And the Sunday after that

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“After the disciplinary councils, the bishop came to me and said, ‘Well… I went to give everything to the stake president and he won’t let me excommunicate you.’

“And I was thinking to myself, ‘You jerk! You totally want to excommunicate me! What is your problem?’

“So I responded, ‘OK…’

“He said, ‘But I’m going to go back to him and I think I can get you disfellowshipped, at least.’

“‘Uhh… OK…’

“He said, ‘I want you to understand though, George, that if I do this and you get disfellowshipped, there’s going to be a black flag on your church records forever. No matter what calling, what ward, wherever you go, that bishop or that stake president is going to open your file and they’re going to see that you’ve been disfellowshipped and that’s going to really impair your growth in the church. Honestly, George, it would be better if you just left the church.’

“I said, ‘I understand that you need to do what you feel you need to do. And that’s OK with me. But you need to understand that I’m going to be here next week. And I’m going to be here the Sunday after that, and the Sunday after that, and the Sunday after that. And if you have a problem with that, you’re going to have to find a way to be OK with it. Because I’m going to be here.’

“He totally freaked out on me. He was a nut job.

“I kept coming back, and he didn’t disfellowship me—because he couldn’t.”