Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Record

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adoga
Member
Posts: 98
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 11:24 am
Location: Kentucky, United States

Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Record

#1

Post by adoga »

We're trying to find some Lost Sheep. The checklist of what we must do before sending records to SLC with no known info includes "Contact all known family Members".

We will often find in their membership record names of family members that have been sealed to them years before (children or parents), or are otherwise obviously members of the church. So we then "Know" who their family members are but we DON'T know their contact info, but SLC probably knows where these memership records are.

AFTER we have exhausted all other efforts to locate the members, Is it our job as clerks to:
  • 1) Ask SLC to send us the contact information for these relatives so that WE can call them?
    2) Ask SLC to contact the relatives for us, or
    3) Send the records to SLC then presume that they will try to contact these extended family members for us.
sghall
New Member
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Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:08 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Re: Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Rec

#2

Post by sghall »

Calling Salt Lake about these family members, they will only provide the unit where the records reside and the contact information for the Bishop/Branch President of that unit.

This question on the checklist has to do with wards that have other members of the family residing in the same unit.

If this is not the case, then send the records to Salt Lake. They will go ahead and contact the member's known family (through the unit leader).
russellhltn
Community Administrator
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Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Rec

#3

Post by russellhltn »

I agree with sghall: You need to contact all known family members in your area, or of which you already have contact information. It will be SLC's responsibility to contact known family members of other units once you send it off as "address unknown".
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
adoga
Member
Posts: 98
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 11:24 am
Location: Kentucky, United States

Re: Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Rec

#4

Post by adoga »

Thank you
jwtaber
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Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 8:01 am
Location: Elsmere, Delaware, USA

Re: Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Rec

#5

Post by jwtaber »

It does help to have some feel for the extended families in your ward and stake. That way if someone flies the coop (or the newspaper prints information about one of them) you can know who to contact, make sure records are in the right place, etc.

If you don't have that kind of know-how about a member's family, you can always (in the US) try whitepages.com with the names on his or her record.
boiseman37
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:23 pm

Re: Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Rec

#6

Post by boiseman37 »

One other thing i have found that helps sometimes. If they are of age to possibily own a home. If your county government has online acess to their files. You can run the name and find them that way too.
jwtaber
Member
Posts: 109
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 8:01 am
Location: Elsmere, Delaware, USA

Re: Lost Sheep: Contacting Family Listed in a Membership Rec

#7

Post by jwtaber »

I work for my county, so I can do that by name - at work. I can also access the county Recorder of Deeds site for buying/selling history. For the two counties my stake primarily lies in, it's possible for anyone to do that by address. If the member used to own the property and has sold it, you know they're not there now. And if the member rents (or rented), at least you have the landlord's information.

My generation (25-50 or so) has tended to marry later, and buy homes later in life than the previous generation. That makes us harder to pin down. And it makes the membership clerk's role as undershepherd all the more important.
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