Dear President______,
Here’s a report from church today:
“My bishop just said next Sunday there will be a meeting for parents about worthiness interviews for the parents knowledge about them. He is obviously holding this meeting because of the recent outrage at the church for these interviews.”
Change is coming. The only question is when. We, you and me, have the opportunity to protect the good name of the church. Lead the charge to protect our children.
We…are…Texans! We are independent. We don’t lag behind. When we see a need, we gallop to the rescue. Let’s jump on our horses and gallop to protect our children.
I’m paying all the expenses for the news conference on Tuesday, Feb 6. All you need to do is show up. You will be highly respected by every single person in our fair city….including the 100,000 Mormons who live in the viewing area.
As President Monson said, “May we ever choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.”
How sweet would it be if after the news conference, you and I were the ones making the rounds on the morning TV shows and then the afternoon radio shows. I’d pay your way to fly with me to New York and Los Angeles for all the national media that is up ahead. Make no mistake…IT IS COMING!
Of course, we both may be excommunicated. But, that’s OK. Is there a more noble cause than speaking up for the protection of our children? You and I will go down as followers of Jesus Christ no matter the consequences.
Your brother in Christ,
-Sam
(I sent this letter to my Stake President today.)
Tocubit Is Invisible's Cubit 
It was Texas, not Utah who finally put an end to the abuse that Warren Jeffs was inflicting on children. Sometimes it takes a Texan!
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What an amazing observation!!! I jumped up and shouted YESSSS!!! when I read it. This is going in my news conference talk. Thank you Colleendown!
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Such a great letter…..I hope he will respond! Wish we could be there! Janene
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Sam,
Something bigger than even God is behind your efforts to protect children from harm. What could that be? The truth!!
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Thank you!
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I’m in DFW–would get down to Houston if I were able to. I definitely signed the petition. And go you!!
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Thanks for your support, my friend!
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Hi Sam,
I’ve had some PR training as part of my job.
Suggestions for your news conference on February 6.
Rule number 1. It’s about people. The media and the public care most about how this impacts people.
Rule number 2. know what you want to get across. Know your talking points. make it as simple as possible.
Rule number 3. No matter what they ask you stick to your talking points.
I believe what will resonate with the public and should resonate with church leaders the most is that you have the stories of 300 people who were abused or otherwise harmed by these interviews. This is like other clergy abuse stories but potentially even bigger! This is the human interest part of this and will get the most play.
So lead with that:
“We have over 300 people who have reported how they were abused or otherwise harmed by these one on one interviews. Tell one of the stories you received. Our children deserve to be protected from abuse. This needs to stop and there are two simple things the church can do. 1. Stop one-one-one interviews with youth and children. Have a parent present. 2. The church must stop its leaders from discussing explicit sexual behaviors like masturbation with youth.” leave it at that and repeat it over and over.
Here it is again:
Children have been and are being harmed…we have many stories of people who have reported being sexually abused as a child. It’s horrible and must be stopped. This is as bad or worse than any other clergy abuse scandal that has happened in the USA.
To prevent the church must stop one-on-one interviews between leaders and youth
and church leaders must stop discussing explicit sexual behaviors with youth.
These practices of discussing sexual things alone with youth occurs in no other organization we know of and it isn’t necessary.
What sound bites do you want to appear on the news or in the newspaper?…make sure you repeat that the most. The shorter the better.
Any question they ask you…the answer needs to revolve around your talking points.
Why are you doing this?…because hundreds of people have reported being abused by these interviews. The interviews and sexual discussions need to stop.
What does the church say to you about this?…answer…the church knows about this abuse and has been reluctant to change. I don’t understand why. The church needs to stop these one-on-one youth interviews.
Why does the church do these interviews? answer…Regardless why, these interviews have resulted in far too many cases of abuse. It’s time to reform this practice and stop one-on-one interviews.
We’ve heard you’ve been threatened with church discipline. I’m just so sad that this abuse has happened and want it to stop. They can stop it by …
Have these abused people talked to the police? There are certainly cases of abuse by mormon leaders that have been prosecuted by the police. Even more are sensitive issues for people who don’t report and just too many have been abused. Some simple actions can help prevent this abuse in the future….
How did you handle this when you were a bishop? I didn’t realize that this abuse was happening and I certainly didn’t talk about these things…but now we know it has and does happen far too much. We have the stories of abuse. It would be easy to stop one-on-one interviews…
Think of all the questions they might ask and how to answer with your talking points even if you think the talking points don’t answer the question asked. That’s how you have to play it.
Can we talk to someone who has claimed to be abused? Can you find someone from your stories who would be open to an interview and give the same talking points?
Best of luck on Tuesday.
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Hey Sam!
Will someone live stream this event on Facebook? I’m in AZ and would love to see it.
I think you’re doing such a great and noble thing. I mentioned the issue and the devastating result of these interviews to my mother. She took a moment to think about it, asked me where I got my information which I told her it was a very reliable and credible source. She then got up with a smirk on her face and shook her head and walked away in disbelief. I stood up and said I’ll be damned if I allow my girls to go behind closed doors with a bishop! EVER!
How else can we get the point across?
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It will be live streamed on FB and YouTube. I’ll provide the YouTube link soon.
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