The following story was written by Arthur C. Brooks: “Several years ago, I visited Provo, Utah—in the heart of what its residents call “Happy Valley”—to deliver a lecture at Brigham Young University. My gracious hosts sent me home with a prodigious amount of branded souvenirs: T-shirts, mugs—you name it. The Mormons are serious about product placement. One particularly nice gift was a briefcase, with the university’s name emblazoned across the front. I needed a new briefcase, but the logo gave me pause because it felt a little like false advertising for a non-Mormon to carry it. Reassured by my wife that this was ridiculous, I loaded it up, and took it out on the road. In airports, I quickly noticed that people would look at my briefcase, and then look up at me. I could only assume that they were thinking, “I’ve never seen an aging hipster Mormon before. ”That gave me minor amusement; but it soon had a major effect on my behavior. I found that I was acting more cheerfully and courteously than I ordinarily would — helping people more with luggage, giving up my place in line, that sort of thing. I was unconsciously trying to live up to the high standards of Mormon kindness, or at least not besmirch that well-earned reputation. I even found myself reluctant to carry my customary venti dark roast, given the well-known Mormon prohibition against coffee. Almost like magic, the briefcase made me a happier, more helpful person — at least temporarily. But it wasn’t magic. Psychologists study a phenomenon called “moral elevation,” an emotional state that leads us to act virtuously when exposed to the virtue of others. In experiments, participants who are brought face to face with others’ gratitude or giving behavior are more likely to display those virtues themselves… Apparently, my briefcase produced a similar sensation by reminding me of my Mormon friends’ admirable qualities. We can be the passive beneficiaries of moral elevation. But we can actively pursue it as well by rejecting bad influences and seeking good ones. We can even create the circumstances for moral elevation ourselves.” A.C. Brooks Moral elevation is a term that I was unaware of before reading this story and it has made me think more deeply about the impression and impact we have on others. Now that I have heard the term and understand it I believe that there are many things that impact us in a moralistic way. I experienced a spiritual, as well as a ‘moral elevation’ when I first read the Book of Mormon. What I gleaned from it changed my life and my whole way of thinking about life and the role I was playing in it. I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and after that, I actually believed that I walked as a new man. My demeanor my way of thinking was more positive and optimistic and I even began having a positive influence in others lives. Some apologized who may have swore in my presence, an apology I never asked for nor expected. But it was reassuring to me that I was in fact having what Arthur C. Brooks was talking about in his story above. I was not only morally elevated myself, but I was beginning to have that kind of an impact on others as well. Oh, that we could be aware of who we are and how we should behave so that we might always have that effect on others, the moral elevation effect.