In preparing the many talks he had to give [as a member of the Stake Presidency], Dallin learned to pray and jot down the thoughts that came to mind. 'This happened so many times,' he wrote, 'that it became commonplace, and I would not begin to prepare a talk until I had this experience to direct me.'

Once, the inspiration did not come before he left for a meeting where he was to speak. 'I began my drive feeling vulnerable but trusting in the Lord,' he wrote. As he approached his destination, many miles from his home, the inspiration came: Speak about your experiences in Chicago's criminal courts. 'I was surprised to receive this impression,' he recorded, 'since I had always avoided building my talks around personal experiences, preferring a less personal doctrinal or practical theme. I had never referred to these experiences in a public meeting, but now I had a strong impression that I could do so, and several examples came to mind.'

Trusting in the inspiration, he wove his personal experiences into a gospel-centered talk, and mentioned seeing young shoplifters prosecuted. 'Afterwards,' he wrote, 'a mother thanked me tearfully for being the means of answering her prayer. She told me that their teenage boy had been involved in shoplifting and that they had not been able to communicate with him on the wrongfulness of this practice. On learning that I was to be the speaker that Sunday evening, she had prayed fervently that I would say something to help their son with this problem. The boy was in the meeting, and I had spoken directly on that subject. I have no doubt whatever that the Lord had used me as his instrument to answer her prayers. I was grateful that I had heard and heeded his prompting.'

A speaker who profanes must be ignorant or indifferent to God’s stern command that his name must be treated with reverence and not used in vain.

A speaker who mouths profanity or vulgarity to punctuate or emphasize speech confesses inadequacy in his or her own language skills. Properly used, modern languages require no such artificial boosters.

A speaker who employs profanity or vulgarity to catch someone’s attention with shock effect engages in a babyish device that is inexcusable as juvenile or adult behavior. Such language is morally bankrupt. It is also progressively self-defeating, since shock diminishes with familiarity and the user can only maintain its effect by escalating its excess.

Members of the Church, young or old, should never allow profane or vulgar words to pass their lips. The language we use projects the images of our hearts, and our hearts should be pure. As the Savior taught:

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matt. 12:34–35.)

The Book of Mormon teaches us that when we are brought before the judgment bar of God “our words will condemn us … and our thoughts will also condemn us.” (Alma 12:14.) Let us recognize profanity and vulgarity for what they are. They are sins that separate us from God and cripple our spiritual defenses by causing the Holy Ghost to withdraw from us.

[W]e should also avoid any practices in which one person attempts to surrender even part of his will to another person or in which another person attempts to take it. Whether the means are chemical, behavioral, electronic, or others not yet dreamed of, such attempts run counter to the heavenly plan and further the adversary’s plan. Free agency, the power to choose and direct our thoughts and our actions, is a gift of God, and we should resist any means that would compromise it.