Remember when I was 16 and my bishop wouldn’t let me bring my service dog in training to church because he “didn’t like my attitude” and felt that I was lashing out at him by asking him to reconsider his decision? Haha, me neither..

My stake president was okay with it though (ecstatic, really!) so my bishop saw me at stake functions with my SDiT. From stake conference to taking the dog up to the podium with me to say the prayer at a stake youth fireside.

He saw that the dog was well trained and I had clear boundaries about how the public interacted with the dog. He saw the dog was quiet, calm, not destructive or disruptive or distracting. And yet he still wouldn’t allow it in our ward meetings because

1. He had the power to tell me no if he felt like it (and he did), even if it was for unfounded reasons. Or even no reasons at all!
and 2. Because he felt I should have to learn a lesson in “humility” for asking such a big thing from him.

He hadn’t even met my service dog in training before saying no. He didn’t even give the dog, or myself, a chance. But my parents made me apologize to him (because of course he went and told them I was rude, when I was not) and they got mad at me for “causing contention” :))