President Spencer W. Kimball:
“One man who had been a slave to alcohol
most of his adult life became convinced . . . that he must give up the habit
and prepare himself for the temple. . . . With great effort he quit drinking.
He moved many miles away from the area where his drinking friends lived and,
though his body craved and ached and gnawed for [alcohol], he finally
conquered. He was at all his Church meetings, and was paying his tithing. His
new friends in the Church seemed to fortify him. He felt good in the new
activity, and life was glorious. His wife was beaming, because now the whole family
was always together. This is what she had dreamed about all their married life.
“They got their temple recommends and the
happy day arrived and they drove to the temple city for this great event. They
arrived early and each had some errands to do. As it happened, the husband ran
into some old friends. They urged him to go with them to the tavern [where
alcohol was served]. No, he would not, he said, he had other important things
to do. Well, he could just take a soft drink [soda], they urged”
“With the best of intentions he finally
relented [and went to the tavern with his old friends]. But by the time he was
to meet his wife at the temple he was so incapacitated [or drunk with alcohol]
that the family went home in disgrace and sorrow and disappointment” (The
Miracle of Forgiveness, 171).
