Lost or Forgotten Temple Recommends Letter

Recently there was a letter sent from the Temple Department regarding lost or forgotten recommends and a change in policy for the temple. Also, indicated was a change in responsibility to the Bishop to update LCR with the temple recommend status changes as needed. The letter included detailed instructions on how Bishops and Ward clerks go about update the temple recommend status using the LDS LCR site.

I'm certainly not criticizing the brethren and believe that I'm just not understanding the context of the letter. So please help me understand my mistake. According the the release notes of LCR, this feature will not be available until version 4.1 that is currently scheduled for beta in June. Also, the Access Table that indicates what callings have what access do not indicate that Bishops or Ward clerks have this ability yet. I have also spoken with a Bishop in our Stake and he was not able to follow the instructions in the letter because that feature did not exist for his calling.

Thank you!

manielsen2002 wrote:I'm just not understanding the context of the letter.

It sometimes happens that an announcement is made before the infrastructure is in place to handle it. This appears to be one such case.

The Notice changes two things. The biggest change is that now bishoprics and clerks will be able to change temple recommend status. Until now, a member of the stake presidency or a stake clerk had to make the change. Until the update is made to LCR, bishops will still have to call a member of the stake presidency or stake clerk to have those changes made for them.

The other change is that a temple may now rely on LCR to determine the status of a temple recommend. When a member forgets to bring a recommend, the temple has needed to contact the bishop or a member of the stake presidency to verify that a member has a current recommend. Since the temple will now rely on LCR, it is more important than ever for priesthood leaders to keep temple recommend status updated.

When the new change is implemented at the website, bishops will be able to immediately make a recommend status change, rather than having to find and contact a member of the stake presidency to make the change for them, saving some time.

For anyone looking for the letter at Letters.LDS.org, note that you have to go over to the "All" tab from the top of the page. I didn't realize that it was filtering by default.

Thank you for the clarification.

What does the temple do if they find a temple recommend left behind by mistake.

terresalynnkoesler wrote: Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:03 am What does the temple do if they find a temple recommend left behind by mistake.

Some temples will mail it to your bishop. Some temples will keep it near the recommend desk and return it to you if you have picture identification. Go to your temple and tell the person at the recommend desk that you think you left your recommend in the temple during your last visit. They will let you know if they have found it and what they did with it.