Interview with a General Authrity

Amber and I had the blessed opportunity of meeting with a General Authority. It is part of the process for hiring for a seminary teacher. Every teacher must pass a worthiness interview with a General Authority.

It started off high stress. WE were in a snow storm and we arrived a little late. It reminded me too much of Mom and Dad with their story of going to meet with Elder Hales. The following are some thoughts we copied down as soon as we got home. We wished we had had a tape recorder. What an experience!

-He was so straightforward and direct.  I don’t know if I’ve ever dealt with someone as forward as him.

-”If you don’t hold a temple recommend or ever are not worthy of one, you will be fired”  He said the word fired probably 3 or 4 times

-”This is the beginning and the end of my meeting with you.  I won’t even know if you end up getting the job or not.  Every potential seminary teacher must meet with a General Authority, so that is the purpose of our meeting”

-He didn’t smile for a very long time.  THe first 30 minutes were tense and intense.

-Things loosened up after a little bit. His directness, his straightforwardness was refreshing.  It also reminded me of how serious this work is.  It’s not something to be taken lightly, it is GOd’s work and God’s work should be a priority. The seminary program has a benchmark talk given by Rueben J. Clark clear back in the 1930's in which he says "The youth of the Church are hungry for things of the Spirit; they are eager to learn the gospel, and they want it straight, undiluted."  His speaking to me was straight and undiluted.

He asked several questions, all a little difficult to answer

-He asked me to bear my testimony.

-He asked me to explain what the atonement means.

-He asked me what my feelings were about the family proclamation.

-He asked what we do already with Hyrum to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He told of some of his grandkids that he’s seen pictures of at 6 months of age having their parents take them to the temple and having them touch it.  Another one they had the child reaching out and touching the hand of the Christus.  

-He asked what my personal scripture study was like.  I told him I study D&C for my lessons and then study for Sunday's Sunday school lessons. He said that I should be having my own personal daily scripture study apart from seminary and church and compared scripture study to filing cabinets that need to be filled with scriptures from all sources. I started the Book of Mormon that night :)

All of these questions he asked I was wondering if I was giving good answers or not.  Since then I’ve just thought there’s not a right or wrong answer, they are answers from the heart.  

-His most difficult question, what would you say to one of your students who has same gender attraction.  I did my best.  I asked him if he wouldn’t mind sharing his feelings on that at the end of our interview.  

Question to Amber:

- He asked me if Reed was a good husband and if Reed loved me. He also asked us if we intended to have children, in which we answered that we had a 6 month old boy. Elder Baxter then asked me if Reed was a good dad.

Same Gender attraction discussion

We probably spent 30 minutes talking about this.  It was mostly him talking.  He talked about the love that the Savior has.  If I had a student with same gender attraction issues he said that I would need to tell him how much I love him, how much the Savior loves him, and that there is a place for him in the church.  

-He talked about how those with same gender attractions think they have one of two choices.  Either accept it completely and jump into the lifestyle and the gay scene, or live in misery, knowing they have this issue and because of it they’re not allowed to do anything about it and they just live out their lives being unhappy.  A third choice he mentioned was to just end it and take their own lives.  Our responsibility is to show that there is another way.  The gospel of Jesus Christ provides another option.  Same gender attraction is a serious issue, and it may be one that never “goes away” or is “cured”.  It may just be their lot in life to have that trial.  However, it does not mean they cannot love, that they cannot try, that they cannot be happy with someone from the opposite gender.  He cautioned that “getting married” is not a cure for it.  Marriage is for love purpose, so it may be that there are those who go through life never loving someone from the opposite gender.  If so, then there choice is to serve Christ the best they can by being single.  He shared the story of his wife when she thought she wasn't going to get married. She decided that if it was her blessing to be single or her blessing to not have children she would be the best single servant of the Lord and the best mother to others' children. Elder Baxter said how he loved that she used the word blessing. I think this is when he talked about the lady with depression and the two men who had same sex attraction who eventually got married but never overcame their feelings toward the same sex.  He also said that if you’re miserable being single you’ll probably be miserable in marriage.

My question to him

Towards the end of our interview he asked us if we had any questions for him.  This was our chance he said, to ask any question we wanted.  I asked him if he had one piece of advice for a potential seminary teacher what would it be.  “Go to the temple”  This is an answer for a lot of questions he said.  He talked about revelation that can happen at the temple and talked about a personal and sacred revelation he received in the temple days after being called as a 25 year old bishop.  He described it as pure intelligence going through his body.  He had been praying for God’s direction and guidance and had received nothing and started to doubt that he was the right man for the job, that they gave the keys to the wrong person.  Then he said he went to the temple, and their he received the revelation he needed.

I don’t remember what part of our discussion or why he brought it up, but he said the brethren meet on the first Thursday of the month for a meeting.  In the meeting President Monson shared with the rest what keeps him up at night.  It was “beautiful daughters of God not being asked out on dates”  He was funny when talking about men who don’t do their job.  They’d rather play video games.  He talked about being a young man his only goal was trying to figure out how to get girls to go out on dates with him. I think he mentioned this when talking about being a good dad and raising Hyrum… maybe I can’t remember though.

He talked about his growing up.  He was a convert at age 12, a kid from Scotland.  His mother (I think) was divorced and went through several different boyfriends. He came from a long line of alcoholics. By the age of 15 he decided that he couldn’t change the past or what others had done but he could determine his own future.  I think he talked a bit about agency at this time and how important (great gift) it was.

Things that stood out to Amber

• Elder Baxter asked me if Reed was a good dad. I said that he was a great father and Hyrum loved him very much.  Elder Baxter then said, talking to Reed, that it is very important to be a good dad.  Especially for boys.  He said that 1 in 3 boys are growing up without a father and that’s not saying that the fathers that are around are good. Elder Baxter said again how important it is to be a good dad.  
• When talking about same sex attraction and marriage Elder Baxter discussed providing a good, loving home for children.  He mentioned that if we don't have children then whose home will they go to?   He said some people should not be having children though it wasn’t the Christian thing to say.
• Elder Baxter asked if we were prepared to not become rich. He said that seminary teaching was not a big money maker though it would provide for our needs.  
• When Elder Baxter asked Reed if he affiliated or sympathized with any group or individual that choose contrary to the Church’s standards I felt so grateful that Reed could answer with a surety that he didn’t. I hope that we can always sustain our prophet and the brethren even if what they say goes against the world and even some members of the church.