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Canadiangirl’s post on TR’s sparked this topic in my mind. Two years ago I went into my Tr interview with the SP. He sat me down and said “do you feel worthy to enter the temple?” I said “yes”. Then he said “OK, I’m going to sign it then”. Pulled out the pen and looked like he was going to just sign it and give it to me. I was a little shocked and replied “OKaaayeeeeeee” — sort of tentatively. LIke I was saying, “I will agree with what you’re doing, but it strikes me as unusual”. He then put the pen down, and said “You know, there are people who won’t just let me do this — they want to ask every question”. I replied “whether you ask all the questions is your call, in my view — however you want to do it”. I don’t believe he ever asked all the questions — I think he just signed it.
Why do you think he did this? Just in a hurry? Showing a lot of trust for me? Testing me to see if I’d object? Trying to teach a principle?
Hard to say what his motivations are, but I can’t see that as terribly flawed. The efficiency of it is appealing. It violates standard policy IMO (the letter of the law), but you know the questions. He knows the questions. He knows you know the questions. So he was just cutting to the chase, essentially. Are you worthy? That single question really is the only question in the TR interview. All the other questions are restatements in details. I think that experience was about him knowing you, and having a level of trust in your competence to just summarize the whole experience with an all-encompassing yes/no answer. I would be willing to bet he did not do that with members unfamiliar to him, or people he suspected had issues (whether anyone had them or not).
I thought that as one possibility. I’d met with him once when I thought he was going to call me to be a Bishop, and I gave a torrent of mistakes I made in my life. Nothing court-worthy, but one of the mistakes were related to a huge trial in my life through which I stayed active. Tears streamed down his face and he said “you’ve really brought the Spirit into this interview” and then he complemented me — I wonder if that had something to do with it….not sure. Conversely, he was teaching me about the need to ask all the questions with most people since I had been a Bishop’s Counselor before. He was prepared to deviate from it in that case, but didn’t want me to think it was standard practice…not sure.
I think your analysis is plausible, however.
I have heard a couple other instances of the same event. I don’t think it is uncommon in the church. One guy walked into an interview and was asked “how are you doing?” His answer was “Well, I can answer all the questions the right way” to which the interviwer promptly said “that’s good enough for me” and signed the recommend. Doesn’t surprise me at all. Actually I think one SP counsellor almost did that with me one time, kind of asked “do you want me to go through all the questions?” But then I think he just did because he didn’t know me very well and wanted to do his job properly.
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