Address unknown records being sent back

We have noticed in our ward that even after visiting, calling, mailing forwarding address etc and finding that a member is definitely no longer in our ward and no other contact information can be found, after some period of time the records get sent back to us from the records previously unknown with no new information.

Our ward has a large military housing installation which means we have a very high turnover rate and not very many Home and Visiting Teachers. Dealing with these address unknown records takes away from ministering to people that we know are here and need help. Is there any tricks to keep these unknown address records from coming back? Or is there a process that other wards have found useful to keep track of these records so that we don't spend the time going through the checklist to move records out multiple times?

That's the way the church works now. See the First Presidency Letter dated 1 Oct 2013, 21 Jun 2013. The letter dated 29 Oct 2012 may give you some tips on tracking. These can be found in letters.lds.org.

mwitting wrote:Is there any trick to keep these unknown address records from coming back? Or is there a process that other wards have found useful to keep track of these records so that we don't spend the time going through the checklist to move records out multiple times?

You can't keep them from coming back (although they usually only come back one time). But you can keep a record of the work you went through to send them out in the first place, run a quick update of the checklist, and send them right back again if appropriate.

"...you can keep a record of the work you went through to send them out in the first place, run a quick update of the checklist, and send them right back again if appropriate."

This is where I would like help. As far as I have found there isn't a way to keep track of this in MLS or LDS.org. is there a church approved way to keep this information or a system that others have used that works well?

mwitting wrote:Is there a church approved way to keep this information or a system that others have used that works well?

Screen shots of the page with the completed checklist. Paper and pencil. Notes kept with the move-out record in a notebook in the clerk's office.

No, I do not know of a computer-programmed way to do it. I would not call it "church-approved". I would call it "business as usual".

I have several memberships that have addresses well outside of my Ward and stake that keep coming back. When I use the map feature to check the location is usually wrong. How can I send these membership out, and not get them back?

I can not find a copy of the checklist - can someone help?

2mycloud wrote:I can not find a copy of the checklist - can someone help?

In the Help Center under Move Records Out

Something I've had some luck with, while trying to check off the step for contacting family members, I click on the family tab of their record and see if the parents are members. In many cases I find the unit the parents are in and email their bishop. I've had bishops get back to me with updated addresses (via the parents) or in a couple of cases a definitive "he doesn't want to be contacted and won't give out his information". If I've run out of options and need to send records back to SL and also know for certain the address on the record is wrong, I delete it all before sending back. So far nothing has been returned.