The following comes from the LDS Misisonary manual, which is found at:

http://www.lds.org/languages/additionalmanuals/preachgospel/PreachMyGospel___00_00_Complete__36617_eng_000.pdf

The craziest part is Holland's quote, on p.8. See below. I haven't read each and every word in this. I skimmed it and found parts that might interest the forum.



p. 4 "The Power and Authority of Your Calling"
Quote:
"The authority that you have received can lead to power. Indeed, spiritual power is one evidence that your authority is real. Spiritual power is a gift that makes it possible for you to do your work more effectively. Your power and authority should be evident as you work and teach. Power may be manifest in many things you do..."


p. 8 "Helping Others Make Commitments: The Door to Faith and Repentance"
Quote:
" Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “The first thing you will do when an investigator tells you he or she had not read and prayed about the Book of Mormon is be devastated! . . . Much of the time we are just too casual about all of this. This is eternal life. This is the salvation of the children of God. Eternity hangs in the balance. . . . It is the most important path this investigator will ever walk. But if he or she doesn’t know that, at least you do! . . . So take control of this situation. Teach with power and authority, and then be devastated if the first steps toward commandment-keeping and covenant-keeping have not been successfully begun” (“Making and Keeping Covenants,” missionary satellite broadcast, Apr. 1997). "

Emphasis: "...and then be devastated if the first steps toward commandment-keeping and covenant-keeping have not been successfully begun"

p. 10 "A Successful Missionary"
Quote:
"You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit."

In other words, if you don't feel as positive as we ask you to feel, the spirit will abandon you.

p. 30 "What Do I Study and Teach?"
Quote:
" Each lesson outlines the baptismal interview questions, commitments, and doctrines that you are to teach. Thoroughly learn the doctrines. Consistently focus on helping those you teach make and keep the commitments. Use the baptismal interview questions to prepare those you teach for baptism and confirmation. "

There is a near constant emphasis on getting people to commit to baptism as soon as possible by using "commitments" which are what HOlland referred to on p. 8 when he said to show disappointment at your investigators when they don't take you serious. For example, at the end of lesson one (p. 41) are these commitments.
• Will you read and pray to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God?
• Will you pray to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet?
• Will you attend church with us this Sunday?

It's interesting to note (p. 46) that they include material about Buddha, Confucius and Mohammed and attach it to the church saying, "many other nations and cultures have been blessed by those who were given that portion “that [God] seeth fit that they should have” (Alma 29:8). Teachings of other religious leaders have helped many people become more civil and ethical."


pp. 89 - 93 "How Do I Recognize and Understand the Spirit?"

Here the church uses typical psycholgical tricks.
1) they bring up positive feelings that everyone has. (Quote: "God loves you and all His children. He is anxious to support you in your practical and specific challenges...He will shower His blessings upon you...")
2) they attach those feelings to the spirit. (Quote: "He will shower His blessings upon you through the gift of the Holy Ghost. He asks that you remain worthy of this gift and that you ask, seek, and knock...The Holy Ghost will help you in every aspect of your work.")
3) they attach the spirit to obeying the church. (Quote: "The Holy Ghost works in the hearts of people...they will feel the power of the Holy Ghost more strongly and will develop the faith to obey Christ...grow in faith by inviting them to repent and to make and keep commitments.")
4) in other parts of the manual, they tell missionaries to express disappointment, devastation and sadness when the investigators don't obey commitments. (see p. 8, 166, 170, 200)

p. 99 "A Word of Caution"
Here church leaders admit the spirit is BS, but only when it counters them and their commandments to the misisonary.
Quote:
" President Howard W. Hunter offered this counsel: “Let me offer a word of caution. . . . I think if we are not careful . . . , we may begin to try to counterfeit the true influence of the Spirit of the Lord by unworthy and manipulative means. I get concerned when it appears that strong emotion or free-flowing tears are equated with the presence of the Spirit. Certainly the Spirit of the Lord can bring strong emotional feelings, including tears, but that outward manifestation ought not to be confused with the presence of the Spirit itself” (The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, 184). The Spirit of the Lord always edifies. Revelation and spiritual experiences are sacred. They should be kept private and discussed only in appropriate situations. As a missionary, you may be more aware of spiritual experiences than you have been earlier in your life. Resist the temptation to talk freely about these experiences. President Boyd K. Packer counseled: “I
have learned that strong, impressive spiritual experiences do not come to us very frequently. And when they do, they are generally for our own edification, instruction, or correction. Unless we are called by proper authority to do so, they do not position us to counsel or to correct others. “I have come to believe also that it is not wise to continually talk of unusual spiritual experiences. They are to be guarded with care and shared only when the Spirit itself prompts you to use them to the blessing of others” (Ensign, Jan. 1983, 53). "


p. 189 "A Plan for Overcoming Addictive Behavior"
Here the church actually discourages manipulation.
Quote:
"Since it is likely that some may return to an addiction, priesthood leaders and members should not be shocked or discouraged if they learn that an investigator or new member may be struggling with such problems. They should show confidence in the individual and not be judgmental if the person yields to an old craving. They should treat it as a temporary and understandable setback. Condemning the addicted investigator or new convert is never helpful and will likely lead to discouragement, failure, and inactivity. "


p. 200 "Follow Up"
Quote: " Make frequent contact, daily if possible, to find out how people are progressing with their commitments... strengthen the spiritual feelings they felt as you taught them...This sustaining influence of the Spirit is vital...remind and encourage them to keep a commitment. Help investigators identify the blessings they have received as they have kept their commitments. Especially help them describe their feelings as the Spirit has testified of the truthfulness of the message. Compliment and encourage people who are succeeding in keeping commitments...Express concern and disappointment when people fail to keep their commitments and thus fail to experience the blessings. "



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2012 11:25AM by Jesus Smith.

One word: POWER!!!!!!!!

The StalkerDog™ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One word: POWER!!!!!!!!


Actually it's SEX!!!!!

But the little old geriatric white guys get there depends in a bunch thinking about that....so POWER!!! it is.

POWER!! UNLIIIIII-MITED POWER!!!!

Money, it comes down to money. The church is nothing if they do cash all of those tithing checks.

“I have come to believe also that it is not wise to continually talk of unusual spiritual experiences. They are to be guarded with care and shared only when the Spirit itself prompts you to use them to the blessing of others”

i.e., "If you talk about all the religious craziness that happens in your head, people will be less likely to keep their commitments--we only accept a certain level of crazy."

In every christian church (and I assume other monotheistc religions) I can think of, the power of God, working THROUGH humans, is what leaders describe; there's only one other "religion" I can think that tells it's members THEY have the power besides mormons, and that's scientologists.

Why does the word cult always creep into my head?

O cummon, don't leave out the RC church. They claim the power, too, ya know...

The manipulation shown in those passages is disgusting. Basically act devastated if the investigator doesn't do what you say before being baptized. After baptism, don't act devastated, be all understanding! Those two statements in and of themselves show the church's true colors.

Ding ding ding! winner!

dot Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The manipulation shown in those passages is
> disgusting. Basically act devastated if the
> investigator doesn't do what you say before
> being baptized. After baptism, don't act
> devastated, be all understanding! Those two
> statements in and of themselves show the church's
> true colors.


EXACTLY!!

That's what I noticed too. I was amazed as I perused the manual how blatant it is, and yet remember shades of buying it as a missionary myself.

There was a link in another thread but I'll mention it here also: see Derren Brown's "Psychology of Religious Belief: part 2" where Derren tricks an atheist into having a religious conversion, based on 'bridging' (conflating) techniques and triggers. He's a master at psychological manipulation and showing it, too, so no-one gets fooled.

This post actually creeps me out... My husband is a masterful manipulator, to the point where he does it completely subconsciously at times. I've always suspected that his Mormon upbringing played a large role in this (he is a returned missionary, sort of) but to see it all spelled out gives me the heebie jeebies. I'm going to have to re read this when I have more time.

Thank you for the post

To any interested, I wrote a blog about this topic.

http://mormonthinkblog2012.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-taming-of-shrewd.html

Well written. I agree with your assessment.

I was a missionary when Holland said that. I remember it well. I thought it was a wonderful idea. The next day we went to an investigator's for a second discussion. They were supposed to have read 2nd Nephi something. They hadn't. I did act devastated, disappointed even. We actually got up and left. Really it accomplished 2 things. I didn't have to read that damn chapter again, and we were obeying an apostle. My comp on the other hand didn't like that I made us get up and leave.

Did you get the dunk or not?

;o)

Nope. They never let us in again. The advice backfired and we stopped using it after a few days.

Power equals numbers!!!!!

No jeffrey this is bullshit!! and you are brainwashing these kids :(

1. Pretend to care when you don't.
2. Pretend to not care when you do.

Yeah, that's brainwashing all right. And we wonder why we end up feeling like we missed living?

You missed being yourself because you were told what to express as your emotions.

This is the most blatant example of emotion-hijacking I have ever seen.


Anagrammy

Devastation , sorrow for the world - this was the hardest part of my mission. Glad I didn't go crazy after those 2 years. I wished I had enjoyed those years more rather than make myself sacrifice every single minute.
For surviving that brainwash camp, I am actually proud of myself. Live and learn.

Elder Holland said "We are not a cult."

Apparently Elder Holland doesn't know what a cult is.