A Season of Opportunity

This post is part of the General Conference Odessey. This week covers the Saturday morning session of the October 1998 conference.

My husband retired in June for the second time. The first time was in 1999 after serving in the United States Marine Corps for over 25 years. This time it is from teaching technology (shop) for about 15 years. We are currently on vacation in Washington state visiting friends from 30 years ago who were part of the ward where TopDad joined the church. This is a new season for us!

Bishop H. David Burton spoke of a ". . . season of a thousand opportunities," at this session of conference. This talk had a particular lasting impression on me when I heard it the first time around. He told of grocery shopping when he was first married and seeing President and Sister Joseph Fielding Smith in the same store, far from where they lived in downtown Salt Lake City. After several sightings Bishop Burton got up the courage to ask why they were shopping so far from home at this particular store. "Looking over the tops of his glasses he emphatically said, Son! [he had my attention.] Sister Smith and I patronize establishments that keep the Sabbath day holy."

Bishop Burton went on to talk about the importance of keeping the covenant of the Sabbath day. "But I also know that remembering to keep the Sabbath day holy is one of the most important commandments we can observe in preparing us to be the recipients of the whisperings of the Spirit."

I thought this was particularly insightful because I'd never had any trouble not shopping on Sunday, or attending recreation or cultural events; but to make an effort to shop at and support others who were also keeping the Sabbath day seemed to me to be a new level of obedience. So since that time I've looked for and shopped at stores that are closed on Sunday. That is not easy, and sometimes in some areas I haven't found any. But when I do I make the most of them.

In Iowa I found a grocery chain that closed on Sunday. In researching locations on their website I looked into the history and values of the stores. 

Fareway's policy of being closed on Sunday has been in place for as long as our company has been in existence. We believe our customers, employees, and business partners deserve a day at home with their families - free from the fast-paced life we all live the other six days of the week. As a family-owned business, we understand the importance of family time and always have this in mind when operating our stores.

The idea of resting on Sunday is something our founder, Paul S. Beckwith, firmly believed in; in part because of his religious beliefs and a story told to him by his father. Paul's father was a pioneer who traveled to new territory by wagon train. Some pioneers were in a hurry, and drove on every day, leaving behind those who stopped for a day of rest and worship. As settlers continued to move westward, families who had taken Sunday off began to catch up with those who had pushed ahead; finding broken-down wagons, lame animals, and weary people. Paul's father told him he decided that the Bible was right; neither man nor beast was made to work seven days a week.

I thought that was a great story! One of the benefits I have experienced from choosing to shop at stores that honor the Sabbath is that I seem to find unadvertised sales on the very items I need that week. Or on things to put into storage. It's almost like the benefits of paying tithing; money goes further!

Bishop Burton said, "This is the season of opportunity for families to stand tall and be counted among the faithful who obey the fourth great commandment:"

Seems to me that that particular season has never ended.