'How Was Your Sabbath Day?'

On any given Sunday in the Pacific Area there are about 150,000 members participating in Church meetings in our 1,252 units. Most of our members are once again attending Church in our buildings and yet some continue to worship on the Sabbath in their homes due to government restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic.

For some, and understandably so, there was a little pang of disappointment at returning to a Church building for Sunday meetings, such was the quality of their home centred, Church supported meetings. With that said, they have rediscovered the great joy of attending meetings with their fellow Saints.

We are under scriptural command to meet together as Saints. We read in the Doctrine and Covenants that, “It is expedient that the church ​​​meet​ together often to ​​​partake​ of ​​​bread and wine​ in the ​​​remembrance​ of the Lord Jesus..."(Doctrine and Covenants 20:75). From the New Testament we are reminded that when we come together, we are "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). And how blessed we are to have the teachings of Moroni, “And the ​​​church​ did meet together ​​​oft​, to ​​​fast​ and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls" (The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Moroni 6:5).

This Sunday, Sister Ardern and I met with the Saints in the Morrinsville Branch of the Hamilton, New Zealand Glenview Stake. We were about 50 in total and all who gathered partook of the emblems of the sacrament, were edified by shared testimonies and participated in a wonderful Sunday School lesson which was taught by a well prepared teacher.

I left that little Morrinsville Branch edified and was reminded once again, that “where two or three are gathered together in my name...there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:32).

How was your Sabbath day?

Elder Ardern