swimming and Sundays

What you choose to do or not do on the Sabbath is a personal thing. There is no "master list" of approved activities. We are very active and so are most of our friends. There are great differences in what we and our friends do or don't do on the Sabbath. For example, some have the rule no swimming; others go for a family swim at the local reservoir. Some do not shop or eat out. Others enjoy a nice Sunday brunch. Some do not participate in sports on Sunday; others, just the championship game; others, whatever games their kids have. Some watch sports on TV. Some do not watch TV; some are ok with special Sunday TV shows/movies. Some have a "no balls or wheels" rule; others, let there children play whatever they choose. There are also activities that are encouraged like writing letters to family members or missionaries, writing in your journal, reading scriptures or church magazines, doing service, etc. In the end, it is up to each member to sort out what they feel is appropriate for the Sabbath. There are no "sabbath police". If either one of you wants to do some reading, go to lds.org and find the Ensign (church magazine). Do a search on Sabbath. I'm sure there are many articles that address this topic.

The official rule is to keep the sabbath "holy". And everyone interpruts that differently, but it commonly means, be with family and don't do things that cause other's to have to work on the sabbath (and thus be away from their families) if you can help it. It also commonly means to try to keep a focus on your relationship with God that day, more than any other.Decades ago, the culture of the LDS faith was much different. A lot of members demanded to be told every little thing you could and could not do. And the personal opinion of a church leader was taken as gospel doctorine, very official. I believe at one time, one leaders personal opinion was that Satan had control of the water (not sure where that came from) and thus it was more dangerous, esp on the sabbath. The members took that as "truth" and just like that swimming on Sunday became a big no-no. Now, the culture has shifted a bit, but the same instinct to avoid swimming on the sabbath is there, because it was what most of our parents were taught. It's only when were asked why, that it occurs there's no real doctorine forbidding it and that's why she changed her mind.Also, being christlike plays a huge part, so she likely asked herself what jesus would do, and he would probably go hang out and socialize, and not distance himself from another's company if at all possible. I hope this explains the mind-set a little better. Most of what you hear about the LDS faith may be skewed or flat out false due to misinterprutation, or straight out malice. A big part of what people think is our official beliefs, is actually an unofficial culture. I really appreciate you taking the time to ask. It means a lot!Above all other doctrine, the biggest thing is that we are taught to know for ourselves if the things that are being taught to us are true. We are told to pray and ask for God's opinion. And a while back, most people forgot to do that. Which has created a culture of beliefs based on singular opinions. A lot of members still see LDS culture as LDS doctorine. Because we believe in knowing for ourselves, he answers to prayers may differ according to each person on some aspects of our religion.As a side note, when we are accused of being brainwashed, it's kind of ludicrous. No other preachers I know of give a seromon and then tell the congregation to go home and double check with God, and not take their word for it. :)

Thank you, that is all good information!I appreciate it!

for some reason as I was scrolling down this thread caught my eye and I lurked on it. Just wanted to say it's nice to know that other people in a different church view Sabbath the same way our family does. We do this on Saturday instead of Sunday since we are SDAs (Seventh-Day-Adventist) but reading the two posts made me smile as our family keeps the Sabbath Holy as well. I believe we are similar in our avoidance of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Anyways just popped in to comment....I'll leave your board now. It was just nice and familiar reading albeit from another church.

Thanks! No need to leave, it isn't exclusive to LDS folk, just more of an "answers from an LDS perspective" type place.It's kind of nice to hear "us too" once in awhile. Not too many people imagine that they have anything in common with someone from the LDS faith. I was gonna add that keeping the sabbath holy, was a "pleasing to God" type behavior, not "hellfire and ****ation" if you don't. So don't worry about it too much. If you offer an alternative, but she still feels comfortable with the original plan, then it will be fine.

Seriously, no wonder people think Mormons are strange. It's a day to spend with family, ponder our blessings, focus on Christ, and rest. If you aren't paying someone to use their pool, I would say it's okay. It's a personal thing, but could have been a great opportunity to get to know some new people without them thinking you are brushing them off.

Perfect answer! I joined this forum just to tell you that I appreciate someone telling it like it is. There are many sheeple that take what they have heard as fact. The fact is that how you observe the Sabbath is a personal thing. To me there are not many things more relaxing and restful then floating in the pool! Others may think I'm wrong, but that is their opinion, not doctrine. Thank you! Jeff

Thank you.

I think it's a personal choice. I don't think water play is necessarily discouraged. I think play in general is discouraged. What's considered okay Sabbath day play and what isn't is up to the parents, in my opinion. Each parent has their line drawn in a different spot.

Thanks for the answers. It has been great having a friend that is a different faith than our family here. Her family came to our church recently (Catholic) for a friend's baptism and she was so positive about her first experience at a Catholic church. That really opened up the way for us to already having a couple disucssions on our faith--we both said ask anytime questions come up--because both our faiths when shown in the media really focuses on negative things. We were talking about some of the similarties we share in our faith and asking questions about other things.An open discussion about faith is so interesting.

DannieAS: I wasn't SDA but a close friend growing up was. Her family also had no TV, movies, playing from Friday night to Saturday night. I found it quite interesting that they were able to do it.