Attending Our Meetings
By Heather Hales, associate editor

When you sit down with your Bishop and Stake President for your annual Temple Recommend interview, you will be asked "Do you attend all of your meetings?"

I recently began to ponder the reasoning behind this question. It is important that we attend our meetings for various reasons. In reference to the Temple, if we aren't attending our meetings for selfish reasons (The Super Bowl, too tired, don't have anything to wear etc.), then are we really ready to make sacred covenants with The Lord? Probably not.

We have been commanded to attend our meetings,... but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord. 4 Nephi 1:12" It is important that we attend our meetings so that we may pray and hear the word of the Lord. How can we be taught and instructed if we are not there?

"The purpose of sacrament meeting is for us to partake of the sacrament. This reminds us of the sacrifice our Lord made for us. We renew the covenants made at baptism, at which time we became members of His Church and took upon ourselves His name—the name of Jesus Christ.(1)"

Every Sunday we have the opportunity to renew our baptismal covenants through the partaking of the sacrament. "It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord Jesus; Doctrine and Covenants 20:75."

“The Church directs the holding of weekly sacrament meetings in all its organized units. These are the most solemn and sacred meetings in the Church. Their purpose is to enable the saints to renew their covenants by partaking of the sacrament; to receive instruction in the doctrines of the kingdom; to worship the Almighty in song, prayer, and sermon” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 661).

Fast and Testimony meetings are so vital for us as members of the church. This special meeting is an opportunity for us to draw on the strength of those around us. As a child I had a hard time enjoying the bearing of testimonies, but now I am so grateful for it. Bearing my own testimony helps me to remember what I have a testimony of, and what areas I need to strengthen. Listening to others bear their own testimonies helps to reinforce my own.

Does this mean that if we attend Sacrament meeting then we are attending all of our meetings? What about Sunday School and Relief Society, are they just as important? Mosiah 18:25 reads: And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together." Sunday School and Relief Society are meetings that allow us to be taught and instructed.

The function of church is not to entertain, but to teach, uplift and to edify. The attitude with which we attend our meetings will determine what we gain from them. "To make a meeting successful, we should go with prayerful hearts. This will help us receive of the Spirit while we are there. We can be on time and attend regularly. We can be friendly to all. We can join in the singing and pray silently for those who are participating in the meeting. We can be reverent, keeping our thoughts on what is being said or done. We can willingly participate when asked. We can be quick to obey the promptings of the Spirit and bear testimony.(1)"

I was really blessed as a youth to have a great youth group, we were all friends and most of us attended the same High School, we hung out together and kept each other out of trouble. My last year of High School I moved to another state where I was the only youth from my ward attending my High School, not to mention that I had a hard time fitting in with my new ward. I very rarely attending anything other than church. That year was one of the most spiritually difficult of my life. I truly believe that had I made more of an effort to get to know the girls in my ward, to attend seminary, mutual, and firesides I would have been strong enough to avoid some of the pitfalls that I succumbed to. It is so important for our own strength and salvation that we attend our meetings, all of them!

I find that I enjoy being around other people that share my values and morals. To gather with members of our church is to some degree relaxing, I can be myself with out worrying.  I do not have to explain myself and my behaviors that reflect my values are not questioned.  I draw strength from these gatherings, I am reminded that I am not alone.  It is not Me vs. the World, but that I am surrounded by millions of other sisters standing with me.  I rarely attend Enrichment night because the activity or focus is of interest to me (although if it does interest me it is a bonus), more often than not I attend to be around the other sisters of my ward and to be uplifted by their strength and examples.

My father gave me a piece of advice when I was younger regarding attending church, I told him that I only attended because I felt I had to ( I had a testimony and could not bring myself to simply skip church), my father told me that this was good, he told me that I was going to church and that that was important, because if I continued to attend, eventually I would get to the point were I wanted to be there.  He was right, I enjoy going to church and even though I have a young child I still look forward to attending all of my meetings.

1. 31113, The Latter-day Saint Woman, Part A, Women in the Church, 17: Church Meetings, 122

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

"We have become largely a world of Sabbath breakers. On the Sabbath the lakes are full of boats, the beaches are crowded, the shows have their best attendance, the golf links are dotted with players. The Sabbath is the preferred day for rodeos, conventions, family picnics; even ball games are played on the sacred day. “Business as usual” is the slogan for many, and our holy day has become a holiday. And because so many people treat the day as a holiday, numerous others cater to the wants of the fun-lovers and money-makers.

To many, Sabbath-breaking is not important, but to our Heavenly Father it is disobedience to one of the principal commandments. Moses came down from the quaking, smoking Mount Sinai and brought to the wandering children of Israel the Ten Commandments, which are fundamental rules for the conduct of life. These commandments, however, were not new. They had been known to Adam and his posterity, who had been commanded to live them from the beginning, and were merely reiterated by the Lord to Moses. These commandments even antedated earth life and were part of the test for mortals established in the council in heaven “to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” (Abr. 3:25.)

Strange as it may seem, some Latter-day Saints, faithful in all other respects, justify themselves in missing their church meetings on occasion for recreational purposes, feeling that the best fishing will be missed if one is not at the stream Sunday or that the vacation will not be long enough if one does not set off on Sunday or that one will miss a movie he wanted to see if he does not go on the Sabbath. And in their breach of the Sabbath they often take their families with them.

The Savior said: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:19.)"
Spencer W. Kimball, “The Sabbath—A Delight,” Tambuli, July 1978, 1

Just recently my family and I were on vacation, we drove from our home to Salt Lake City, UT.  We left our home on a Saturday, spent the night in southern Utah and finished the drive Sunday.  Before we left home we packed a cooler full of food and drinks to keep us satisfied through our journey, the food lasted our first day of travel. 

Sunday we stopped to purchase lunch at a sandwich shop.  Realizing that the church has a large presence in Utah, I realized that my CTR ring highlighted me as an example of the church.  I found myself sliding my ring around so the sandwich shop employees would not know I was LDS.  I was embarrassed, and didn't want them to think I was a bad Mormon, after all they didn't know I was on vacation.

After this episode I sat in the car and thought more about it.  I have always thought of myself as a good church member, I have tried very hard in my life to keep the Sabbath day holy.  Growing up I was raised that if you happened to be on a trip that on Sunday you would only by the essentials (such as food).  It really had never occurred to me that this was still breaking the Sabbath.

My husband and I decided from now on we would plan ahead on all of our trips so we never have to break the Sabbath again.  In retrospect what we could have done was bought more food and ice on Saturday to sustain us through Sunday. When staying in a hotel on the Sabbath we can purchase food on Saturday and eat it on Sunday.  We have found that with a little foresight and planning, you can still enjoy vacations and keep the Sabbath day holy.