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That evening brother Woods picked me up and when we went and visited two families. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during those visits. When we'd finished I was pleasantly surprised when brother Woods asked if I'd like to stop and get an ice cream cone. "Sure" I told him.
Brother Woods hadn't said much as we ate our ice creams.
As we finished, though, he asked me "You don't like that your grandmother smokes, do you." It was really more of a statement than a question.
I felt on the spot and realized that he must have heard what I'd said earlier. I felt uncomfortable and justified myself by saying "She knows it's against the Word or Wisdom, so she should either quit smoking or quit going to church."
Brother Woods asked "So why do you think people go to church?"
"To be more Christ like." I said.
"And you should keep the commandments or you're being a hypocrite when you go to church." I continued.
"So, people that knowingly break the commandments shouldn't go to church?" he asked, with surprise in his voice.
"Exactly." I said. I knew I'd shown that I was right in what I'd said to my grandmother.
"So, I guess that means we can't go to church anymore, right?" he quarried.
"What do you mean?" I asked. I knew the answer though as I looked at the empty ice cream bowls on the table.
"That's right. " he said "We both know we're supposed to keep the Sabbath day holy and that includes not making purchases on Sunday.
There was silence for a few minutes as he let me think about what he had just told me.
Then he told me something that I've thought about many times since.
He said "Mark, we go to church to learn how to become more Christ like, that is true. However there is no one on this earth, except Christ himself that has done everything correctly. We all have done things that we know are wrong and have not fulfilled our commitments. Some things are easier for people to see. You can see a person smoke or drink. You probably can't tell when someone is lying or stealing or committing any number of sins. In your life the person you need to be the most concerned about is you. Keep an eye on that guy in the mirror and make sure that he's doing what he knows he supposed to do. The only time you should worry about whether others are doing what they're supposed to do is if you have a specific calling or one day when you have children and even then, follow the promptings of the spirit."
That evening I apologized to Grandma Fern and asked her to forgive me for being disrespectful of her.
I'm sure that this lesson that I learned has helped me in my life. Whenever I see someone doing something that I find distasteful, I look at my own life and first determine if I'm guilty of the same offense. If I am then I take the steps to overcome it and if it's something I don't do I pray and ask Heavenly Father to please help me to not never do that thing.
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