Oh the Sabbath Day.

It's so strange to think back now that i'm on my mission of the importance of church attendance but, it's all come into perspective here in a short ammount of time. There is a talk given by James E. Faust called "The Lords Day" I won't put the whole talk on here but i'll put up some of it that I feel is very important.

"My brothers and sisters and friends, for some time I have pondered what I might speak about today. I seem to have been led in my thinking by a concern that so many in our generation are missing great blessings by not honoring the Lord’s day.

I confess that as a young boy, Sunday was not my favorite day. Grandfather shut down the action. We didn’t have any transportation. We couldn’t drive the car. He wouldn’t even let us start the motor. We couldn’t ride the horses, or the steers, or the sheep. It was the Sabbath, and by commandment, the animals also needed rest. We walked to Church and everywhere else we wanted to go. I can honestly say that we observed both the spirit and the letter of Sabbath worship.

By today’s standards, perhaps Grandfather’s interpretation of Sabbath day activities seems extreme, but something wonderful has been lost in our lives. To this day, I have been pondering to try to understand fully what has slipped away. Part of it was knowing that I was well on the Lord’s side of the line. Another part was the feeling that Satan’s influence was farther away. Mostly it was the reinforcement received by the spiritual power which was generated. We had the rich feeling that the spiritual “fulness of the earth” (D&C 59:16) was ours, as promised by the Lord in section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants."

"Jesus reaffirmed the importance of the Sabbath day devotion, but he introduced a new spirit into this part of worship. (See Matt. 24:20.) 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. (See Matt. 12:12.) He taught us that “the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matt. 12:8) and introduced the principle that “the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). He performed good deeds on the Sabbath, such as healing the man with palsy (see Mark 2:1–12) as well as the man with the paralyzed hand (see Matt. 12:10–13). So 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."

The great modern-day revelation on Sabbath day worship is contained in section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants: “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;

Here is a Link to reading the full talk....

http://lds.org/general-conference/1991/10/the-lords-day?lang=eng

I can't believe how much this talk in full has changed my perspective.  Going to Church and striving to keep the sabbath day as holy as possible can have such a great effect on our lives. Key points for myself have been highlighted in this talk and, I would invite all to read the talk in its entierty.  I just know that the simple things in this life can have the greatest reward and i'm so thankful for the chance I've been given to understand these things.