Questions and Answers

Liahona and readers’ responses are intended for help and perspective, not as pronouncements of Church doctrine.

I need to earn money for a mission and college. The Church teaches that we shouldn’t work on the Sabbath, but almost all the jobs I am qualified for require Sunday work. What should I do?

Liahona

• The Lord can bless you financially for keeping His commandments.

• On your mission you won’t be able to testify about the blessings of keeping the Sabbath day holy if you don’t keep it holy yourself.

• Tell Heavenly Father you want to keep His commandments; then show Him by doing your best to find a job that doesn’t require Sunday work.

• The Lord wants you to serve Him and be educated. He will help you find a way if you have faith and do your part.

A recurring theme in the Book of Mormon is this: the Lord will “prosper” the obedient (see 1 Ne. 2:20; 1 Ne. 4:14; 2 Ne. 1:20; Jarom 1:9; Omni 1:6).

This is not a guarantee that you will be wildly rich or that you will immediately experience financial success. But if you want to serve a mission and the Lord wants you to serve, He will help you find a way to pay for it if you keep His commandments. The same is true of any worthy goal.

If you choose to work on the Sabbath day, not only are you forfeiting blessings, but you won’t be prepared to testify about one of the most important commandments you will teach on your mission.

Of course, some jobs require Sunday work—jobs such as emergency or medical positions, police, security, and so on. But as President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught: “In such activities our motives are a most important consideration. When men and women are willing to work on the Sabbath to increase their wealth, they are breaking the commandments; for money taken in on the Sabbath, if the work is unnecessary, is unclean money” (“The Sabbath—A Delight,” Tambuli, July 1978, 5; Ensign, Jan. 1978, 5).

Let Heavenly Father know through prayer and fasting that you want to keep His commandments, that you want to find honorable work, and that you want to keep the Sabbath day holy. Then go to work looking for that job. It might not be the job you dreamed of, but we must be willing to sacrifice for the blessings we desire.

Show the Lord through paying regular and honest tithes and offerings that He can trust you with money. And whatever you do, don’t lose faith. As Nephi learned, “The Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Ne. 3:7).

What is worthy or unworthy on the Sabbath day will have to be judged by each of us by trying to be honest with the Lord. On the Sabbath day we should do what we have to do and what we ought to do in an attitude of worshipfulness and then limit our other activities.”
President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “The Lord’s Day,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 35.

Readers

One of God’s commandments is to keep the Sabbath day holy. If you put the Lord and His commandments first, there will be a way to go on a mission and get a good education. If we trust in the Lord, everything will work for our good (see Rom. 8:28).
Elder Henricus Antonius Kroon, 20, Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission

Maybe this is a trial to prepare you for your mission, to prove that you will follow the commandments. Your Heavenly Father will help you find a job, and you won’t regret keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Nahomie Lambin, 15, Epinal Branch, Nancy France Stake

I have had to search long to find a job. I have realized that I have to include the Lord in my decision. I know that if I trust the Lord and do my best, He will bless me with the right job at the right time.
Catherine Leddin, 19, Lauenburg Ward, Hamburg Germany Stake

“He has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said” (Mosiah 2:22). A few weeks after I turned down my dream job, another position opened, and I was given the job without Sunday in my work schedule.
Elder Thomas George Haroldsen, 20, Sweden Stockholm Mission

I looked for work for two summers, and every time I mentioned I wouldn’t work Sundays, my interviews ended. However, I trusted in the Lord. Then an office job without Sunday work was offered to me. The Lord watches out for you when you obey His words.
Whitney Olson, 17, Queensland Ward, Calgary Alberta South Stake

I had to choose between a high-paying job and keeping the Lord’s day holy. I chose to keep the Sabbath holy, because the Lord promises that if we keep His commandments, we will prosper in the land. After a time, during which He proved my faith, I was blessed with a job not requiring Sunday work.
Rafael Dias de Moura, 18, Matinhos Ward, Paranaguá Brazil Stake

I had trouble finding a job that didn’t require Sunday work. I often got discouraged but knew I was doing what the Lord would have me do. It took a while for me to see it, but the Lord did provide a way for me to prepare financially for my mission without Sunday work.
Elder Jeremy Gohier, 20, Georgia Atlanta Mission

Golden nuggets aren’t found on the surface. We must dig to find them. Maybe those jobs that we find first require Sunday work, but if we make the effort, we will find one that respects the day of rest.
Cristina García Adum, 17, San Camilo Ward, Quevedo Ecuador South Stake

My friend looked everywhere for a job he liked, but all the jobs required him to work Sundays. Finally he realized that maybe he needed to look for a job that wasn’t as “fun” as he had wanted. Once he did, he found a job and is now prepared for his mission.
Amanda Lung, 16, Orchard View Ward, Fresno California North Stake

Photograph by Robert Casey, posed by models