Remember the game called "telephone" where you whisper a statement in the person's ear next to you and they quickly whisper it to the person next to them, until at the end of the line, the last person calls out what they heard. And it’s often completely different from what was originally stated.This concept present interesting situations in a church setting. For example,
The Prophet says: Don't fall off the cliff.
The Apostle says: Don't go too near the edge of the cliff.
The Stake President says: Don't go in the mountains.
The Bishop says: Don't leave your house!
Obviously this is extreme to make the point. But the way information sometimes trickles down to the grass roots is going to be influenced by various factors.
Sometimes information has be be translated, then interpreted and finally decided how it will be reinforced within a culture.
Sometimes things get taken to an extreme or the reverse can also be a problem. As church members we need to sometimes distinguish between church doctrine and principles that don't change to the church policies and programs that can change and often do.
