Temple Assignment Assignments

[Eddie]

Ah! There's your perfect response, Dwight. Email back and tell him you're currently not able to attend the temple. You'll never get an email from that guy again.

Or you call him back and say "um...did the Bishop say it's OK that I go to the temple for this? Really? That's awesome!"

[falafel]

Or you call him back and say "um...did the Bishop say it's OK that I go to the temple for this? Really? That's awesome!"

lol. Then add: "I thought it would be at LEAST a few more years, but who am I to argue!"

[Pheidippides]

I vented to my wife about this (temple assignments) last week. In my stake they not only make assignments but tell people they should take vacation days to fill them.

I say, if you don't have enough people to run the temple all day long, maybe you shouldn't be running the temple all day long.

[BigFatMeanie]

I'm seeing claims that it's poor leadership, but no arguments or evidence supporting such claims.

For those who claim that it is poor leadership, would you care to elaborate on why it is poor and what better leadership would look like?

[Moliere]

I vented to my wife about this (temple assignments) last week. In my stake they not only make assignments but tell people they should take vacation days to fill them.

I say, if you don't have enough people to run the temple all day long, maybe you shouldn't be running the temple all day long.

I wonder if temple presidents have a quota to meet. I honestly have no idea, but things like this go beyond encouragement to attend the temple. This is almost desperation.

This also reminds me of the assignment we often get to work the night shift (not the swing shift) at the peanut butter factory. Recently they've been giving that one tothe singles ward since apparently few of them can hold down a job and they probably also count it as a group date.

[Pheidippides]

I wonder if temple presidents have a quota to meet. I honestly have no idea, but things like this go beyond encouragement to attend the temple. This is almost desperation.

This also reminds me of the assignment we often get to work the night shift (not the swing shift) at the peanut butter factory. Recently they've been giving that one tothe singles ward since apparently few of them can hold down a job and they probably also count it as a group date.

When our ward gets the assignment for the factory, we have volunteers with the stipulation that you can't buy any peanut butter unless you volunteer. That has worked really well.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'm seeing claims that it's poor leadership, but no arguments or evidence supporting such claims.

For those who claim that it is poor leadership, would you care to elaborate on why it is poor and what better leadership would look like?

More than two days advance notice for starters.

Structure the e-mail such that it at least seems like a request rather than an order. "Brother ____, I apologize for the late notice, but I was wondering if you could be so kind as to .....". If people feel like they are being guilted, manipulated or coerced into participating, they will resent the assignment and won't be doing it in the proper spirit anyway.

Also, make a phone call. Assignment by e-mail seems lazy and impersonal. Especially with the "if you can't do it, it is your responsibility to find a replacement" bit. Seriously, if you think this is proper protocol, how could you possibly object to the e-mail simply being forwarded to someone else in the quorum if one chooses to decline?

[BlueHair]

This is a reminder that there are very few that are truly willing give all their time, talents, and possessions to build the kindom of God. Shame on you all!

I hope someone bites!

[BigFatMeanie]

I wonder if temple presidents have a quota to meet. I honestly have no idea, but things like this go beyond encouragement to attend the temple. This is almost desperation.

This also reminds me of the assignment we often get to work the night shift (not the swing shift) at the peanut butter factory. Recently they've been giving that one tothe singles ward since apparently few of them can hold down a job and they probably also count it as a group date.

No, they don't have a quota; however, they do schedule sealers and personnel and such that sit around with nothing to do if nobody shows up. The temple presidency has to gauge demand such that they have sealers available for when people want to do sealings but don't overschedule such that there are lots of people sitting around with nothing to do. It's also possible that Dwight's ward specifically scheduled a specific time with the temple and committed to a specific number of people. It's possible that they thought they could get enough volunteers and then panicked when it got late in the game and they realized they wouldn't meet their commitment. In other words, don't necessarily blame the temple. Dwight could just have an overzealous HP group leader, ward, or stake temple committee.

I would agree that the particulars of Dwight's case are unusual. It's unusual to do the "by assignment" method for temple sealings and it's unusual to give such short notice. To that extent I would say it exhibits poor leadership. However, I don't think making assignments in the general sense is a symptom of poor leadership. In fact, I could argue that it is a symptom of strong leadership.

My ward makes assignments for service opportunities such as welfare, meetinghouse cleaning, and temple cleaning but not for things like sealings. All the assignments are handed out at the beginning of the year and are published in the ward bulletin will in advance. It eliminates the problem of having the STPs do everything. Lamers that usually offer the excuse of "I have to work" (don't we all?) have no real excuse when they are notified 6 months in advance and so can schedule a half-day off.

[falafel]

No, they don't have a quota; however, they do schedule sealers and personnel and such that sit around with nothing to do if nobody shows up. The temple presidency has to gauge demand such that they have sealers available for when people want to do sealings but don't overschedule such that there are lots of people sitting around with nothing to do. It's also possible that Dwight's ward specifically scheduled a specific time with the temple and committed to a specific number of people. It's possible that they thought they could get enough volunteers and then panicked when it got late in the game and they realized they wouldn't meet their commitment. In other words, don't necessarily blame the temple. Dwight could just have an overzealous HP group leader, ward, or stake temple committee.

I would agree that the particulars of Dwight's case are unusual. It's unusual to do the "by assignment" method for temple sealings and it's unusual to give such short notice. To that extent I would say it exhibits poor leadership. However, I don't think making assignments in the general sense is a symptom of poor leadership. In fact, I could argue that it is a symptom of strong leadership.

My ward makes assignments for service opportunities such as welfare, meetinghouse cleaning, and temple cleaning but not for things like sealings. All the assignments are handed out at the beginning of the year and are published in the ward bulletin will in advance. It eliminates the problem of having the STPs do everything. Lamers that usually offer the excuse of "I have to work" (don't we all?) have no real excuse when they are notified 6 months in advance and so can schedule a half-day off.

Temple attendance in Las Vegas (Dwight's temple district) has decreased dramatically in the last 10 years (or so I'm told). As such, they've started assigning attendance to the stakes, which filter it down to the wards, which assign it out to members. We've been told that our ward has an assignment for this particular month and that we need to fill these particular days (often 8-5 type hours during the week) with sealings, initiatories, etc.

I personally think a lot of the drop has to do with the location of the temple in Las Vegas. Las Vegas has grown a ton in the last 10 years, but nearly all of the growth has been in the furthest areas from the temple, in Summerlin and the Northwest. There is no good route to reach the temple, as every area of the valley has some sort of freeway access except the far east side of the valley. Meanwhile, all the membership lives in Henderson, Summerlin, the southwest and the northwest. Its just not easy to get to on a weekday (get a babysitter, get out to the temple before the last session starts in the 7:00 hour, and then get home). You'd basically have to be going from 5:30 until 10, and you wouldn't even get dinner unless you ate afterwards at 9:30 at night.

[Sleeping in EQ]

In the wards I've been in, assignments start happening when the membership repeatedly demonstrates they will not volunteer for jack shit. It's the Tactic of Last Resort.

I know what it's like to have no one volunteer to help with an important project. I understand your frustration, and sometimes I share it.

I think a structural problem has been creeping up on the Church for some time, and you've nailed it. It's that we're being asked to do "jack shit."

We have worked so hard to correlate and simplify so many callings, lessons, talks, and service opportunities so that that guy won't screw it up, that we have made most Church experiences talent free. Are you looking for a bushel to hide your talents beneath? The Church will fit the bill. At the day of judgment, do you want to show how you buried your talents? Spend all your time doing jack shit.

When the Church is talent free, people don't find working in it beneficial. This is a problem for men, whose talents are often institutionally ignored. Cooking casseroles? Babysitting so people can go to the temple? Singing in the choir? If you are a guy who isn't bookish, a businessman, or in the posession of a tiny vagina, you better be in the Scouts. Hell, at least when the EQ helps people move the guys can put their backs into it.

And if you are a woman who has talents that Mormons think are masculine? Watch out, you just became the ward bitch. There you will be, fulfilling a jack shit assignment with no one interested in your abilities and no opportunities. And if you complain about the jack shit--watch out! You'll find you are in for a lifetime of it.

Jack shit assignments have become more prevalent as Church members have become more mobile. People relocate, are gone on business, are only in a ward for a short time.

Music callings have been designed for someone who is unreliable, who is a robot, or who is a CD player. People with music talent get discouraged because callings like chorister and organist have been McDonaldized into assignments where people understand they have no ownership, no input, no nothing.

Think you want to inspire people by singing a solo? Think again. The only talent that is allowed to draw attention to itself during Sacrament Meeting is management. The suits get to solo every week. Yes, vocalist, you will be asked to sing jack shit.

How about when nobody knows who is teaching EQ and someone hands a book to the member of the Presidency? Classic jack shit right there.

How about the Relief Society meeting where no one says what they really think because they are all being held down by a doily of pseudo-niceness? It's jack shit for both the teacher and the Society members.

How about the boy in senior primary who has been sitting on his ass for most of three hours and is being disciplined for "acting up?" Well, he's been asked to do jack shit.

How about the talk that was just re-hashed quotes and cliches? When you fling jack shit, you shouldn't be shocked when your audience shields itself with cell phones and coloring books.

How about when someone creates work for me because all the jack shit has fallen on them and they don't know anything about leadership, so they rely on "do it because I already scheduled you to do it?" Passing jack shit along doesn't solve anything. In fact, it reinforces people going through the motions, puts them off when they are busy, and makes the whole process resentful.

Of course I'm exaggerating and somewhere along the way I've started channeling George Carlin. There are people who manage to sneak their talents into their service despite the excessive simplification. But you get the idea. When we're being asked to do more than jack shit, many of us will stop being jack Mormons.

[Eddie]

I'm seeing claims that it's poor leadership, but no arguments or evidence supporting such claims.

For those who claim that it is poor leadership, would you care to elaborate on why it is poor and what better leadership would look like?

I don't think giving assignments is poor leadership.

I do think that sending someone an email reminder of an assignment 3 days prior to the assignment - which also happens to be the first time the person being assigned has heard that it was an assignment - is poor leadership.

It smacks of someone forgetting to make the initial assignment or not wanting to be in a position where they could be told "no" to accepting the assignment.

I'll go on record as saying that generally speaking I'm OK with assignments being assignments - with the person assigned responsible to fill them or see that they are filled by someone else. An example of good leadership would include either telling the people as a group that the assignments are coming or making a personal call to tell a person an assignment is coming. Having one just show up with little time to rearrange a schedule in case of work, school, or other commitments just isn't cool.

[TripletDaddy]

Outsmart your ward. Go to the temple assignment but then leave right at the beginning when you are given a prompt to do so of your own free will.

You fulfill the assignment and you also get a built-in excuse to leave right away. Half the ward will think you are bad-a$$ and the other half will be frustrated by the spiritual loophole that you have just exposed.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Whatever irritation you are experiencing due to this unexpected assignment method, it's not one tenth of the frustration experienced by the guy who does the assignments. In my experience people don't shift to this method unless they are on their very last nerve with people who avoid helping out, or who back out at the last moment. (Not implying that you do).

This assignment method is usually reverted to right before someone quits. Then you'll probably be called on to make the assignments.

I should have prefaced my comment with the fact that I get this. I really do. I've been in EQ presidencies before and have been the one making phone calls. In Las Vegas when everyone suddenly is foreclosing on their house? Yes. Lots of phone calls. And lots of heavy lifting by the typical four.

I think the obvious solution is for you to now "assign" someone else to do the sealings and let them know that if they are unable to fill this assignment, it is their responsibility to find someone else to fill it. Basically copy and paste the email.

This was my first comment to my wife. I told her that I would let her pick the new assignee.

Let this be a lesson to never willingly divulge contact info (especially email) with ward members.

Noted. I thought not having a land line would be good enough.

Stop raising your hand to sustain people. When they assign you, tell them you didn't and don't sustain them.

So if I consistently miss the sustaining part of Sacrament meeting, is that sustaining by default or do I have to physically be within sight to officially not sustain someone?

I'm seeing claims that it's poor leadership, but no arguments or evidence supporting such claims.

For those who claim that it is poor leadership, would you care to elaborate on why it is poor and what better leadership would look like?

I think that it is very poor leadership. Yes, the short notice is one thing, as someone who consistently plans poorly, I can live with that. But the way in which they "tried" to fulfill their assignments is just lazy. And impersonal. And exactly how this presidency likes to conduct business. I also received an email Sunday morning in a very terse tone because on 4 people in the whole quorum had responded to the previous email on reporting their home teaching. "Be sure to include a sentence or two for the Bishop about each family." Yes, because you've demonstrated very clearly how concerned you are about my families. I'm sorry. It's lazy. If this is the future of church leadership, just give me a webpage that I can log onto and check my box.

I can't imagine any Bishop handing out a calling by email. But home teaching is. If temple attendance and home teaching are truly two of the most sacred activities in the church, then we do them a major disservice by handing those assignments out by defaults. Not only is there a lack of ability to know whether or not someone is even worthy to fulfill the assignment, but it sends the message, "I don't care if you go to the temple, just as long as someone is there in your spot." I'm going to start applying this strategy at work. Every time my boss asks me about a missed assignment, I'll just shrug my shoulders and say, "Huh. I sent an email to so and so to do it and if they couldn't it was up to them to find someone else."

I realize that they're frustrated with people not stepping up to volunteer. But I have stepped up for everything except for temple assignments. Strong arming me into the temple probably isn't the best approach. And no. I wasn't one of the four that had replied to the email either. Do you know why? Because every time that I have replied to that email with questions or seeking advice on one of my families, I've not once gotten a response.

Temple attendance in Las Vegas (Dwight's temple district) has decreased dramatically in the last 10 years (or so I'm told).

I personally think a lot of the drop has to do with the location of the temple in Las Vegas. Las Vegas has grown a ton in the last 10 years, but nearly all of the growth has been in the furthest areas from the temple, in Summerlin and the Northwest. There is no good route to reach the temple, as every area of the valley has some sort of freeway access except the far east side of the valley. Meanwhile, all the membership lives in Henderson, Summerlin, the southwest and the northwest. Its just not easy to get to on a weekday (get a babysitter, get out to the temple before the last session starts in the 7:00 hour, and then get home). You'd basically have to be going from 5:30 until 10, and you wouldn't even get dinner unless you ate afterwards at 9:30 at night.

A. Stop following me. B. I'm not so sure if it's the distance to the temple that's as discouraging as much as the neighborhood that you have to navigate through to get there. I'm pretty sure that any blessings acquired from temple attendance are immediately used up by quiet prayers for safe passage up and down Bonanza after dark.

[falafel]

A. Stop following me. B. I'm not so sure if it's the distance to the temple that's as discouraging as much as the neighborhood that you have to navigate through to get there. I'm pretty sure that any blessings acquired from temple attendance are immediately used up by quiet prayers for safe passage up and down Bonanza after dark.

My entire bishopric was in an accident with a drunk driver while on that stretch of Bonanza heading to the temple.

I would also like to announce to the board that Dwight had Subway for lunch today. Tuna.