MLS Is Deleting People

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
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terrysackett
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MLS Is Deleting People

#1

Post by terrysackett »

Since our upgrade to MLS 2.7 we have had several problems with membership data getting deleted and finance data getting corrupted.

One of the current issues is an infant that I entered in September, that was blessed in November. Our YM president's wife had a baby girl in September, and I entered her into the system in October. On 27 October, I printed the Child Blessing form for her dad to sign in PEC meeting the following day. The following week, on 4 November, the dad blessed the girl and I printed the certificate. Two weeks later, the family comes in for tithing settlement and to check their IOSes. Surprise! The daughter is no longer in the system and no child is listed under the parents' names.

Okay, so do I create a new member of record now, or is there something else to try?
russellhltn
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#2

Post by russellhltn »

I would call clerk support to get to the bottom of what's going on. The child might already be in the church's system, but just not showing on yours. To create another would cause a duplicate record.

Some things to check on - has anyone restored the database for any reason? Are you using just the default "clerk" Windows login for all MLS usage?
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Jimmer-p40
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Try restoring your files.

#3

Post by Jimmer-p40 »

There is a chance that your membership files need to be updated. Try doing a request unit refresh data.
To restore the files click on File- Request Unit Refresh Data. From the box that pops up select the files you'd like to have refreshed and click 'OK'. The next time you do a send/receive this request will be submitted to HQ. Wait a few hours and do another send/receive to get the results of that request for new membership records.

The other thing that you could do is have your bishop call headquarters and search for the record that you have created. I don't think that they can give you membership information but I know that they can for the bishop.

Hope this helps
russellhltn
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#4

Post by russellhltn »

Jimmer wrote:The other thing that you could do is have your bishop call headquarters and search for the record that you have created. I don't think that they can give you membership information but I know that they can for the bishop.
While they may give a bishop more information, I've never had a problem with them not working with a clerk to resolve issues. I'm sure they'll be happy to check and see if the membership record was ever created in SLC and simply needs to find it's way back to the local MLS system or if it needs to be re-created.

It's possible that the MLS database has gotten corrupted. If that's the case then the root problem needs to be treated and not just the symptom. That's why I think it's best to talk to clerk support to have them look at the issue.
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Jimmer-p40
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#5

Post by Jimmer-p40 »

RussellHltn wrote:While they may give a bishop more information, I've never had a problem with them not working with a clerk to resolve issues. I'm sure they'll be happy to check and see if the membership record was ever created in SLC and simply needs to find it's way back to the local MLS system or if it needs to be re-created.
Actually it is against their policy for them to verify a membership to anyone except the priesthood leader meaning the Bishop or the stake president. This is what they have told me in a similar situation. They said that if they could not verify who I was that they would not be able to give out membership information to protect the privacy of the member. The answer that I provided was from a message that I recieved through the MLS message system. What they did in my situation is suggest what I had talked about before with restoring the files or to have the bishop call. They also told me to simply request the record again to see if got pulled out of the ward by accident.

The fix in my situation was to restore the files using "request unit refresh data". They told me that at times once the record is created at headquarters it gets sent to the wards MLS but it stays "behind the scenes" so the refresh will restore all of the information that headquarters has, back to the MLS at the ward level.
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Jeremy-p40
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#6

Post by Jeremy-p40 »

Jimmer wrote:Actually it is against their policy for them to verify a membership to anyone except the priesthood leader meaning the Bishop or the stake president. This is what they have told me in a similar situation. They said that if they could not verify who I was that they would not be able to give out membership information to protect the privacy of the member. The answer that I provided was from a message that I recieved through the MLS message system. What they did in my situation is suggest what I had talked about before with restoring the files or to have the bishop call. They also told me to simply request the record again to see if got pulled out of the ward by accident.

The fix in my situation was to restore the files using "request unit refresh data". They told me that at times once the record is created at headquarters it gets sent to the wards MLS but it stays "behind the scenes" so the refresh will restore all of the information that headquarters has, back to the MLS at the ward level.
My recommendation is to send a message through MLS Messages. MLS Support will not provide answers for you over the phone, as they cannot verify you, but they can "verify" a request sent directly from MLS Messages. They will then let you know whether the child's record has been created and provide any instructions you may need. Just make certain that you provide them with the full name of the child and the full names and record numbers of the parents, or they will have to write you back and request that information.
:D Happy to serve
vernondcole
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#7

Post by vernondcole »

Hmmm. One wonders how they "verify" who the Bishop is. They can look up his name on the COI directory, but how do they know that the person on the phone is actually that individual? The Church has no information about the Bishop which I (as clerk) do not also have. I can say "my name is Jeff Wright" just as easily as my Branch President can. Good thing we are all honest in the Church isn't it?
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Jimmer-p40
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#8

Post by Jimmer-p40 »

kf7xm wrote:Hmmm. One wonders how they "verify" who the Bishop is. They can look up his name on the COI directory, but how do they know that the person on the phone is actually that individual? The Church has no information about the Bishop which I (as clerk) do not also have. I can say "my name is Jeff Wright" just as easily as my Branch President can. Good thing we are all honest in the Church isn't it?

I asked headquarters that very question, how do they know if I was or was not the bishop. They said that they have information about bishops that only they would know. I jokeingly said that I knew everything about the bishop. They asked me if I knew what city the bishops mother lived in..... So I asked if that is the question that they ask avery time. They said oh no, we have plenty more where that came from. They are pretty thorough. Unfortunately, they can't depend on honesty. :eek:
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terrysackett
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#9

Post by terrysackett »

As always, thank you to everyone for the suggestions.

This will probably start another thread, but it sure would be nice to have these issues in the FAQ of the online clerk training.
Humanriff-p40
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Disappearing Record

#10

Post by Humanriff-p40 »

I had this exact scenario happen to me about six months ago (blessed baby disappearing). I just did a normal record request and the record came back the next week. I had to relink the record back to the mother and household, but that was it.
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