clerks that got those records to investigate them rather than pass them to the "right" ward.

One thing you might want to remember. Its not just the clerks responsibility to investigate these records, there is whole ward council that should help in this matter as well.

Of course. Meanwhile there are a few units in my stake that were already skittish about sending records out, particularly for those who they know are in the area but don't have a specific address. I wonder how they're going to react to this. Meanwhile, I have to figure out what to tell the clerks and bishops before Sunday - my stake had 111 records kicked back.

jwtaber wrote:I wonder how they're going to react to this. Meanwhile, I have to figure out what to tell the clerks and bishops before Sunday - my stake had 111 records kicked back.

Read jaj78's post. Or better yet, go get the Notice dated June 21, 2013 at the Official Communications Library and have them read it from the source.

Point out to them the last line that says, after following these instructions "these records will not be returned again to your unit."

jwtaber wrote:Of course. Meanwhile there are a few units in my stake that were already skittish about sending records out,

If they have done the steps then they should follow the instructions and send them out. I have no problem doing this as those at CHQ have other means in which they can find address. Means such as cross referencing and contacting relatives who are members that may know where they are.

jwtaber wrote:particularly for those who they know are in the area but don't have a specific address.

If they know for sure they are in the area then they should keep trying to get the correct address. However, if they just think they are in the area then they should follow the steps and send them to CHQ once they are sure they are not there anymore.

jwtaber wrote: I wonder how they're going to react to this. Meanwhile, I have to figure out what to tell the clerks and bishops before Sunday - my stake had 111 records kicked back.

Just remind them of President Kimball's motto, "DO IT" and tell them to get to work.

All I can say is that I'll bet a whole bunch of people are going to wish they kept their notes after sending them out the first time. Could save a lot of re-work.

lajackson wrote:

RossEvans wrote:I think the immediate first step, as it is with all questionable records that arrive from the Address Unknown heap in Salt Lake, is to mail to those addresses (if present at all) with Return Service Requested and see if a forwarding address pops up.

That is actually step two of the eight-step process to be followed, according to the June 21, 2013 Notice. jaj78 posted a copy of the instructions earlier in this topic.

Yes, I did notice that. Apparently the literal instructions oblige the local priesthood to knock on each door and mail to each household that does have an address listed. In our case, that is 17 out of the 20.

I'm sure our clerk at the time the records were shipped out the first time -- you know him well -- would not have sent these households to Address Unknown without vetting them first. And our practice would have mailed to these addresses at least annually. So now, a year or more later, I am quite sure that following the first two steps in the instructions will not bear fruit. In our ward we can be pretty sure these families no longer live at these addresses, and have not for some time. The whole exercise is a long-shot attempt to find out where they really live.

Given that, I suggest that bishoprics and clerks might want to segregate these quarterly batches of 20 from some actions normally accorded actual new move-ins -- who presumptively do live at the listed addresses. For example, I propose to exclude these names from our fast-offering routes. (Our normal practice prioritizes new move-ins at the top of that rotation.)

RossEvans wrote:I'm sure our clerk at the time the records were shipped out the first time -- you know him well -- would not have sent these households to Address Unknown without vetting them first.

Indeed, I do know him. Would that any bishop be so fortunate.

RossEvans wrote:I suggest that bishoprics and clerks might want to segregate these quarterly batches of 20 from some actions normally accorded actual new move-ins --

I agree. I would consider it a verification that the work was done properly before the records were sent out the first time.

How do you deal with someone who is a member and is moving out of the ward, but because they are hostile to the Church, refuses to give their new address or any contact information. They want to be "lost"...no contact with the Church.

kirtkennedy wrote:How do you deal with someone who is a member and is moving out of the ward, but because they are hostile to the Church, refuses to give their new address or any contact information. They want to be "lost"...no contact with the Church.

You run the steps to see what you can turn up on your own even if its just the town. If you find nothing you send them to CHQ with a note about whats happening and were you think they are. There is a place for the notes right on the move out form in MLS.

For our ward, I have found the most productive sources to be a combination of:

*Google
*WhitePages.com
*Facebook
*Local Property records online (public)

Between the four of those, you uncover some significant clues about where people have gone. Sifting through current and out-dated information is sometimes challenging, but it's not too bad.
I keep a spreadsheet with the steps from post #2 with a line for each individual, and as each step is completed, I date it. If nothing turns up, then we are fully justified to send back to CHQ.

jaj78 wrote:For our ward, I have found the most productive sources to be a combination of:
...
*WhitePages.com
...

I find WhitePages.com to be worse than useless. It is based on fuzzy search algorithms that favor reporting wrong information over returning no hits. For example, I just looked up myself on that site and give my city and state. It returned two possible addresses for me. Both are utterly wrong. (I have not had a listed landline for years.)

Some other so-called "white pages" search sites, based on landline telephone directories of listed numbers, have a couple of serious weaknesses. First, fewer and fewer people have landlines. Second, white-page phone directories typically do not include apartment numbers. They just show the street address of the apartment complex.

In our ward we have multiple mystery households with missing apartment numbers, probably the result of some "helpful" clerks somewhere using white-page searches and shipping the records to us. Without an apartment number, such a street address is useless. No one can visit these addresses, and USPS will never report a forwarding address for a mailing because the mailer started without complete addresses to look up. The truncated address thus becomes a permanent dead end, from which it probably cannot be rescued -- a failure worse than sending it to the Address Unknown file. But for each of them, some clerk somewhere got the lost family off his ward's books, so there was the illusion of success.

To help trap for missing-apartment errors, anyone using a white-pages search result should follow up by submitting the retrieved address to the USPS Zip validation site. That will show if an aparment number is missing or if the address is otherwise undeliverable.

jaj78 wrote:For our ward, I have found the most productive sources to be a combination of:

...
*Facebook
...

Facebook is very useful. If you have an email address you can find the profile of someone on Facebook instantly. With just a name, there could be some digging. Once you find their profile, depending on their privacy settings, you can look for clues that tell if they still live in the same city, at least, based on what they post. You can send them a message or sometimes find other phone numbers or email addresses to contact them. Additionally, you can see if they are Facebook friends with people you know who may be able to get information you can't and help you in your search.

Facebook is useful for cleaning out the lost and found, too. In my YSA stake clerks' office in Provo we had several sets of scriptures, small hymnbooks, and a missionary journal that had been sitting there for years. I was able to look up the people on Facebook from the names engraved on the scriptures and looked for other clues, bookmarks, language notes, etc. to identify the right person. For example, an LDS person in Provo with the correct last name, who according to Facebook attended BYU and teaches Korean at the MTC got his mission journal with Korean notes back. I was also able to locate another person via Facebook and just the name on the scriptures by noting that he had several mutual friends still in the stake... Detective work is fun!

I am the Membership Clerk for a dying Ward. We have approximately 85% Inactivity. Most of the strong families have moved out in droves. We no longe have an Elder's Quorum Presidency. Our Home Teaching is well below 10%. We rarely have Ward Council Meetings anymore and I am not allowed to participate, as the Bishopric thinks matters are too confidential for my ears, although I have been told of and have seen much in confidendtial matters. So, briefing the Ward Council, not to mention getting their help is impossible. Our office telephone has been permanently cut off and I was told that a telephone is no longer a priority, even though that is a major tool I have used for years to communicate with Bishopric's and Member's concerning lost, or inactive Members in our Ward.

Is there anyone who can tell me what I can do to get the help and resources I need?

jerryarnoldblauer wrote:So, briefing the Ward Council, not to mention getting their help is impossible. . . .

Is there anyone who can tell me what I can do to get the help and resources I need?

You certainly have a challenge.

Based on what you have said, your Ward Clerk is your resource. He attends the Ward Council and can relay important messages and ask the bishop to make assignments.

lajackson wrote:Based on what you have said, your Ward Clerk is your resource. He attends the Ward Council and can relay important messages and ask the bishop to make assignments.

If the Ward Clerks isn't helpful, you may also wish to talk to the Stake Clerk.