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LDS tools directory listing

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:27 am
by mtstanley
HI, I'm no longer a clerk, just a frustrated former clerk. A few years ago, my wife left the church and me. After the divorce was finished, I asked the clerk to please remove her name from my directory listing which was done---not sure at his doing or her leaving church and it finally caught up. I remarried a woman from Mexico and the custom is the wife often does not take husbands name. In this case she does here US, not there MX. We go to spanish ward.

So enter new family situation. At first we were listed separately. My name, her Mexico(maiden) name, on separate places in directory. I asked the clerk to please put just as 99% of all other married couples, me, and her in one line in LDS tools (wherever that is done). He then put me only, then when you click on me, she showed up as household member. Since no one in barrio could find her name, #, contact info, I was asked me if she was member, if we were still married, if we were ever married, etc. (because of this directory). I ask him again, He says that he doesn't know what to do so it will show up as ME, and HER (last name) in lds tools directory. Her new temple recommend has my last name, the bishop wants the families to be listed in US custom so people know who is with who, but all this was before my clerk calling so I cant tell him how to fix it. I know I have explained this in painful detail and am sorry but I want to be clear. Having said all this, what do I tell him so he can fix this? If I could do myself I would. Unfortunately I am forced to rely on someone to do it for me. If the US government can do it (social security, immigration etc) surely the church can do it. Thanks

Re: LDS tools directory listing

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 11:01 am
by mtstanley
PS: if this is not the right place to put this, or if it can be fixed another way, can anyone "please" tell me (nicely) where to put it? I have been trying for a year to get this fixed.

Re: LDS tools directory listing

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:44 pm
by aebrown
mtstanley wrote:PS: if this is not the right place to put this, or if it can be fixed another way, can anyone "please" tell me (nicely) where to put it? I have been trying for a year to get this fixed.
This location is fine -- the "Membership Help" forum deals with such issues.

The problem can only be fixed by your current ward clerk. He can ask the stake clerk for help if he doesn't know how (and he can ask the Global Service Center if he doesn't know). Basically, he needs to make sure that she is in your household in MLS, and that she is listed as a Spouse (not as "Other").

Re: LDS tools directory listing

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:56 pm
by russellhltn
I don't know as there is a "fix". In the directory and the Tools, the household will be under a single name. Only when you open the household will you see the individual last names. There is nothing in the clerk's power to do otherwise as there is only one field and it applies to the entire household. The only thing I can suggest is to make the household name hyphenated so both appear.

If the individual last names are not correct, then that is something the clerk can fix.

But I thin aebrown as picked up on one detail the clerk can fix - it appears your wife is listed as "other" and not spouse. That suggests your marriage is not recorded in a way that MLS recognizes it when she's placed in the household. It's a little bit tricky and not obvious on how to fix that, but if he and the stake clerk can't figure it out, send them over here.

Re: LDS tools directory listing

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 1:10 pm
by eblood66
Your clerk needs to do two things. First, he needs to make sure your marriage is correctly recorded on both your record and your wife's record. That needs to be correct first. Then he needs to make sure your wife is in the same household in MLS as you are and make sure she is listed as the spouse in the household. If she is in the household but is listed as Other rather than Spouse then he needs to remove her from the household and then re-add her. This has to happen after making sure the marriage information is correct. If both of these are done then your household should show up as <your last name>, <your first name> & <your wife's first name> in both the online directory and in LDS Tools.

It sounds like you and your wife were initially in different households and then you were in the same household but your wife wasn't listed as your spouse in the household. That would usually happen if the marriage wasn't recorded correctly but does seem to happen occasionally for other reasons. But removing and readding the spouse should fix that.

As others have said, if the ward clerk isn't sure about how to do any of this his stake clerk should be able to help. Or he can come here and we can try to help him out.