Below are the release notes:
New Features and Changes in MLS 3.4
General Changes
- Member and Leader Services (MLS) Software Manual Update. The MLS Software Manual can be accessed by clicking Help on the MLS menu bar and then selecting Help on the drop-down menu. It can also be accessed by pressing F1. This PDF manual has been updated to include changes to MLS that have occurred over the last two years.
- MLS Supports Mongolian. MLS now supports the Mongolian language.
- Changes to Seminaries and Institutes (S&I) Reports. Changes to the Seminary and Institute reports are being implemented one area at a time. If these changes are not yet available in your area, contact your S&I representative for assistance. The new options to choose from under "Seminaries and Institutes" on the "Other Resources" panel are:
- Potential Institute Students. This is very similar to the old "Institute" option. This option allows bishops to identify the Institutions of higher education (if any) where the individual will be studying. This may be printed or exported at the request of ward or stake officers.
- Institute Attendance Report. This report is downloaded to MLS by S&I and lists each student attending institute and how attendance at classes is going.
- Institute Graduation Report. This report has not changed.
- Potential Seminary Students. This combines information from the old "Seminary Daily and Home Study" and "Seminary Released-Time" reports. Now it asks for which seminary year is being reported on and which school the student attends. Both of these are drop-down menus the bishop uses to fill out the report. One difference is that the bishop only has to set the seminary year for each student once. At the end of the year, the seminary year will increase by one automatically.
- Released-Time Preregistration. All students registering for released-time seminary must complete a Request for Released Time form. This option allows the bishop to print a form for any student who might be taking released-time seminary. If the Potential Seminary Students screen has been completed, the information will print on the Request for Released Time form. The parents should sign the form and return it to the bishop.
- Seminary Attendance Report. This report is downloaded to MLS by S&I and lists each student and their percentage of attendance. It is divided into two parts, one for students who have been baptized and one for students who are children of record who have not been baptized.
- Seminary Graduation Report. This report has not changed.
- Stake Summary Report. This report is available to stakes only. It has two sections, one for seminary and one for institute. It lists the number of students eligible, the number enrolled, the percent enrolled, and what percentage of classes each student has attended.
- Guidelines to Find the New Address of Members Who Have Moved Out. When units move out an individual or a family and answer the question "Is the new address known?" with a No, a list of guidelines on finding the new address will pop up. Following these guidelines will often help clerks find the new address. The guidelines are:
- Call any known telephone numbers
- Send an appropriate e-mail to any last known e-mail addresses
- Contact known relatives
- If available, call family telephone numbers
- Contact known friends and other Church members
- Contact all ward priesthood and auxiliary leaders
- Contact the occupants at the member's last known address to see if they have a forwarding address
- Contact the neighbors on both sides of the member's last known address to see if they have a forwarding address
- If available in your area, visit the local post office for forwarding address or contact information
- If available in your area, visit the local library or other locations to check electoral registers
- Do Not Recommend a Currently Serving Temple Sealer as a New Bishop or New Counselor to the Stake President. A statement has been added to the Recommendation for New Bishop and the Recommendation for New Counselor to Stake President forms. It states, "Generally those currently serving as temple sealers are not to be recommended."
- Young Single Adult (YSA) and Student Wards Can Now Move Several Members (Move-ins or Move-outs) on One Screen in MLS. When YSA and student wards use the "Request Records" or "Move Records Out" feature in MLS, they now have a third choice in the window that appears, "Move Multiple Records." This allows the clerk to select the names of members that will be moved and enter their address and telephone information. Only YSA and student wards will have this feature available.
- Changing or Updating Callings. When changing or updating callings, you may not see the change in MLS reports until you have done Send/Receive Changes two or more times.
- Change to Delivery of Internal Record of Purchase (IROP) Statements. For units in Canada, Guatemala, and the U.S., the IROP statements will no longer be delivered by postal mail. They will be sent through MLS, available on the same screen used to access Unit Financial Statements. The MLS IROP will be the official copy and available on the screen, reducing the need for IROPS to be printed. IROPs will also be maintained in MLS for the financial records retention period required by local law.
- Cannot Change the Amount on a Cleared Donation or Expense. Once a donation (in a deposit) or an expense has cleared the bank, units will not be able to go into the closed batch and change the amount of the donation or expense. It will still be possible to transfer an amount from one category or subcategory to another. If the total amount needs to be changed, contact the administrative office.
