Tech Forum

I am a ward clerk. A young man in my ward recently got called to serve a mission in Brazil. As part of his visa application, a notarized Melchizedek Priesthood Ordination Certificate is required. As per the instructions given to the missionary (which can also be found on https://www.lds.org/callings/missionary ... l?lang=eng),

A Priesthood Ordination Certificate can be printed by the missionary's current ward clerk, and any priesthood authority can sign it (stake presidency or bishopric member).

I know that the stake president is supposed to be the one to sign the ordination certificate normally (since he holds the keys for the Melchizedek Priesthood in the stake) but I guess that this different rule exists specifically for missionaries who need to get the signature on the certificate notarized, to make it easier to find someone who can both sign the certificate and can find the time to go with the prospective missionary to a notary.

However, when I go to print off the certificate (from LCR), the signature line has the following text below it:

Signature of stake or mission president (district president where authorized)

If this young man does not have the stake president sign the certificate that is to be notarized, do I need to change the text below the signature line? If so, how? The text is automatically generated and seems to be out of my control.

You can't change the text. Is there a reason the stake president can't sign the certificate?

I think the issue is the contradictory instructions.

joshuajohnwallace wrote:If this young man does not have the stake president sign the certificate that is to be notarized, do I need to change the text below the signature line? If so, how?

As scgallafent pointed out, you cannot change the text. Following the Missionary Department instructions, I would have "any priesthood leader" (stake presidency or bishopric) sign the form, and then write the word "for" either after the signature or just under the line and in front of the word "Signature".

This will allow the notarizing of the certificate without any longterm feelings of guilt, and will get the paperwork on its way that much sooner to the folks who will be approving (hopefully) the visa.

We do this all the time in business.