Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

Sarah felt sadder and sadder as she listened to her Primary teacher talk about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Finally a tear rolled down her face, and then another and another. Sarah's teacher, Sister West, stopped talking and knelt on the floor beside Sarah. "What's wrong Sarah?"

"I can't keep the Sabbath Day holy, Sister West. My mom doesn't go to church and since Daddy died, I've had to come with Grandma. Today my mom said I have to go shopping for school clothes after church. She always makes me do things we aren't supposed to do."

Sister West was quiet for a minute. "Your mother isn't a member of the church. She doesn't understand about the Sabbath. There are two different commandments you are having trouble with. One is to honor and obey your parents. The other is to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Is there any way you can do both?"

Sarah's friend Karen raised her hand. "If you told her not to obey her mother, she wouldn't be allowed to come to church anymore."

"You're right, and I would never tell her to disobey her mother, anyway. Is there any way she can obey her mother and still keep the Sabbath Day as holy as possible? What about today, when she goes shopping? Sarah, what can you do to keep the Sabbath Day holy while you are shopping with your mother? Did you ask her if you could go a different day, instead?"

"Yes, but she said this was the only day she could go because she works the other days. I have to choose the clothes, but I guess I don't have to buy anything else. Sometimes my mom buys me a new book or a toy, but I could decide not to get one. And I could try to think about Jesus and tell my mom what I learned in church."

"Those are good ideas. I'm sure you can find ways you can keep the Sabbath Day holy as much as possible. Why don't you try today, and tell us about it next week?"

Sarah's mother was ready to go when Sarah got home from church. "We'll just grab lunch while we're out."

Sarah remembered what her teacher had said. "Could we have lunch at home instead? I'll make sandwiches for us and clean up afterwards. It won't take very long and you can rest while I do the work."

Sarah's mother was surprised. "You love to eat out."

"But it's Sunday, and I don't want to eat out on Sundays unless I have to. You can have all my tomatoes on your sandwich if we can eat here."

Sarah's mother laughed, "Okay, you win. We'll have lunch here."

Sarah thanked her mother and made sandwiches. Her mother made chocolate milk as a special treat. Sarah told her mother what she had learned about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and about the new songs they had learned in Primary. When they were finished, Sarah cleaned up the kitchen and then they went to the store.

Sarah was sad that she had to be in the store on Sunday, but while her mother looked at grown-up clothes, Sarah thought about when Jesus blessed the children. While her mother bought new shoes, she remembered Nephi traveling in the wilderness. Finally it was time to buy Sarah's clothes. Sarah sighed. This was the hardest part of all. "How many new clothes do I have to choose? I don't want to buy more than I have to on Sunday."

Sarah's mother was surprised, "You usually beg me for more. I guess you could get by with three new shirts, one dress and two pairs of pants. The rest can wait for another day or you can just make do with that."

Sarah gave her mother a hug. "Thank you. I'll choose them fast so we can go home. I want to play with the scripture game my teacher gave me."

When they were done, her mother looked at her watch. "Would you like to go to the bookstore and choose a new book? We could stop for ice cream, too."

Sarah was excited. Books and ice cream were her favorite treats. Then she
remembered that it was Sunday. "No thank you. I have lots of books already and we have ice cream at home."

Sarah's mother sighed, but they went home. After they had ice cream at home, Sarah's mother said, "Usually, I would read your new book to you now, but you didn't buy one. What should we do instead?"

Sarah remembered what they had talked about in Primary. "I have a book you could read to me. Grandma gave it to me. I'll go get it."

She came back with a book about Jesus. Her mother smiled at her. "You were really serious when you said you were going to try to keep the Sabbath Day holy. You would find Sundays very boring if you really did it all the time."

"No, I won't. Our teacher showed us lots of things we can do on Sundays. When I get to choose what to do, I'm going to do what Heavenly Father says to do. But I'll do what you want first, because He wants me to obey you. That's what my teacher said."

"They want you to obey me even when I tell you to do something your teacher says is wrong?"

"She said you are a good mother and I should do what you say. She likes you."

"I like her, too. Sarah, tell me more about what you do at church. When your dad and grandmother decided to join your church, I was upset and I wouldn't go to church with them. I've never been to your church. Tell me about it."

Sarah curled up beside her mother and told her all about church. Then she got her Book of Mormon and they read some of it together. Soon it was dinner time and Sarah had been keeping the Sabbath Day holy for a long time.

The next Sunday, Sarah had a big smile on her face when she came to Primary. After the prayer, her teacher asked her if she wanted to talk about last Sunday. Sarah told her class about the choices she had made. Then she said, "Guess what the best part was? Mom said if I help her with all the housework and errands on Saturdays, she won't make me shop on Sundays with her very often, and most of the time I won't have to do things I shouldn't. She'll let me have a lot of time to do things I'm supposed to do. And today she said it was nice to wake up and have no chores. She might even come to church with me one day."

"She said she might!"