Tech Forum

Paying locally for a missionary in another country

Hi All,

I am a new WC so sorry if any of this is a bit obvious. last month a young man from our ward returned from the mission field. His mission was entirely paid for by his brother who lives in another country and that's where it gets tricky. According to our financial records the young man still owes his entire mission as we have never received anything from the ward where it was being paid(Is that even possible?). The brother paid each week under Ward Missionary and put the missionaries name and record number. I am assuming that there is now an imaginary elder in the other ward who is 10+k in credit.

I have two questions:

1) Is there anyway I can get the money from one ward to another to fix this issue?
2) What is the correct way to handle this? We have another young man about to go out and he will be partially funded from another ward.

This was not a stress this young man needed on his return so I would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance for your help.

toogooda wrote:Paying locally for a missionary in another country

Hi All,

I am a new WC so sorry if any of this is a bit obvious. last month a young man from our ward returned from the mission field. His mission was entirely paid for by his brother who lives in another country and that's where it gets tricky. According to our financial records the young man still owes his entire mission as we have never received anything from the ward where it was being paid(Is that even possible?). The brother paid each week under Ward Missionary and put the missionaries name and record number. I am assuming that there is now an imaginary elder in the other ward who is 10+k in credit.

I have two questions:

1) Is there anyway I can get the money from one ward to another to fix this issue?
2) What is the correct way to handle this? We have another young man about to go out and he will be partially funded from another ward.

This was not a stress this young man needed on his return so I would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance for your help.

I'd contact LUS and see if there is anything they can do or if they have any instructions or suggestions. Normally in this kind of situations the person paying should send the payments to your ward but if the person is in a country with another currency that becomes more complicated.

eblood66 wrote:Normally in this kind of situations the person paying should send the payments to your ward but if the person is in a country with another currency that becomes more complicated.

Or else the responsibility for the missionary would have been transferred to the ward he's donating to.

Take a look at Change in the missionary’s home ward. While that considers the situation where support is coming from the parents, the truth is that ward that supports the missionary doesn't have to be the same one as the one that has the missionary's records.

However, the fact that support is in another country as well as the fact the missionary has returned complicates things. But I'd try contacting the Missionary Department to discuss the situation.

eblood66 wrote:

toogooda wrote:Paying locally for a missionary in another country

Hi All,

I am a new WC so sorry if any of this is a bit obvious. last month a young man from our ward returned from the mission field. His mission was entirely paid for by his brother who lives in another country and that's where it gets tricky. According to our financial records the young man still owes his entire mission as we have never received anything from the ward where it was being paid(Is that even possible?). The brother paid each week under Ward Missionary and put the missionaries name and record number. I am assuming that there is now an imaginary elder in the other ward who is 10+k in credit.

I have two questions:

1) Is there anyway I can get the money from one ward to another to fix this issue?
2) What is the correct way to handle this? We have another young man about to go out and he will be partially funded from another ward.

This was not a stress this young man needed on his return so I would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance for your help.

I'd contact LUS and see if there is anything they can do or if they have any instructions or suggestions. Normally in this kind of situations the person paying should send the payments to your ward but if the person is in a country with another currency that becomes more complicated.

Thank you, can you please tell me what LUS is and how I could contact them.?

russellhltn wrote:

eblood66 wrote:Normally in this kind of situations the person paying should send the payments to your ward but if the person is in a country with another currency that becomes more complicated.

Or else the responsibility for the missionary would have been transferred to the ward he's donating to.

Take a look at Change in the missionary’s home ward. While that considers the situation where support is coming from the parents, the truth is that ward that supports the missionary doesn't have to be the same one as the one that has the missionary's records.

However, the fact that support is in another country as well as the fact the missionary has returned complicates things. But I'd try contacting the Missionary Department to discuss the situation.

OK thanks that is interesting, sounds like you need both parties to agree (Wards) then the administrative office sorts it out. Does anyone know who they mean by administrative office? is it Missionary, Local for country or a US office?

Ether way it sounds like there is no way to pay from another ward so they need to send the money to the ward supporting them. I wonder if they still get it show up on there tax certificate?

toogooda wrote:Thank you, can you please tell me what LUS is and how I could contact them.?

Local Unit Support. Try this page

toogooda wrote:OK thanks that is interesting, sounds like you need both parties to agree (Wards) then the administrative office sorts it out. Does anyone know who they mean by administrative office? is it Missionary, Local for country or a US office?

That is correct. In North America, the administrative office is Church headquarters. In other areas of the world, the Area Office is the administrative office.

Ether way it sounds like there is no way to pay from another ward so they need to send the money to the ward supporting them. I wonder if they still get it show up on there tax certificate?

The contribution will show up on the donation record wherever the donation was made. Even if that ward later transfers the funds, the original donation itself is does not change.

I am surprised in this instance that the other ward did nothing to transfer the funds where they were needed and that your ward did nothing to request the funds, but that was all before your time. At this point, the other ward needs to agree to send your ward the amount of one mission. I hope it works.

lajackson wrote:At this point, the other ward needs to agree to send your ward the amount of one mission.

Although I suppose that is one possibility, I would definitely recommend that the wards involved work through Local Unit Support to resolve the issue. LUS can adjust which unit is responsible for the financing of a mission, and they can make that change retroactively all the way back to the beginning of the mission, if that is the arrangement agreed upon by both wards involved. Working through LUS will eliminate the need to write or deposit a check, and it will allow the Church records to accurately reflect how the mission was paid for.

aebrown wrote:

lajackson wrote:I would definitely recommend that the wards involved work through Local Unit Support to resolve the issue. LUS can adjust which unit is responsible for the financing of a mission, and they can make that change retroactively all the way back to the beginning of the mission, if that is the arrangement agreed upon by both wards involved.

Not only that, but since this involves other countries, the rate for missions might not match the current exchange rate so direct transfer is probably not a good idea. But working though LUS/Missionary Department, that can be worked out.

Thanks everyone for your help, I will let you know how it goes in the post in case anyone else gets this issue.