I'm delighted at this opportunity to visit with you today. You're a wonderful generation of young people, and we are very proud of you. The world you're living in has some serious challenges. Today I want to emphasize a principle of the gospel that can greatly bless your lives and protect you. In doing this, I want you to know that I actually remember what it was like to be young. You may find that hard to believe, but I was actually a seminary student once, for all four years. I won't say that was a long time ago, but I do remember walking past an ark someone had left on the roadside just a couple of blocks from our building. Yes, in my vague, distant past, I do remember what it was like to be your age. And I remember being confused a little about what I should or shouldn't do on Sundays. I want to speak with you about that for a moment, about understanding the Sabbath day and why it is so very important to keep it holy--more important than most of us ever realize. In so doing, I plead with you not to see Sunday as a day of negative rules and stifling restrictions or a day of tedious duty or a day devoid of any pleasure or joy. Any such view could not be farther from the truth. Let's talk about it. The Sabbath is for our physical rest and renewal. This earthly experience gives us a mortal body that becomes tired, fatigued, weary. That fact is part of what it means to manage our lives, to learn to take care of things and make our lives as full and responsive and enjoyable as possible. But that doesn't mean for you to stay up all night on Saturday so you can sleep all day on Sunday. No, we are to enter into the Lord's rest on the Sabbath. But that is very different from being a massive couch potato for 24 hours. What is, then, the Lord's rest? Well, it does require respite from our weekday work, but it's more than that. This brings us to our second reason for Sabbath observance. The Sabbath is for the regeneration and strengthening of our spiritual being as well as for our physical bodies. Often with the demands of mortality, we find it hard to keep focused on the real purposes of why we're here. Total preoccupation with our weekday activities makes us a little like those Israelite slaves in Egypt. Sabbath observance gives us a break. We stop whatever labors we've been doing, and we smell the spiritual roses. The Sabbath focuses us on eternal things. One way we do that is indicated in the Lord's language on this very matter: "But remember that on ... the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord." Oblations are offerings. They're gifts--gifts of time, talent, means--given in the service of God and our fellowman. That is one thing you can do with those spiritual roses you've stopped to smell. You can give a bouquet of them to someone. The Sabbath is a day for giving. Even in your young lives, do you ever find yourself so rushed that you can't find the time to slow down? To take time for someone else? To serve or share your talents with others? The Lord has set aside this time, one day in seven, for us to plan and prepare and offer ourselves in His service to others. For six days in the week we may, unfortunately, find ourselves pretty occupied with ourselves. The Sabbath helps us turn to the Lord, to our families, to those in need. Take advantage of this break from your routine. You need it. And others need you. By partaking of the sacrament each week, we focus our attention on the Savior's atoning sacrifice, acknowledging our dependence on His mercy and His forgiveness. That is directly related to our Christian observance of Sunday as the day of resurrection. The sacrament is a weekly reminder that directs our thoughts to the Savior, toward that one great source of our salvation, and our need to repent so we might qualify for the full blessings of His Atonement and Resurrection. Although we should be repenting all the time, the Sabbath and the sacrament give us the opportunity to really set aside worldly cares and to concentrate on our spiritual improvement. Hence the Lord's statement "[to confess our sins] before the Lord." Think for a moment how different our lives could be if, through repentance, we were made clean each and every Sabbath and could start each week absolutely pure, renewed, refreshed, totally confident of our standing before God. That sounds wonderful to me. It is wonderful. Thank heaven for Sundays and the sacrament. Lastly, the Sabbath gives us an opportunity to learn to know God and to express our love for Him. The Lord said, "For verily this is a day appointed unto you ... to pay thy devotions unto the Most High." There's no greater reason to keep the Sabbath day holy than to express our love to God. The Sabbath provides a day, uninterrupted from worldly cares, to concentrate on heaven, on all that our Father in Heaven is and has done for us. In worshipping Him, we come to know Him and love Him, and we develop a greater resolve to follow Him. With our attention turned towards such light and love and perfection, little wonder that the Sabbath will keep us "unspotted from the world," as the scripture says. For at least one day a week, we're not tarnished by the world because we're hardly even in it. For at least one day, we're into the scriptures, prayer, faith, family, friends, service, repentance, the sacrament. These are good. These are very good.

As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I ask you to love and honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Refrain from anything that would distract from the spirit of the day, such as working or shopping or participating in your regular recreation and sporting activities. You'll feel better about yourselves if you continue to wear throughout the day your nice, appropriate clothing. The question really isn't what you can't do on Sunday; it's about all the things you can do and can have. Remember why this is such a sacred day. Earnestly try to make the Sabbath day holy, and observe the difference it makes in your life. I promise you that if you do, the Sabbath will become one of the greatest blessings in your life. It will be evidence that you love the Lord and are grateful to Him for His endless blessings to us. As a special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ in these latter days, I want you to know that I love Him and I love His holy day. It is the very best day of my week. And as an Apostle, all my days are good days. But the Sabbath is very special. It is the day I am closest to the Savior that I serve. I love you and I admire you. The President of the Church loves you and admires you. We all want the very best for you. Surely you understand that by and large, the world around you does not believe as you believe, nor does it honor the Sabbath day. You have a chance to stand up for something sacred here--for the goodness of life, the blessings we enjoy, the Atonement, redemption, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know-- I promise you and I testify to you that I know God will reward you for faithful Sabbath observance. Love it. Enjoy every minute of it. Defend it. Your spirit will soar. I promise you it will. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.