Years ago my bishop's wife gushed in FTM about how since her husband had been set apart, she had gained a testimony blessed with powers of discernment. She went on and on about it, saying that he was so righteous that the Lawrd saw fit to bless him with these magic powers, while he squirmed uncomfortably in his chair on the stand behind her.

At the time I just thought he was being humble, embarrassed that his wife would blab on like she did. But he was probably more embarrassed because she was straight up lying. He probably even felt unrighteous.

Were any of you former bishops out there concerned or surprised? Or did you think you did have powers of discernment?

I have never been a bishop, but I know that I am more comfortable and trusting with someone's response when their answer is immediate and seems natural. I would never accuse someone of lying to me in their face, but when there is hesitancy in a response, a change in their tone of voice or demeanor, or a change in body language, then I have reason to be uncomfortable with their response. I wouldn't call it powers of discernment, just plain old communication skills. Only 25% of a message is contained in the words.

that when someone is lying, they often leave their mouth open after a lie. He had a lot of fun when his dad, uncle, grandpa and cousins dragged him to the last general priesthood meeting, spotting the lies in the GAs talks using this method. Monson flat out scared him to death, he said.

I think some people have a better ability to read people than others. I often know what someone is going to say, right before they say it. I don't know why - picking up visual clues or just some weird phenomenon. I know it's not because I have a special gift as bishop, that's for sure. God forbid.

I was not surprised because when I was called to serve as a bishop I was looking for a job outside CES, was fed up with being paid to be a puppet for the wigged out leaders. I thought it was a fraud.

What surprised me at the inspiration-mantle-discenrment-thingy, is how much members wanted/needed to believe that I had special insight and wisdom on everything.

I gave them special 5th Sunday lectures to talk them out of it believing that I had special inspiration. "I don't have any special "powers" I told them. I just give you the benefit of my education or lack of it, experience or lack of it, and you should reject it if you are uncomfortable with it."

It backfired. They told me that they thought I was extra humble for telling them that. Sheesh! I told them that if they thought I was extra inspired to talk to my wife. She would set them straight in a New York minute! :)

but kept up the fascade mainly because of ego. How many 28-year olds giving this much power to make young and old alike jump to my every whim would not get an inflated ego? Top it off with a SP pumping you up telling you how special you are and the MP in the area telling you he is going to submit your name to SLC as a prospective candidate to be a MP, the beginnings of a meglomaniac were born.

When I gave Prieshood blessings, I pretty much pulled crap out of my kiester and said whatever came to mind. I discovered the more bold my pronouncements in a PH blessing, the more people loved it. I once gave an elderly woman diagnosed with cancer a PH blessing and told her that her work was not yet done on the earth and that in the afterlife, she would have all her children at her side (6 of her 7 kids were inactive). Her cancer later went into remission - I am a Christian and don't deny God's power but I don't think a morg PH blessing had anything to do with it.

So no, I was not suprised I didn't have instant pyschic powers but at the time relished that everyone thought I did. Looking back now, I laugh at how pathetic and foolish I was.

The most arrogant prick bishops I've known would be the first to tell you God is talking to them. Ya know, through that "still small voice," i.e. they're mind--the same one they had before they were called to be Bishop. But NOW that they are a bishop, anything they are thinking MUST be from good ol God. I mean, if someone comes to them and asks if they should take a new job that means they will make twice as much money but have to work every Sunday, any bishop would have an opinion about it. So whatever that particular bishop's opinion is what he's thinking and since he's thinking it, God is putting that idea in his head because he's the Bishop.

It's so scary. They take complete idiots, put some rancid olive oil on their bald head and poof--now everything you think comes from God.

My uncle was Stake Patriarch...

It caused him to leave the church b/c he knew he was just convincing himself that he was in tune with the Spirit...

He expected some sort of magic and it never happened...

Easily the most incompetent, in-over-his-head, sorry-assed excuse for a bishop was one particular jerk-in-a-suit who regularly regaled the Ward Council meetings with examples of his 'inspired insight'.

This clown only lasted one year before a collective ward revolt prompted the SP to release him. It was the first and only time I've ever seen a church leader actually listen to people's complaints.

In serving as a Missionary, a Branch President, and a first councilor in a bishopric we regularly made decisions based on the whim of the moment. The only thing lacking was a coin to flip.

I served as a Bishop in the mid-late 90s.

I hated being a Bishop, was shocked when they called me and never wanted the calling. Due to family and obligations, I was forced to say yes. That experience led me right out the door a couple years later, especially after we gave birth to a Downs baby. Being a Bishop was certainly an eye opener.

I never felt like I had any special powers and like Ken above tried to tell people I was just like them or worse-probably more flawed. Church members just thought I was being extra humble, so that didn't work. They didn't believe me. It was insane. A few, very few were normal, but everyone else...

I was amazed by how many people would pour out EVERYTHING they did to me in conversation. OMG....I NEVER wanted to know some of the things they told me (especially woman) and should never have told me. The WANTED to tell. The HAD to tell me. I have never seen anything like it. Seriously, I needed security protection because the ward I was in was full of single and divorced women.

By the end of my first year as Bishop, I started cutting people off if they got too personal. Umm, Sis. X, I really don't need to know that. Please just generalize your problem for me....

Funny & True story - I had a middle aged lady visit me after Sacrament one Sunday, but I had no idea why. Only for the Bishop's ears. To my everylasting horror, once the door was closed to my office (and never ever again was I alone with a female - lesson learned) she turned around, pulled up her dress and started pulling down her underware to show me a sore on her butt that wouldn't go away! She wanted me to put my hands on it and give her a blessing so it would go away! OMG!

The missionaries had given her a healing blessing several times without success, but she just knew if I would do it, being Bishop and all, that she would certainly be cured. To my everlasting shame, all I could do was drag one of my counselors into the office and give her a healing blessing sans dress down and underpants up. This was one of the most awkward and uncomfortable experiences of my life! To make things worse, she later TOLD ME IN SACRAMENT when I went by shaking hands and saying hello to people just before the meeting started that THE BLESSING WORKED AND THE SORES ON HER ASS ARE GONE! (Yes-she said or I should screamed it out loud exactly that way!)

Unfortunately she also told everyone about her sucess and I had a line outside my door of people needing healing blessings for various ails.... Please someone put me out of my misery!!!! LOL. I served in this calling for 6 years! UGGGHH.

Soooooo, you are a humble man that can heal the sick with the power of the priesthood?

Jesus?

and I'm also concerned you might know my mother-in-law because that is EXACTLY the sort of thing she would do.

When I was set apart as an Elders Q prez, the SP counselled me that aside from the Bishop I was the only one with 'keys' to lead by revelation. I was told in my training sessions that I was required to recieve inspiration, that being worthy would guarantee the open channel of heavenly communication.

Prior to that I had served as a 2nd and 1st councilor to the EQP and had a pretty good idea how things worked as far as councils and meetings where decisions were made.

And so it was that I began to question every thought that came to mind; was it from me or from God? How could I be sure? What if it was from God and I messed up, or what if the doubt was my own and nbot a divine warning- would HF be angry with me for failing?

If I was not getting the answers to my prayers, I would examine my personal life and my family to see if I was failing to deserve revelation. I blamed myself (and sometimes my family) when I was left without revelation for the difficult tasks of EQP.

A few years later I was made a councilor under two different bishops who were polar opposites. But one thing was clear- they knew nothing except what was told them by humans or observation. The first was a tyrant who on the one hand demanded perfection and any issue was cause for a worthiness interview, and on the other hand never supported his EQP, WML or RS Prez. Thye second was a little more laid back and a pleasure to serve with. Neither had any special knowledge, and I knew from personal experience that a person could sit next to them in anguish and blackness and never be discovered.

And several bishops over the years have mentioned "unless a person comes to us, we can't help them. We have no way of knowing..."- and of course, when it is found out, they will always say "I knew something was up".

By the time I was released from the second calling as councilor, I had completely lost faith in the pretended mantle of discernment and revelation.