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I have been away for a couple of weeks (due to conferences), but it seems that I have been called in for a personal priesthood interview* with some new bishop. Someone I have never heard of. I think it’s some American member who’s joined the ward recently. Is this something I should be concerned about, or is this just one of those cases that the bishop pulls someone in to get to know them? Or is it similar to a TR interview? * You know I have been in the church for years and I still don’t know half the jargon. They still keep coming up with things I’ve never really heard of.
Don’t worry about it. Just go in with an open mind and be friendly. Do not commit to anything in the moment. “I will have to pray about that,” is a good response if pressed. 
I like that leaders do PPIs, if they do it right. It could be something they are doing with everyone, Sam, and not for you to worry about as if they are targeting you specifically for something. To me, it is like home teaching…if they care, they want to meet one on one regularly and offer support and help. If they do it wrong, it is a meeting where they feel they aren’t doing their job unless they are committing you to higher standards of commitment and goals, even if you aren’t needing that at the moment.
So…PPI’s usually have to do with accountability and asking how you are doing (related to the TR interview). You’ll have to see if they are doing it to assess your commitment, or if they are doing it to be a support and ask if you need anything to help you develop your testimony.
But as Roy said…you can go with the idea to just see what they have in mind…let them drive the conversation…feel them out on what this is about and why they are doing it. Because it will vary greatly depending on the leader and how they do the PPI.
I would say PPI’s come and go, leaders do them for a while, then don’t for a while.
But…you might prepare for it just knowing how you might respond if they press you to commit you to HT more often or do more or prepare to go to the temple and set goals…how would want to respond to that…prepare your thoughts for providing an accounting on how you’re doing with church service and Priesthood responsibilities…and then when you go let them drive the meeting, and you can answer as vague as you want to, and they’ll likely just move on to the next member of the quorum and they’ll check the box they met with you.
Actually PPIs are not in the handbooks anymore and haven’t been since at least the 2010 Handbook 2 update. DarkJedi wrote:Actually PPIs are not in the handbooks anymore and haven’t been since at least the 2010 Handbook 2 update.
I didn’t know that. I wonder whether everyone else got that memo.
In my experience PPIs were something driven by the elders quorum presidency or high priest group leadership. The EQP and his counselors were supposed to conduct regular PPIs, talking to each member of the quorum individually, and often. In my experience it hardly ever happened, which might be the reason it was dropped.
In all my time as a member I was called in to maybe three PPIs. They were all the same. It was an opportunity to remind people of the importance of home teaching and to feel small if you hadn’t done any.
I didn’t know it until we talked about it in high council. My SP apparently liked them and thinks it’s a crying shame they’re not in there. So much so that he has created work arounds called “home teaching interviews” that he thinks should be done at least quarterly. He also interviews bishops and his counselors interview the high councilors every quarter, and he has the high councilors interview the HPGL and EQP for the ward they advise quarterly (I just did mine Sunday). Personally I can count on one hand the number I had in the many years they were in the manual, and they were a waste of time (mostly travel agents of guilt about home teaching – except at one time I actually did home teach).
From the business models…it was like “Train the Trainers” program…it was “Home Teaching the Home Teachers”. Also from the business models…it was one more layer of management time and effort that needed to be streamlined and removed as a waste in the process, no value added work.
It was mostly just something else they didn’t do regularly.
I have probably had one of these before but did not know it by its proper name. As you know Mormonism is all alphabet soup and fancy names – I’m constantly learning and forgetting these terms. I barely know my MTCs from my MIAs since I’ve never been in either! But I wish they wouldn’t give these things such fearsome names. I had the email through and had to work out whether I was in some kind of trouble.
I skipped the last couple of weeks so never heard about the new bishop. I was expecting one soon – the previous man had been in a while. However, due to my personality I am going to have to get to know this guy sloowlyyy… I haven’t really done more than shake hands with him before. If he is who I think he is.
Brief lowdown – no TR just now, but my HT record is amongst the best in the ward so I can’t be pulled up on that. (I get on very well with my HT companion which helps.) I also hold no callings except family history consultant and no one asks me about FH much!
TGs I can say I wear day and night (most but not all the time tbh), not tithing just now.
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