I have a friend who is a bishop of another ward, and he had a student recently move. This student is a “mid-single”, and was told that the Single Adult ward he tried to go to wouldn’t request his records until the former bishop wrote a letter of recommendation. I won’t give the name of the original ward, or the ward the student was moving to, as that isn’t the point of this. I’ve just never heard of this before, and wondered if it was common?

My friend is supposed to fill out this form letter that says he has interviewed the member, and indicate that the member is worthy, and “is interested in dating and seeking an eternal relationship through appropriate service to the Lord in the ____________ Ward.” I told my friend now that he knows the unit, he should just send the records and forget about the letter.

I don’t know the background behind this, but I can’t think of any reason that would make me accept this. If you live within the boundaries of a unit (or are the proper age when it is an age-specific unit), you are allowed to go. We have a YSA branch in our stake, and if that is where the YSA member wants to go, he can go there. It doesn’t matter if the person smokes, drinks, or hates everyone.  What if the member isn’t worthy, but is working on it? What if circumstances are such that the member can’t have a calling due to time constraints? What if my friend sends the records… are they going to be sent back if the letter doesn’t come?

I understand what the new bishop is trying to do, but it just doesn’t seem right.

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