Tech Forum

I am a new membership clerk in my ward. I am interested in locating a reference source that will guide me step by step through the arcane morass that is the system by which all of the information handled in this position may be entered, adjusted, reported and correlated. Am I correct in assuming that you must either spend a bunch of time with the old clerk or simply use trial and error to eventually figure out how the system works? I am retired with a strong computer background and comfortable with most commonly used and available systems and programs. I have taken the online training offered for my position at lds.org which was very helpful describing the important nature of the calling while completely avoiding any mention of the actual mechanics involved in performing it. Any guidance would be appreciated.

antonemadsen wrote:I am a new membership clerk in my ward. I am interested in locating a reference source that will guide me step by step through the arcane morass that is the system by which all of the information handled in this position may be entered, adjusted, reported and correlated. Am I correct in assuming that you must either spend a bunch of time with the old clerk or simply use trial and error to eventually figure out how the system works? I am retired with a strong computer background and comfortable with most commonly used and available systems and programs. I have taken the online training offered for my position at lds.org which was very helpful describing the important nature of the calling while completely avoiding any mention of the actual mechanics involved in performing it. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Have you read the MLS help file? It has fairly detailed instructions on how to make most changes in MLS.

Note, that this is really a different topic than the one being discussed in this thread and should be in a thread of it's own. I expect one of the moderators will move it to a new thread.

eblood66 wrote:Have you read the MLS help file? It has fairly detailed instructions on how to make most changes in MLS.

Yes, the church has a curious habit of hiding user documentation under "help"

You can also use the tip in my signature to search the Wiki for more details on specific situations.

antonemadsen wrote:I have taken the online training offered for my position at lds.org which was very helpful describing the important nature of the calling while completely avoiding any mention of the actual mechanics involved in performing it.

Which online training have you taken that avoids "any mention of the actual mechanics"?

If you go to the Record Keeping and Technology Support site, then click on "Membership" you'll see a long list of over 30 topics. Most of them offer very specific steps for what to do in MLS. For example, the video training course Update Membership Records has lots of screen shots and specific directions. As another example, the documentation at Create a Membership Record also provides specific steps for creating a membership record in MLS.

I could go on and on, but I see dozens of support articles, some in video format and some in a text format, each with specific steps for how to do things in MLS. There are a couple of videos that are general in nature (such as Receive and Use Records), but those are the exception.

antonemadsen wrote:I am a new membership clerk in my ward.

Welcome to the calling of clerk, I think you will find it to be one of the most rewarding callings you have had, with the exception of Scout Master.

I sympathize with the feeling of being overwhelmed. When I was "just" a finance clerk I made sure I knew everything that was referenced in every part of the finance section of MLS. I was convinced that if I knew all of that then I knew how to fulfill my calling. But other clerk callings are another story. Plus, there's no "monthly statement" so you can make sure you've done everything you need to do. It can be easy to overlook things, forget to input data, etc. And it seems like there's so much to do coming at you with sometimes random timing.