Sunday, April 1, 2012

March 26th 2012

Hello my dear friends and family!!!

This week I want to share something with you about the Sabbath day. The most famous scriptural words on this hallowed day is found in Exodus 20:8. "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy." This as you have probably realized is one of the Ten Commandments given to the Prophet Moses on Mount Sinai. The question of the day is: "Why is this so important and how can we truly 'Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.'" Today we will look at some scriptures from Old Testament texts as well as the New Testament and even to the words of our living prophets. Let's start with the "How's" and we'll wrap things up with the "Why's."

The first "How" of keeping the Sabbath day holy is found in Exodus 20:9-10. "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day...thou shalt not do any work." PERIOD!!! This is about as clear as God gets as He speaks to us. In modern day English for you and me God is saying: "Don't do any work on Sunday." Sadly, this is one concept that mankind just hasn't been able to get ever since the Savior came. The law of Moses contained certain "clauses" which you might say "discouraged" many people from breaking the Sabbath day. Exodus 31:15 is one of those. "Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death." WOW!!! Very straight forward isn't it...? I can just envision the local comic saying at the execution: "Well, he won't be breaking that commandment again now will he...?" :D Since the coming of the Savior, and the fulfilling of the law of Moses, God's children have begun to desecrate, without any regrets, the day which originally was such a sacred thing. I know of a phrase that was probably used in General Conference or something, I can't quite remember, but it goes something like this. "Our Grandfathers called it the Holy Sabbath, our Fathers called it Sunday, and we merely call it 'the weekend.'" This is a serious problem in today's world, and we need to look at our own lives and ask ourselves how we are keeping this Holy Day. Some people may say, "But I have to work on Sunday or I will lose my job..." To this I would give the words of our living prophets. "There may be times when we are required to work on the Sabbath, [we will discuss those special times in a moment] we should avoid this whenever possible, but when it is absolutely necessary, we should still maintain the Spirit of Sabbath worship in our hearts as much as possible." (Gospel Principles, 142) We have it very clear from our prophets and apostles that we should avoid working on the Sabbath day whenever possible. Now, there are some occupational positions which must perform their duties on the Sabbath. Doctors, Firemen and Policemen are some such examples. I would like


My friends, I am here to tell you today that we as a society do not NEED a Big Mac or McFlurry on a hot Sunday afternoon. We don't NEED to go rent a movie or deposit a check. The very reason so many of us are "required" to work on Sunday is because the rest of us are demanding those services on this holy day. There is a story in Nehemiah (Old Testament) of a group of people who covenanted to keep the Law of Moses (including Sabbath day observance). Nehemiah 10:3 tells us what they said: "If the people of the land [world] bring wares or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath." These people committed to keep the Sabbath day holy and to the best of my understanding they did so. I want each and every one of us to commit ourselves this day that we will observe the Sabbath day and not go shopping on that holy day, just as this wonderful people committed. Doing this will serve two purposes. 1. We ourselves will be keeping the Sabbath Day holy by not spending money or dwelling on worldly things. 2. We will be making it easier for others to keep the Sabbath by not forcing them to work to support our "needs." If we as members of God's church can start a revolution of Sabbath Day observance we can change the whole economical system around us. "Our prophets have told us that we should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day." (Gospel Principles, 141) Can you even imagine what the world would be like if 15 million Saints would actually keep the Sabbath day holy this week? I don't know what would happen, but I'm sure that the results would be miraculous. In Matthew 5:16 we have the commandment from Christ: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." Please, I beg of you to commit yourselves today. Keep the Sabbath day holy, if you aren't now, START. If you have been, CONTINUE!!! If we will do this very simple thing, we "...will be [kept] more fully unspotted from the world."

I know that God gives us commandments to bless our lives. Please keep His commandments and you will see wonderful blessings come into your lives.

Love,
Elder Winters

P.S. I am being transferred again. I will be leaving Jinja and heading back to Kampala to an area called Kajjansi (KUH-JONN-SEE). I also have a new companion.


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