A couple who made their living selling food from vending carts on a street in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, earned more money on Sunday than all the other days of the week combined. With a large family to support, they sold meat pies and soup to bring in much-needed income.
Then one Sunday they did not open their carts. On Monday, fellow vendors asked why they had not worked the day before. The couple explained that they had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that they had decided they would keep all the commandments, including the one to keep the Sabbath day holy.
"A lot of the other vendors told us we were crazy to close on Sundays," said the husband.
Closing their carts on Sunday took much courage and trust in the Lord. But it brought blessings. Their business improved. Instead of earning less money, they earned more. "We haven't lost anything financially," they said. "We've gained and are more prosperous than we've ever been." (See Church News, July 7, 1979.)
The couple, new in the Church, had no knowledge of the counsel and promise given in 1957 by President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve: "We must stop violating the Sabbath day. We must stop the violation of other commandments, should we be violating them, and I promise you that if you will observe the Sabbath day, you who are opening your stores on the Sabbath, if you will close them and tend to the duties that the Lord has given to you, and keep His commandments, that you will prosper and He will bless you more abundantly, for He has made that promise, than you will be blessed by showing your contempt for the commandments which He has given unto you." (Improvement Era, June 1957, p. 401.)
Some people might think that the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is a "lesser commandment," not as important as others. But this is erroneous thinking. How can anything the Lord said be considered of lesser significance? And He did command:
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
"Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates:
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11.)
Further, He decreed:
"Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
"It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:15-17).
Of blessings in keeping this commandment Elder John A. Widtsoe said: "Keeping the Sabbath day builds a man physically, mentally, and spiritually. Physically, he may rest and have a change of occupation. Mentally, because he is engaged in quorum and other meetings, private reading and studying. Spiritually, because the day is dedicated to the Lord. Spiritual communion, contemplation, these are two essentials of the Sabbath: It is a day of rest. It should be kept holy." (Quoted by Elder Oscar A. Kirkham, October 1956 general conference.)
The commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy has not been revoked, rescinded or replaced. The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and latter-day prophets uphold it as a law still in effect.
At a member meeting Aug. 31, 1995, in Liverpool, England, President Hinckley said:
"I thank the Lord for the Sabbath day. That comes from the Ten Commandments, but it is reaffirmed in strong and moving language in the modern revelation of this Church.
"No one has to shop on Sunday. You don't have to buy butter on Sunday. You don't have to buy milk on Sunday. You don't have to buy clothes on Sunday. You don't have to buy furniture on Sunday. No, of course not. Thank the Lord for the Sabbath day reaffirmed in this dispensation as the day of the Lord, sacred unto Him as it should be sacred unto us."
In Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-13, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith guidelines regarding the Sabbath day:
"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
"For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors; and to pay thy devotion unto the Most High; . . .
"Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;
"But remember that on this, the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
"And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full."
