The entry in the Topical Guide

My Favorite Scriptures

• Genesis 2:2
  • “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”
• Exodus 31:17
  • “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.”
• Isaiah 56:2
  • “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.”
• Isaiah 58:13-14
  • “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
• Matt 12:10-13
  • “And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.”
• Luke 13:14-17
  • “And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.”
• Doctrine & Covenants 59:9-13
  • “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 devotions 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.”

Teachings of the Prophets

• Spencer W. Kimball
  • The Sabbath Day, April 1944 General Conference
    • “There came ringing again in my ears the solemn command brought down from the thundering of Mount Sinai : “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” So far as I know, that commandment has never been rescinded nor modified. To hunt and fish on the Lord’s day is not keeping it holy. To plant or cultivate or harvest crops on the Sabbath is not keeping holy the Lord’s day. To go into the canyons for picnics, to attend games or rodeos, or races or shows, or other amusements on that day is not to keep it in holy remembrance.”
    • “Strange as it may seem, some of our brethren, faithful in all other respects, seem to justify themselves in missing their sacrament meetings, and their stake conferences, in order to beat all the other hunters into the wild life area when the season opens. The Church favors legitimate recreation, and urges its people to organize picnic parties and to enjoy the great outdoors for the fellowship that it offers, but with six other days in the week, the Sabbath certainly need not be desecrated.”
    • “By resting is not meant the indolent lounging about the home all day or puttering around in the garden, but a consistent attendance at meetings for the worship of the Lord, drinking at the fountain of knowledge and instruction, enjoying the family and finding uplift in music and song. One good but mistaken man I knew claimed that he could get much more out of a good book on Sunday than he could get in attending a sacrament meeting, saying that the sermons were hardly up to his standards.”
    • “But I say we do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or amused; we go there to worship the Lord. It is an individual responsibility, and regardless of what is said from the pulpit, if one wishes to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, he may do so by attending his meetings, partaking of the sacrament, and contemplating the beauties of the Gospel. If the sacrament meeting is a failure to you, you are the one that has failed. No one can worship for you, you must do your own serving of the Lord.
• Joseph Fielding Smith
  • The Sabbath Day, April 1963 General Conference
    • “The Lord has decided the matter for Latter-day Saints, as I think he did to former-day Saints, and Sunday is our Sabbath.”
    • “Brethren and sisters, all I want to say is that the Lord has set the time for our Sabbath by revelation. We know which day we should worship. We should follow it, and we should be true and faithful, and I think we should support those who likewise observe that day.”
    • “Now on Sunday in Salt Lake City there will be a wonderful ball game played by two of the great teams. There will be, I am positive, members of the Church who will go to the ball park instead of to their Sacrament meetings. Our duty is to serve the Lord and to remember him and the covenants that we have made.”
  • Keeping the Sabbath, April 1947 General Conference
    • “Now I have been thinking, as I have thought many times in the past, of this great legacy which is ours, the great blessings which have come to us, built upon the foundation of persecution, death, hardships, men and women laying down their lives that we might dwell in this land in peace and safety; and how do we feel today about it? Do we keep the Sabbath day holy? Do we pray? Are we grateful in our souls for all that has been done for us by these sturdy people who loved the truth and came here that they might worship God according to the dictates of their consciences? How do we feel? When I see reports of conditions in this state and surrounding states where Latter-day Saints dwell, the amount of liquor that is consumed and tobacco that is consumed, and tea and coffee and other things destructive of health, and contrary to the commandments of the Lord, when I see the people violating the Sabbath day and committing all other kinds of sins contrary to that which they have been taught, I wonder if the Lord is pleased with us.”
    • “If we don’t keep the Sabbath day holy, he may still be our God, but we may not be his people, for all the people of the earth are his, but we are a peculiar people, and by that we mean that we are different and should be different from the rest of the world because we are not of the world. We are in it. We are not of it.”
• John Taylor
  • The Worship of God, The Sacredness of the Sabbath, Discourse delivered at Bountiful, Utah, June 26, 1881
    • “I will tell you how I feel on a Sabbath morning. I realize this is a day set apart to worship Almighty God: now I ought to worship God myself, and I ought to look after my family and discover whether they are engaged in the same thing or not.”
  • An Important Age, etc., Discourse Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, July 7, 1878
    • “I call upon you, ye latter day saints, to repent of your iniquities, and keep the Sabbath day holy, set it aside as a day of rest, a day to meet together to perform your sacraments and listen to the words of life, and thus be found keeping the commandments, and setting a good example before your children. Let us do that which is right, honor our God and magnify our calling, and the Spirit and blessing of God will rest upon us. But if we do not these things, his Spirit will depart from us, and we be left to ourselves.”
    • “We talk about being a good people. Well, we are when compared with the rest of the world; but we ought to be twenty times better than we are today. And if we, as Latter-day saints were to strictly observe the Sabbath day, and pay our tithes and offerings, and meet our engagements, and be less worldly minded , be united in temporal and spiritual things, Zion would arise and shine, and the glory of God would rest upon her. And it would not be long before all nations would call us blessed. But we are slothful and careless and indifferent, and we neglect our duty and the responsibilities that devolve upon us.”
• Brigham Young
  • Observe the Sabbath Day, Remarks in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, June 2, 1872
    • “Six days are enough for us to work, and if we wish to play, play within the six days; if we wish to go on excursions, take one of those six days, but on the seventh day, come to the place of worship, attend to the sacrament, confess your faults one to another and to our God, and pay attention to the ordinances of the house of God.”
    • “Now, remember, my brethren, those who go skating, buggy riding or on excursions on the sabbath day – and there is a great deal of this practiced – are weak in the faith. Gradually, little by little, little by little, the spirit of their religion leaks out of of their hearts and their affections, and by and by they begin to see faults in their brethren, faults in the doctrines of the church, faults in the organization, and at last they leave the kingdom of God and go to destruction. I really wish you would remember this and tell it to your neighbors.”
  • Paying Tithing, Fasting and Prayer, Etc., Address in the Tabernacle, November 6, 1863
    • “I have always told the people to do just as they pleased about paying tithing, and to do as they please about calling upon the name of the Lord in prayer, and to do just as they please about being baptized, or about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ; there is no compulsion whatever in these matters. The Lord does not compel any person to embrace the Gospel, and I do not think He will compel them to live it after they have embraced it; but all who do not keep their covenants and the commandments of the Lord our Father are then fit to be cut off from the Church.”
    • “Persons professing to be Saints should assemble themselves together on the Lord’s day, except those who may be necessarily detained at home to keep the house, take care of the children or to perform some work of necessity and mercy; the rest should assemble in the place appointed for worship and the offering up of our sacraments.”

Teachings of the Apostles

• Russell M. Nelson
  • The Sabbath Is a Delight, April 2015 General Conference
    • “I believe He wanted us to understand that the Sabbath was His gift to us, granting real respite from the rigors of daily life and an opportunity for spiritual and physical renewal. God gave us this special day, not for amusement or daily labor but for a rest from duty, with physical and spiritual relief.”
    • “In Hebrew, the word Sabbath means “rest.” The purpose of the Sabbath dates back to the Creation of the world, when after six days of labor the Lord rested from the work of creation. When He later revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses, God commanded that we “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Later, the Sabbath was observed as a reminder of the deliverance of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. Perhaps most important, the Sabbath was given as a perpetual covenant, a constant reminder that the Lord may sanctify His people.”
    • “No other work transcends that of righteous, intentional parenting!”
    • “Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath; faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God. A sacred Sabbath truly is a delight.”
• L. Tom Perry
  • The Sabbath and the Sacrament, April 2011 General Conference
    • “From that time forward, the Savior’s Atonement became the great and last sacrifice.”
    • “It is remarkable that even through the dark periods of apostasy, this pattern of Sabbath day worship and the sacrament continued to be practiced in many forms.”
    • “As we consider the pattern of the Sabbath and the sacrament in our own lives, there appear to be three things the Lord requires of us: first, to keep ourselves unspotted from the world; second, to go to the house of prayer and offer up our sacraments; and third, to rest from our labors.”
    • “I believe He also desires us to dress appropriately. Our youth may think the old saying “Sunday best” is outdated. Still, we know that when Sunday dress deteriorates to everyday attire, attitudes and actions follow.”
    • “Sometimes we think of resting from our labors as merely letting the hay baler stand idle in the field or putting a Closed sign on the business door. Yet in today’s world, labor includes the everyday work of our lives. This could mean business activities we may accomplish from home, athletic competitions, and other pursuits that take us away from Sabbath day worship and the opportunity to minister to others.”
• James E. Faust
  • The Lord’s Day, October 1991 General Conference
    • “Ever since Adam’s day the divine law of the Sabbath has been emphasized repeatedly over the centuries more than any other commandment. This long emphasis alone is an indication of its importance.”
    • “Rather than observe the endless technicalities and prohibitions concerning what should and should not be done on the Lord’s day, he affirmed that it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath.”
    • “The divine mandate of Sabbath day observance in our day is now more of a manifestation of individual devotion and commitment rather than a requirement of civil law.”
    • “Why has God asked us to honor the Sabbath day? The reasons I think are at least threefold. The first has to do with the physical need for rest and renewing. Obviously God, who created us, would know more than we do of the limits of our physical and nervous energy and strength.”
    • “The second reason is, in my opinion, of far greater significance. It has to do with the need for regeneration and the strengthening of our spiritual being. God knows that, left completely to our own devices without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate into the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites. This need for physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration is met in large measure by faithful observance of the Sabbath day.”
    • “The third reason may be the most important of the three. It has to do with obedience to commandments as an expression of our love for God. Blessed are those who need no reasons other than their love for the Savior to keep his commandments. The response of Adam to the angel who asked Adam why he made a sacrifice unto the Lord is a model for all. Responded Adam, “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” (Moses 5:6.)”
    • “Where is the line as to what is acceptable and unacceptable on the Sabbath? Within the guidelines, each of us must answer this question for ourselves. While these guidelines are contained in the scriptures and in the words of the modern prophets, they must also be written in our hearts and governed by our conscience.”
    • “It is quite unlikely that there will be any serious violation of Sabbath worship if we come humbly before the Lord and offer him all our heart, our soul, and our mind.”
• Marion G. Romney
  • Be Ye Clean That Bear the Vessels of the Lord, April 1974 General Conference
    • “As I ponder the terms of the “oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood,” which each one of us has entered into, I am awed by the superlative promised blessings. At the same time I am subdued as I consider the requirements upon which the receipt of those blessings is conditioned.”
    • “In this, our day, the Lord has put great emphasis on observance of the Sabbath day. When the Saints first went to Independence, Missouri, he gave them a list of standards which must be observed by those who are to build up and live in that Zion. One of them upon which he put great emphasis was observance of the Sabbath day.”
    • “If we are really intent on magnifying our callings in the priesthood, we will on the Sabbath day live within the framework of the instructions given by the Lord in that section of the Doctrine and Covenants.”
    • “Priesthood bearers intent on magnifying their callings will shun as the plague the filth in our permissive society wherever it is—in literature, on the stage or screen, in recreational centers, or elsewhere. God will not countenance an unclean priesthood.”
    • “Notwithstanding the fact that in this generation’s corrupt permissiveness its violation is tolerated with impunity, under God’s divine law it is as it has always been, a soul-destroying sin. Its self-executing penalty is spiritual death. No unforgiven adulterer is magnifying his calling in the priesthood; and, as President Clark used to say, the Lord has made no “fine distinctions … between fornication and adultery” (Conference Report, Oct. 1949, p. 194). Nor, may I add, between adultery and sex perversion.”
• Mark E. Petersen
  • The Sabbath Day, April 1975 General Conference
    • “But in spite of all the Lord has said, mankind still trifles with his word, and either by neglect or outright disobedience they set aside his word with impunity and go on their merry way.”
    • “One of the most glaring of our inconsistencies is our attitude toward the Sabbath day. It is a sacred day. It is holy, and we should not trifle with it.”
    • “No law in all scripture has been more clearly defined than that of the Sabbath. From the time of Genesis to our own day, there has been no subject spoken of more directly or repeatedly than the Sabbath. It is one of the laws most dear to the heart of God. Yet it is noted far more in its desecration than in its acceptance and proper observance.”
    • “The Lord does know what he is talking about. Sabbath observance will help us to more fully remain unspotted from the world.”
    • “If we are to do none other thing on Sunday but to devote the day to holy purposes, what is our situation if we willfully choose to operate our businesses on the Sabbath, or if we patronize such Sunday businesses, or if we go to places of recreation on Sunday?”
    • “If we violate his holy day—willingly and willfully—to that extent do we not become enemies of God? We do most certainly become covenant breakers, for he gave us his Sabbath by covenant—a perpetual covenant throughout all generations. (See Ex. 31:16.)”
• J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
  • Observance of Sabbath, October 1949 General Conference
    • “Now on this question of recreation, which I may return to again if I have time, I should like to say that there is not much excuse for most of us now to resort to the Sabbath for recreation. Those who labor have a forty hour week, which means that they have Saturdays off. They have an eight-hour day, which gives them quite a lot of time either in the morning or in the evening, and there is no need whatsoever to resort to the Sabbath day for recreation. There is an abundance of recreation time during the week.”
    • “The Lord has told us what we may do in the house of prayer, and what we may do in the house of prayer we may do, I take it, in our homes. We may seek learning. We may read good books. We may acquaint ourselves with languages, tongues, and people.”
    • “I call your attention again to the fact that the only places of gathering to which we are authorized to go, the only gatherings we are authorized to attend, are the meetings in the house of prayer. No other gathering is authorized on the Sabbath.”
    • “I think we may listen to good music in the home. I do not think we may go joy riding, nor to beach parties, nor on picnics! Nowadays, as this conference is witnessing throughout this valley and in adjacent areas, you may have what we may call movies right in your home. We shall have them tomorrow, Sunday. I think there is a great difference between looking at a good movie in your home and going to a movie house, a very great difference. But the home movies we look at should be of a kind that teach things specified in the revelations as in order in the house of prayer.”
    • “Of course, I do not suppose there is any need of my even mentioning, though perhaps it might be well for me to mention, that horse racing on Sunday is not a proper place for a Latter-day Saint to be. They have a good deal of it, they tell me, in the southern part of the state. I have been in touch with some of the officers and know how difficult they think it is to handle. If you Latter-day Saints cannot stay away from horse racing and betting on Sunday, I am not sure how much the Lord is going to listen to your prayers about some other things that you very much desire. Of course, we may not gamble at any time or in any place.”
• George A. Smith
  • Faith Without Works is Dead, etc., October 1874 General Conference
    • “While we recommend and approve of using every reasonable means within our power to preserve our lives and those of our children, we do depend, first of all, upon faith in the holy gospel, the administration of its ordinances and the fulfillment of the promises of God; and inasmuch as we observe  the word of wisdom and keep the commandments of God we have faith, and we have the promises of God, upon which we can rely, and by which thousands and thousands are delivered from the afflictions which prey upon them.”
    • “Never let us be guilty of any word or deed that we will be ashamed of before our father, mother, brother or sister or before our Heavenly Father.”
    • “I regret to say that I have noticed a great many instances of laxity in the observance of this rule and I wish the elders and teachers in all the branches and settlements to preach and practice the observance of the sabbath. Brethren, work six days and on the seventh rest and observe the sabbath according to the revelation; and impress this principle upon the saints everywhere by practice.”
    • “Now I do not believe that as a general thing anything is gained in property or in time by working on the sabbath and I advise and exhort all men professing to belong to the united order or to be latter day saints to observe the sabbath. Keep it holy, devote it to worship, to the study of good books, to rest, to imparting instruction, to attending meeting, and do not, under any circumstances, lapse into a habit of thinking that you can do as you please on the sabbath and that so doing is clear gain.”
    • “We should not let our love for self our desire for gain, or our anxiety for pleasure so mar our path that when we come into the presence of our Father in Heaven we shall be smitten with the reflection that, instead of observing the Sabbath, acccording to the command, we went off spreeing, or hunting, or we went looking after cattle, or getting wood, or dashing around and breaking the Sabbath, time and again, for if our conscience reprove us, God is greater than our consciences and he surely will condemn us.”
  • Importance of Observing the Sabbath Day, etc., April 1868 General Conference
    • “I feel a desire to call the attention of the conference to the consideration of this subject because it not only involves a commandment given in the law of Moses and endorsed by the New Testament but it has been also enjoined upon us by revelation through Joseph Smith in the present generation and if we neglect it we have no right to expect the blessings of God to that extent that its observance would ensure.”
    • “We should observe the sabbath as a day of rest, and if we do it faithfully we shall live longer; for my impression is, saying nothing about the commandment of the Lord, that nature requires one seventh of our time for rest, and that when a man has worked fifty two Sundays in a year, he is at least fifty two days older than he needs to be, and has not done as much work during the year as if he had worked only six days a week and had rested the seventh.”

Other Leaders in the Church

• H. Aldridge Gillespie of the Seventy
  • The Blessing of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, October 2000 General Conference
    • “In other words, based on this conference, we need to decide on specific actions to bring about needed changes in our lives. This action is called faith, and the changes are repentance. Blessings always follow these two principles. If we do not take action quickly, then the very thing which could have sanctified us may turn to our condemnation.”
    • “Of all people on the earth, the Latter-day Saints must lead out in sanctifying this appointed day each week.”
    • “I know you will be happier, enjoy greater peace, and find your lives made glad as you witness the miracles that come to each person and family who make the sacrifice of keeping this eternal covenant.”
• Earl C. Tingey of the Seventy
  • The Sabbath Day and Sunday Shopping, April 1996 General Conference
    • “A very important aspect of properly observing the Sabbath concerns shopping on Sunday. Unfortunately, many commercial businesses and establishments are open on Sunday. The world sees no conflict in Sunday shopping. But we of the Church have been counseled and taught by prophets to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.” We should not shop on Sunday.”
    • “I often drive through small rural communities of Utah on a Sunday afternoon as I return home from stake conference assignments. I observe that almost always the tractors are idle and the fields are empty. I thank God for the faith of the humble farmers. When I enter the cities, I see the parking lots of many stores filled with cars on a Sunday, and I am saddened that the Lord’s law is being broken. The justification for and reason often cited by the owners and operators of such businesses is to be competitive, to conform to corporate policy, and so on.”
    • “In conclusion, and appropriate to this beautiful Easter season, our observance of the Sabbath is an indication of the depth of our conversion and our willingness to keep sacred covenants.”
• W. Mack Lawrence of the Seventy
  • Sunday Worship Service, April 1991 General Conference
    • “Sacrament meeting is the most important meeting of the week, the one the Lord has commanded us to attend. It’s a time to worship the Savior.”
    • “First, come with an attitude of worshipping the Lord. Some people don’t understand, and they look at worship service as just another Sunday meeting, a part of a three-hour routine. It is not. It should be a time of true worship for the Savior, a time when we desire to be close to him, to convey our love to him, to feel his Spirit. Our attitudes help determine how meaningful the meeting is to each of us.”
    • “As you partake of the sacrament, you witness that you are willing to take the name of Jesus Christ, the Son, upon you. This means that you are willing to be baptized, to proclaim gospel truths in his name, and to represent him in doing his work here on earth. You also witness that you will always remember him and keep his commandments. Those are serious, sacred commitments. And in return, as you keep your promises, you are blessed that you may always have his Spirit to be with you.”
• John H. Groberg of the Seventy
  • The Power of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, October 1984 General Conference
    • “There is power in keeping the Sabbath day holy. I testify that God lives, that we are his children, that he loves us, and that he gives us commandments so he can bless us as we keep them and thereby have joy. As we keep the Sabbath day holy he will bless us, and we will achieve a quiet power for good as individuals, as families, and as nations, that we cannot obtain in any other way.”
    • “There is a direct correlation between the proper observance of the Sabbath and true reverence for God, which includes obedience to his other commandments.”
    • “Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, there is power in keeping the Sabbath day holy—power to help others as well as ourselves. If we would have God’s blessings and protection as individuals, as families, as communities, and as nations, we must keep His Sabbath day holy.”
• Sterling W. Sill, Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
  • The Sabbath a Cure, October 1969 General Conference
    • “If we were looking for some program to cure all of the problems that presently beset our world, we might well find it by properly observing the Sabbath day.”
    • “This is the day when we put on our best clothes and think our best thoughts and read our best books. This is the day when we associate with the people that we like the most. This is the day for which we usually reserve the best meal of the week. This is the day when we lay aside the cares that usually concern us during the other six days and go to the house of prayer and let our minds reach upward and try to understand the real purpose for which this day was set apart.”
    • “And we bring all sorts of serious problems upon ourselves when we use this day for pleasure, worldliness, and evil. We sometimes make the Sabbath our least important day by putting on our most unsightly clothes and doing our most ordinary jobs. As a consequence of what we do, many of our churches remain empty and the holy scriptures remain on the shelf unopened. When we lose the Sabbath day spirit, we are likely to build bars in our homes instead of altars. And sometimes we can get more interested in horse races and baseball games than in the celestial kingdom.”
    • “Next to God, the most inspiring creation in the universe is a great human being formed in God’s image.”
    • “If we could have visited with Abraham as he herded his sheep on the deserts of Palestine, we may not have been greatly impressed. But if we could have been at his side as he stood among the noble and great in the antemortal councils of God, or if we could be with him now as he serves in God’s heavenly kingdom, the experience would likely be a much more memorable one. And what wonderful people we might discover each Sabbath day if we could see our brothers and sisters in the light of their real identity as children of God.”
• ElRay L. Christiansen, Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
  • Keep The Sabbath Day, April 1962 General Conference
    • “In modern revelation he has commanded the Saints to observe his holy day by attending their meetings, offering their oblations before the Lord, and as they partake of the Sacrament to make covenant with him that they will take upon them his name and keep his commandments.”
    • “There was a time in my day when it seemed to me that almost all people, at least those with whom I was acquainted, considered the Sabbath day as a holy day, a day entirely different from the other days. But too often now it seems that we consider it just a part of the weekend, and thus many people do not look upon it as a holy day.”
    • “We must not permit ourselves to think of the Sabbath day as a day on which to transact business of any kind. We must not think of the Sabbath day as a day on which to catch up with our work. We must not permit ourselves to use the Sabbath for amusements or for outings or for participating in or attending sporting events as such.”
    • “The devil is not satisfied with just a little wrongdoing.”
    • “On a number of occasions when I have been returning from conferences, I have met on the highway a great number of automobiles. In many of these were families apparently returning to their homes on the early Sunday evening. Attached to a good number of these cars were beautiful boats. Now, ordinarily, we do not take boats to church, so one must conclude that these fine people had not been to church, nor were they on their way to church. I wonder if it is wise—well, I can say positively—it is not wise for parents to take their children away from their appointed places of worship on the Sabbath day where they may learn the gospel and where they may become fortified to face life through increased faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord, and require their children to go with them on the Sabbath day to spend the day on the reservoir or at some other place of amusement. Such practices may seriously impair  and affect the lives of these children and perhaps the lives of their children. In fairness to our children and to ourselves, we must go to the “house of prayer” on his holy day as the commandment requires.”
    • “An acquaintance of mine had purchased a lovely boat and had just finished varnishing it and painting it. When I stopped by, he was admiring it. I surmised that he was getting it ready to take it, with his family, to the reservoir the next Sunday. He said, “It is complete and in readiness except for one thing.” Then he asked me, “Could you suggest an appropriate name “for the boat?” I knew him very well. I thought for a moment, and then I said, “Well, perhaps you should name it The Sabbath-Breaker.” He looked at me, and he understood.”
    • “What regret there will be for those of us who knowingly ignore this beneficent law of the sacred Sabbath. Some of us may live to realize the fact that the Sabbath profaned, whatever be gained, is a sure forerunner of sorrow.”
• Joseph L. Wirthlin, Presiding Bishop
  • The Sabbath Day, April 1959 General Conference
    • “Brethren and sisters, if people will give consideration of the Sabbath as a holy day and remember God who has given them life as their Father and Jesus Christ, his Son, as their older Brother, meeting together in priesthood meeting and Sacrament meeting with the attitude of prayer, they will be blessed, guided, and directed by divine inspiration whereby they can bear testimony that God actually lives and that Christ is his Son.”
    • “We of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accept this marvelous revelation, and we accept and look upon the Sabbath day of the Lord as the most sacred day of the week. As a people, we have a great responsibility not only living the gospel but also in constantly keeping the Sabbath day of the Lord holy and sacred, thereby setting an example to the world as a whole.”
    • “He recognized the most important meeting of the week—the Sacrament meeting on the day of the Lord, the day when they should come together and partake of the Sacrament and remember exactly what the Christ had done in dying for all men and making it possible for us to have the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, our guidance and our direction. I pray the day will come that all of these men of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood will attend Sunday morning priesthood meeting, Sunday School, and particularly the Sacrament meeting.”
• Oscar A. Kirkham, of the Seventy
  • Keep The Sabbath Day Holy, October 1956 General Conference
    • “Through the years one commandment has been intensified because of my travel in many lands, and my association with many people, to make it really part of my life. I recite briefly the fourth commandment: Keep the Sabbath day holy.”
    • “On the Sabbath day every person shall attend religious meetings; fast, if desired, but always fast on the day designated as fast day; partake of the Sacrament, another opportunity, with all its great teachings; bear testimony of the Lord’s truth and goodness. I call your attention especially to the next: Make right any misunderstandings with your fellow men. Do all things with singleness of heart toward the divine purpose of the Sabbath day. It then becomes a day of blessing, rejoicing, and prayer. When this is done, life-giving satisfaction comes from a Sabbath well kept.”
    • “Latter-day Saints of today often face the question: “Are we expected to observe the Sabbath day in the spirit in which the original commandment was given, or have changing conditions modified and liberalized our living so that we may engage in some activities which in the past have been banned?” To every Latter-day Saint the answer is: Keep the Sabbath day holy.”