LockedAddress to send a letter to the Prophet

I have been trying to find the correct address but have found several and do not know which is right. Does anyone know what address to mail a letter to if you want it to reach the first presidency?

You might want to read Handbook 2: 21.1.24. Particularly the last paragraph.

If you're looking for an address for a purpose that the Handbook referenced above doesn't dissuade you, I'd try something like this one.

Office of the First Presidency
47 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150

:p
Although the handbook does state that we are not to send letters, they are a widely used source of general conference talk material.
A google search for: site:lds.org inurl:general-conference "received a letter" yields about 4,000 results.
:p

wiscombe.peter wrote:Although the handbook does state that we are not to send letters, they are a widely used source of general conference talk material.

That thought has crossed my mind as well. But I have decided that the handbook is unambiguous, whereas any conclusions I would draw based on general conference references to letters would be wildly speculative. We often don't know when the letters were sent, or if they were sent with special permission, or if the sender has a personal relationship with the general authority, or if they were asked by someone in authority to send the letter. Such speculation is pointless; "as for me and my house, we will..." follow the handbook.

Some actions require a "letter the the First Presidency". Church membership for you or a family member, correction in temple ordinance as recorded in Family History records are just a couple where it is necessary to communicate directly with the First Presidency. Your stake president and your local temple presidency can help you with these.

Doug, those always accompany and 'Application to the First Presidency' which is a church process defined in the Handbook and the Application instructions.

I'm very conflicted on this one, aebrown's message asside, the General Authorities send a message of encouragement when they include the so very often in their Conference Talks. The real point is that unless the General Authority takes interest, the letter is typically forwarded to the Stake President to handle.

From experience. Any letter sent will be sent down to the are authority and or the stake president. Probably the least capable people to help with the problem. Don't be surprised if no one cares. Been there and done that.

I know that the First Presidency are wonderful men and love interacting with church members, but the fact is that their calling requires a lot of time and effort and they're not able to interact with everyone. They visit with members in person around the world as they travel. And, as Jesus Christ has delegated keys and responsibilities to them, they are commanded to delegate keys and responsibilities to others (D&C 107:99; Exodus 18:21–22). Keys are delegated to the stake presidency and bishops that allow them to receive guidance for their stake or ward.

This Church is guided by revelation, and if there is an important concern relevant to the entire Church that needs to be addressed, the First Presidency will receive guidance in that regard.

johnshaw wrote:I'm very conflicted on this one, aebrown's message asside, the General Authorities send a message of encouragement when they include the so very often in their Conference Talks.

While not always the case, often the letters that are referenced in conference are from friends or acquaintances.

bkhamlin wrote:From experience. Any letter sent will be sent down to the are authority and or the stake president. Probably the least capable people to help with the problem. Don't be surprised if no one cares. Been there and done that.

Personally, I'd say your stake president/bishop are the most capable people to deal with your problem. And I'd be surprised if they don't care tremendously. Been there and done that. They care and are capable.

What if you've already talked to the bishop and stake president? My husband is ex-military, so I get chain of command. Where do you go from the stake president?

Lillypotter0912 wrote:What if you've already talked to the bishop and stake president? My husband is ex-military, so I get chain of command. Where do you go from the stake president?

The military chain of command takes you next to the Area Seventy who chairs the coordinating council in which your stake president participates.

But personally, I would not go there until I had done everything the bishop and stake president had asked me to do, and then received guidance from the Spirit through prayer that something more still needed to be done. You can always go straight to the Lord. You don't have to wait for mere mortals to figure out things.

Lillypotter0912 wrote:What if you've already talked to the bishop and stake president? My husband is ex-military, so I get chain of command. Where do you go from the stake president?

There really just isn't anything here that's going to satisfy you frankly, if there is an issue AND the Bishop/Stake President just ins't responding, you'll need to gather people around you - multiple people, families, men and women - and have everyone backing your 'story'.

The Bishops and Stake Presidents have local authority, little is done from above that to move or change their positions, and frankly rarely is it that a Stake President will over-rule a Bishop... typically a member is sent back to the Bishop to work it out.

What you need now is multiple witnesses otherwise it's just he/she said stuff... tie goes to the leader in those cases :0

I don't know as anyone above the stake level will get involved unless there's a violation of law or Handbook. As long as it's within the leader's discretion, I highly doubt anything will be done.

The problem for me is that they the bishop or stake president are not willing to help me

How can I get counsel from a general authority?

Haileejaneevans wrote:How can I get counsel from a general authority?

"In most cases, correspondence from members to General Authorities will be referred back to their local leaders. Stake presidents who need clarification about doctrinal or other Church matters may write in behalf of their members to the First Presidency."

Handbook 2: 21.1.24

Haileejaneevans wrote:How can I get counsel from a general authority?

Click on the link in the post right after yours by russellhltn. (Handbook 2 is available to anyone, member or not.) Read all of the short section, but especially the second paragraph. Then use that for your guide as you visit with your home or visiting teachers, your bishop, and others as needed.

And if you are really up to it, study and use the third paragraph and make an end run around all of them. I have personally done it, and I have seen others do it. I can promise you that it would be a remarkable experience for you.

What if the problem is with the local leaders. How do we address that issue?

Tink152 wrote:What if the problem is with the local leaders. How do we address that issue?

If you don't feel like you have any ward or stake leaders to talk to, I would start with prayer. The Lord will help you to know what you can do. I have never been in a ward or stake where I felt like all of my leaders were unapproachable, though. If you can't talk to your elders quorum president, Relief Society president, bishop, or stake president, talk to one of their counselors. Ask your home or visiting teachers for help finding someone to talk to if needed. Our Savior has set up a lot of lines for help in His Church, and if you pray, He will open up the line you need.

I have been trying to find out.

It ways on the church website to contact your local leadership, well that is ineffective. On our directory our all our Bishopric and Stake Presidency are invisible so you do not have their contact details to contact. I live in the European Union and we have different privacy land laws to the States. In the States members are set up on the directories as visible by default, it is up to the member to make themselves invisible. In the European Union we are set up as invisible by default, it is up to members to make themselves visible, the reality is that in the European Union most members do not know that they have to do this so more often than not they don't make themselves visible. Due to the laws in the European Union we cannot make church leaders be visible.

I had a problem with Single Adults, a programme for singles that are aged 31 and over, we are only getting activities that are for single adults 31 to 45. Wrote a letter to the Stake President, twice now, no reply, I want to contact region you cannot.

I am really feeling like going inactive over this.

leevb wrote:Due to the laws in the European Union we cannot make church leaders be visible.

As you point out, that's a "law of the land" situation. That's pretty much outside of the church's control. Even in the US with the more lax privacy laws, there's no listing for anyone above the stake presidency that's accessible to the general membership.

I believe it was mentioned above, you can always write to the church office building, but odds are it will simply be refereed back down to the local (stake/ward) leaders.

As this thread has attracted a number of unapproved posts, and the situation for contacting leaders above the stake level is unlikely to change to anyone's satisfaction, this thread is being locked.

As a reminder, this forum is for help with technical aspects of the church and some assistance with specific callings. It's not a place to advocate for change as this forum is user-to-user with no decision makers present.

The official guidance on the subject of contacting the Prophet is found in Handbook 2: 21.1.24 Members’ Communication with Church Headquarters