Comments on: Policies for Submitting Names for Temple Ordinances

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:04:50 +0000

There *is* a mechanism in place whereby the Church does automatically complete the ordinances for members after some period of time, if their deaths have been reported by membership clerks — it isn’t immediately after the one-year-past-death rule, giving immediate family members a chance to do it if they wish, but I don’t know just when that time is. It seems to me to be a nice compromise between letting survivors care for their own loved ones while still recognizing that bond, even obligation, that we have among the body of saints. Perhaps the number of Saints who need that care is dwindling now, but of course before the wide scattering of temples there were large numbers of faithful Saints who had virtually no hope of ever being able to travel to a temple.

(Which reminds me to remind you of the Temple Patron Assistance Fund, which lets us all combine even small donations into the means of aiding those Saints who are too poor or live too far away to travel for their first and likely only lifetime temple visit.)

By: John Mansfield

John Mansfield — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:23:26 +0000

I wonder how Susan Easton Black’s project to provide temple work to unendowed LDS pioneers worked out. It was well publicized, and outside the frame of work for our own relativs, though a case could be for past Latter-day Saints being our own dead. I like to think there is some meaningful bond among the saints other than kinship, the sort that makes us want to read the things Ardis puts up on this website.

By: PostScript

PostScript — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 06:32:41 +0000

Quoting Ardis, from #2: “And of course many Latter-day Saints, including me, and including Anne (U.K.), have complained that some stranger has stepped in and done work for recently deceased people for whom we are the nearest kin with the right to do the work — that’s not a public problem but it has been a bitter disappointment to individuals involved.”

Both of my grandfathers’ names have been submitted for Temple work by non-relatives. One has had his work done twice, and the other four times! My family is both very annoyed that strangers have been submitting names that they really shouldn’t be, and very amused: both of my grandfathers were members of the church, and, naturally, took care of their Temple work themselves!

By: Maurine Ward

Maurine Ward — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 04:16:57 +0000

My announcement shows the logo at the top of the page all in caps, then halfway down the announcement at the top of the letter, the name of the church is in small caps, so both are correct.

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:06:52 +0000

I pointed that same mistake out to the stake clerk once. He had used the wrong format on some stake forms. I don’t think he ever changed it, though.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:40:15 +0000

Hey, I can get behind that recommendation! I’m amazed at how often I see the wrong format, even among Latter-day Saints.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:31:52 +0000

Okay — my Firefox browser blocked the logo image and instead displayed the substitute text, which it rendered with “Latter-Day Saints.” So … someone needs to teach Firefox the proper form of the Church’s full name!

By: David Y.

David Y. — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:40:30 +0000

Yeah, I don’t see that in my email, either, Dave.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:15:59 +0000

I don’t see that in my email, Dave. I find “LDS Church,” the full name of the Church in all caps, and the standard logo.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:23:51 +0000

Assuming I got the same email you got, you forgot to mention the most interesting detail: the title to the email got the name of the Church wrong! In large font at the top of the email is displayed: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Intitially, this made me think it might be a phony email, but on reflection I think it just means the Church needs to teach correct orthography as well as correct doctrine.