For members of the LDS Church (Mormons), the Sabbath Day is Sunday. The Sabbath is set aside as a day of rest, as was dictated by the Lord’s example at the end of the Creation: “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 has made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:2-3).

On the Sabbath, we are not only to rest from our labors, but remember that the Lord did indeed sanctify the day – it is sacred.  The Sabbath is a time to worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

Members of the Mormon Church have their church services on this day.  These church services are composed of a sacrament meeting, a Sunday School, and more specific meetings for different organizations inside the church – such as Primary for children, Relief Society for adult women, Priesthood meeting for adult men, so forth.  A Mormon, thus, spends usually about three hours in church.  In all three types of meeting, the speakers and teachers are usually regular members of the congregation and can differ from Sabbath to Sabbath.  More specifically, those who speak in sacrament meeting are called to speak for that day (but only that day), while the other meetings have more permanent teachers who rotate.  Any member can be called to be a teacher or a speaker.

Mormons are to avoid going to work on Sunday – and to avoid shopping, because they should not require other people to work on the Sabbath, either.  Activities should be more sedate than the activities that go on during the week – less roughhousing, for example.  The spirit of the day is supposed to be one of peaceful worship and reverence.  This would also discourage Mormons from watching TV or playing video games or other activities that would distract from reverence and worship. 

This is not to say that the Sabbath should be spent sitting bored – many activities are appropriate for the Sabbath.  Sunday is a time to be with family, especially family one can’t always visit during the week.  Sunday is a time to read scripture, such as the Bible or the Book of Mormon, or books that generally educate or uplift one’s spirit (even if these books are not “Mormon books”).  Sunday is a time for meditation on the scriptures and on the Lord’s commandments . . . and how one might bring one’s life closer to God.  Mormons also often use this time to write in personal journals, perform church service, and write to Mormon missionaries. 

In the Old Testament, to break the Sabbath Day was punishable by death (see Exodus 31:15), but the Sabbath itself was a blessed day, a day of spiritual celebration.  With the coming of Jesus Christ, the fatal punishment was removed and the celebration emphasized.  He said that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).  The Sabbath is a day to draw closer to God – the Sabbath is to be kept holy, not just because it is what we are commanded to do, but because it is set apart for us.  It is our time to refresh ourselves for the coming week and renew our spiritual commitments and energies.  As President James E. Faust states, “The Sabbath day observance in our day is now more of a manifestation of individual devotion and commitment rather than a requirement of civil law.”  Sunday is a day of blessing and healing.  It would be a shame to use it as we would any other day.