What can we do to reverse the decision for the Temples not to return our family name slips?
Yesterday July 10 we went to the Manti Temple and accomplished the following:
- about 70 baptisms
- 8 Initiatories
- 10 sealings
- 2 Endowments
It will take me approximately 4 hours of work to reprint the family name slips and given that I have to print them out 4 times to complete a name that means about 16 hours of my time to do something that is repetitive and non-productive. This also means that approximately an additional 120 pages of paper are being wasted. This is not a good financial situation for the Church or more specifically the Stake Family History Center where we are doing our work, as they have to buy the paper. Nor is it a good green environmental policy to waste so much paper.
Not returning Family Name Slips to the Patrons is a terrible customer service policy, and has been a pain in the you know what since instituted.
I understand that it was a burden on the Temple Recorder's staff to get the names / ordinances recorded and the family name slips returned quickly to the patrons. This expectation being stressful upon Temple staff, but the burden placed upon me as a temple patron resulting from that the policy of not returning family name slips is horrendous. Am I willing to wait a few minutes extra to allow the Temple Staff to get the ordinances recorded and return the slips, yes definitely I am.
Also another reality factor is that I have now encountered two occasions where the Recorders offices have made mistakes in getting the ordinances recorded accurately. Ordinances were recorded as having been completed when they were not. One just happened yesterday. Mistakes are expected, but without the Family Name slips being returned to me, my ability to QA the accuracy of the work of Recorder's office staff is essentially eliminated and I am at the mercy of my memory to remember names and ordinances completed. This is unacceptable. (P.S. Requiring me to keep a record of what I am taking to the Temple would add additional unnecessary time to the process.)
Being a first generation convert to the Church I have an almost insurmountable amount or work to get done. There is a non-member distant relative who has been doing research for about 15 years and has placed the names of about 68,000 of my relatives / ancestors onto the European Geneanet web site. So as I ponder the extra amount of time it takes me to get Family Name Slips printed out 4 times rather then what should be a single time, it would be easy to get depressed, and say forget it , this is too much of a pain in the neck.
The policy of not returning our Family Name Slips needs to be reversed.
Brother Carl Sedlak, Spring City First Ward, Mount Pleasant Utah Stake.
cell 858-705-3542
Answers
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We truly appreciate the position you are in. To be The Only One in you family in the position to provide the saving ordinances for your 68,000 family members is certainly a labor o love. We suggest you provide your valid concern to the staff that considers and initiates changes bu going to the bottom of this page and clicking on FEEDBACK. Comments posted there are on a direct path to be looked at by that staff.
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Hello Carl Sedlak,
I sense your frustration in not receiving your temple cards after doing the ordinance work for so many of your relatives.
Here is an article that may explain the reasons for the change in how the temple handles the name cards and how you can receive the notifications that the work has been completed. If you would like to post your idea please go to the Ideas tab on the left of your screen in the community and express your thoughts there for review.
https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/do-temples-still-return-family-name-cards
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Good Evening Carl,
You are not alone in expressing the frustration of not having temple cards returned. We do not want you to feel your concerns are simply ignored.
If you don't mind, I want to share my personal thoughts. I am certain those who make the decisions regarding policies for the Temples do so only after much careful deliberation. I am certain any change, no matter how seemingly small, is made only after careful deliberation, prayer and confirmatory revelation.
Having said that, we endorse a previous suggestion listed that you are able to add your concerns in Feedback. Another place you can use to give your thoughts is by clicking on "Ideas" on the left side of the Community page. If you click on Ideas, you will see an icon of a Temple. Underneath the icon are the words, "What can we do to enhance your ability to take names to the temple?" If you click here, you will a find a place to post your concerns. Be assured items posted in this section are not ignored.
Another suggestion is for you to consider the items in the following article:
Find temple ordinance notifications • FamilySearch
This method of following our temple ordinances from start through completion is not the same as maintaining the paper cards, but we have tried it and find it quite helpful. We have found using these steps for notification actually maintain a lot of information about ordinances without using any paper at all, which was a concern you expressed.
This is a link for an additional article: How do I see and print my completed ordinances list? • FamilySearch This may be useful for you to maintain a personal system to keep track of your family temple ordinances.
We recognize these articles and the information contained in them really does not resolve the issues you posed, but we hope you will find them of some use.
May the Lord continue to bless you as you work to diligently to assist your family members with obtaining their temple ordinances.
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