Anyone can be vulgar

I received a letter in the mail yesterday and was quite shocked to see what was on the front of the envelope; A four-letter word!

I would never want to even write those words in that context. They came from the office of a United States Senator and on the back was an indication that this was sent out by the Republican national committee. 
The letter was addressed to my father who used to contribute to the Republican National Committee and I continue to get letters asking for donations. I have repeatedly sent those letters back with the statement that the addressee is deceased but I continue to get them and they probably will continue to send them even after I die. 

The use of vulgarity and vulgar speech has become too commonplace and I am sick and tired of it. I grew up in a household where I did not hear any swearing from my parents nor did they use vulgar terms.

The closest thing that I ever heard my father utter as an expletive was “Sam Hill”. When I was living in Pocatello, Idaho we went outside the city to dispose of some trash and dumped it on a vacant area up in the hills. Apparently the owner saw us, came up and asked us why we were dumping our trash there. My father replied, “How in the Sam Hill was I supposed to know I was not to dump trash here.” From that time to this I have never heard him use that expression.

I did not hear any vulgar language in my home while I was growing up. As far as I can remember it was never spoken in our own home when we had children. That is not to say that I did not hear it. The people I went to school with used that sort of language. When I was working for my uncle Howard the hay hands used those kind of terms. I heard it in the workplace almost everyplace that I worked outside of the church. I hear it every once in a while on television and most recently from the former speaker of the house of representatives of the United States. 

I have written before about how your speech is an indication of who you are. Click here for the link. 

We must realize that we are children of our Father in Heaven. We will never get back into his presence by using vulgar or profane language. This is one of the tasks that we are to accomplish while we are here on the earth. Our language and speech should be above reproach. If we want to feel comfortable in the presence of our Father in Heaven everything that we do must reflect refined elegance. 

A few years ago there was a talk given by a general authority at Brigham Young University. It is fairly lengthy but is well worth reading more than once.
Here is the link.

Now, if swearing and swearwords are part of your vocabulary, I would urge you, my grandchildren, to never use them again. You will want to be comfortable in your Heavenly Father's presence. 

Love,
Grandpa