Unconfirmed Address -- Send Records or Not?

[webmonk]

Like every other unit in the church I am trying to clean up the membership records. I want to get the records into the hands of the units where the members live. We cannot help them if they are not here. I am utilizing online resources in an attempt to locate people. In general it is very unhelpful, but from time to time I have success. There are cases where I "feel" I have found the person, based on name, age and possibly some other secondary information, but I have no real way to confirm it. The phone numbers generally are not present or don't work.

So, at this point I feel I have a few options and I'd like some advice on what might be the best course of action. 1) I can either send the records to the address specified and if the unit investigates and find the person not there, expect the record to come back. 2) I can try to contact a leader or missionary in that unit and have them investigate first. Then I send the record if they are there. 3) Send a letter and see what response I get.

I lean towards #1 but I'm uncertain about sending the record if I don't know for sure. #3 seems like it would have a very slim chance of gleaning any useful information because if they aren't there I may not get a response (or postal return). If they are there they are likely not going to respond since they obviously don't attend church anymore. I would try #2, but I don't have any easy way to identify the correct unit and a person to speak with.

Does anyone else face this dilemma? Any advice?

[aebrown]

Like every other unit in the church I am trying to clean up the membership records. I want to get the records into the hands of the units where the members live. We cannot help them if they are not here. I am utilizing online resources in an attempt to locate people.

That's great that you are making this effort, and online resources are a great way to start. But don't neglect the other techniques that were mentioned in the 29 October 2012 letter: Finding Lost Members (if you don't have access to see that letter, your bishop can get it for you).

I would try #2, but I don't have any easy way to identify the correct unit and a person to speak with.

It's quite easy to identify the correct unit. If you have an address that you would be using to move the records out, then you can use lds.org/maps, input that address, and find the assigned unit. The bishop's last name and phone number will probably be listed for that assigned unit; if they're not, you can then look up the unit name in CDOL and find the bishop's contact info (or perhaps even better, the ward clerk's info).

[rpyne]

I lean towards #1 but I'm uncertain about sending the record if I don't know for sure.

Does anyone else face this dilemma? Any advice?

As a clerk who has been on the receiving end of the #1 approach, I would discourage sending a record based on an unconfirmed address. All that does is push the responsibility onto someone who most likely has fewer options and less knowledge of the person than you for finding the correct address.

[sbradshaw]

I lean towards #1 but I'm uncertain about sending the record if I don't know for sure.

Does anyone else face this dilemma? Any advice?

As a clerk who has been on the receiving end of the #1 approach, I would discourage sending a record based on an unconfirmed address. All that does is push the responsibility onto someone who most likely has fewer options and less knowledge of the person than you for finding the correct address.

Not to mention, if you "think" it's the same person and it's not, it is someone else with the same name – which will lead to a lot of confusion and possibly hard feelings for a random person who everyone is claiming was baptized into their church 20 years ago.