Is it OK to play card games with face cards?

Dear Gramps,
Has a prophet told us not to play with face cards? We are grandparents and remember hearing it when we were younger. Our children and grandchildren say they have never heard this, so they think it is all right to play games using face cards. We would really like to know if a prophet asked us not to play with face cards.
Joan, from Idaho Falls, Idaho

Dear Joan,
There have been instructions from the brethren not to play with face cards. The reason, of course, is that it may lead to gambling, and that excessive card playing is a waste of time. Elder Bruce R. McConkie had this to say on the subject—

“Members of the Church should not belong to bridge or other type of card clubs, and they should neither play cards nor have them in their homes. By cards is meant, of course, the spotted face cards used by gamblers. To the extent that church members play cards they are out of harmony with their inspired leaders. Innocent non-gambling games played with other types of cards, except for the waste of time in many instances, are not objectionable.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., p.113)

Gramps