296. The Mormon in the Room

Twice a month I attend a meeting for moms of preschoolers held at a local Lutheran Church. The meeting itself is non-denominational. Most of the women are Lutheran, but some are Methodist, some Baptist, some Catholic, some without a designation. It’s not something that we make a point to talk about, but our religion and church attendance is a part of our lives, so our backgrounds occasionally are brought up. Today the women of my table learned that I am a Mormon. It came up naturally, we talked pleasantly about it for maybe three minutes, and then we moved on.
About an hour later, near the close of our meeting, one of the women, in a conversation near but separate from me, cussed. It was a mild word that didn’t faze me in the slightest and I probably wouldn’t even have remembered it except that she paused, looked at me and said genuinely “oh I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that with you here.” It was a small moment, but it brought to my mind the importance of living your standards. I had never mentioned that I don’t swear, and nor had she ever before apologized for swearing in my presence. I was not bothered by her choice of words. So to me it was obvious that at some point in her past, this woman knew a Mormon well enough to know that we, as a people, generally don’t swear, and that she respected that person, whoever they may be, enough to apologize to a completely unrelated person simply because we follow the same standards. I was touched that she said this little thing, made this little acknowledgement to my faith and culture. It was simple, but it warmed my heart. This is the importance of taking Christ’s name upon ourselves. When people find out I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I no longer represent only myself. I represent the other 13 million members of this church. I represent what we believe and what we stand for, even if I am not actively proselyting. I can only hope that someday I will be the reason someone withholds an unkind word or shares a smile with someone I have never met.