Click here for the PDF version.

The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 286. Extreme styles betray character weakness. Our young people should know also that it is hard for them to hide their upbringing, their inner thoughts, their weaknesses. There is nothing criminal about grammatical errors or careless speech or even slang. But such do reveal the character of the user and reflect upon his home life. It may be an unwarranted and weak demand for attention which one feels powerless to stir otherwise. The chewing of gum in public certainly gives no suggestion of culture or refinement and certainly will not build confidence in or esteem for the one who indulges. Inappropriate clothes, extreme makeup, fantastic hairdos, gum chewing, slang, ugly speech, bad table manners, and other such irregularities brand the individual at once as weak, uncouth, cheap or careless, and thoughtless, and his family is judged by his weaknesses.

Elder Delbert L. Stapley, "The Sacrament," BYU Speeches of the Year, 8 May 1956, pp. 5-6. In partaking of the sacramental emblems, we should always call to mind Christ's suffering and sacrifice, the death upon the cross, the faithful obedience to his appointed mission. The sacrament is so sacred that it is recommended during the sacramental services, that no music be played, nor should there be any distractions whatsoever during the service. It is a time for meditation, a time for resolve, not a time for visiting, nor the chewing of gum, as so many people do, nor permitting our minds to dwell upon other things foreign to the sacred ordinance of the sacrament itself.