Non-MLS Units
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 8:47 pm
I am in Russia for a year, and most of the units here are not on MLS. Instead, a centralized "CMIS" system is used, based out of Moscow, which is, overall, a disaster for record-keeping. Changes (corrections) to records are supposed to be faxed to Moscow, and updates are sent out (on paper) every three months. In my branch, for instance, there are dozens of major issues, ranging from missing children (the largest problem by far, I'd estimate there are over 1,000 children of record missing from the records in Russia; 10 in our branch alone), to missing baptisms and priesthood ordinations, to move-ins and -outs which are years out of date, to marriages (and surname changes) missing.
Most of these problems would be much, much, much easier to fix (and more likely to be fixed) if there was local ability to make corrections directly. Presumably, when units get MLS here, that will become the case.
When I had my records sent here, my family is the only one that shows up for the District, let alone our branch, in LDS Tools or on the web site. This tells me that the Moscow system is not integrated in to the Church-wide system.
Can somebody here convey the scale of the problem (and our corresponding frustration) to somebody in the Membership Department?
Shepherding the flock requires that we know our sheep, but without good records, it's difficult to know them.
Most of these problems would be much, much, much easier to fix (and more likely to be fixed) if there was local ability to make corrections directly. Presumably, when units get MLS here, that will become the case.
When I had my records sent here, my family is the only one that shows up for the District, let alone our branch, in LDS Tools or on the web site. This tells me that the Moscow system is not integrated in to the Church-wide system.
Can somebody here convey the scale of the problem (and our corresponding frustration) to somebody in the Membership Department?
Shepherding the flock requires that we know our sheep, but without good records, it's difficult to know them.