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TERRY - I have always wanted to own my own business. The #1 Franchise is Subway, which I love and would really be interested in buying one (well if I could ever get the financing anyway). My question is how do LDS run businesses that operate on Sunday and still keep the Sabath Day Holy? I'd have to check, but I don't know if Subway would allow a Franchisee to close a store on Sunday because of their religious beliefs.

JOEL - I am pretty sure Subway would not allow it. You would have to start up your own private sandwich business. Call it Terry's Torpedos :-). I suppose technically, LDS run businesses that operate on Sunday are not keeping the Sabbath Day holy. The LDS owend R.C. Willey's furniture company has managed to keep their doors closed on Sundays for decades; not an easy thing with how competitive the business world is nowadays. Exactly how we keep the Sabbath day holy is a personal thing between us and God. But consider what President Spencer W. Kimball had to say about it:

"It is true that some people must work on the Sabbath. And, in fact, some of the work that is truly necessary—caring for the sick, for example—may actually serve to hallow the Sabbath. However, 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…" (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Sabbath—A Delight,” Ensign, Jan 1978, 1–5)

That's a pretty bold statement and I am sure it might not sit well with members who decide to work on Sunday. God told Moses:

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:(Ex 20: 8-10)

Starting a business that is open on Sunday causes others to work on the Sabbath (ie manservant/maidservant) and encourages customers to shop on the Sabbath. Proper observance of the Sabbath has a lot to do with the attitude one has as they spend the day, whether they are working or not. Even if we must work, we should still maintain the spirit of Sabbath worship in our hearts as much as possible. Keeping all this in mind whether or not you decide to own a business that operates on Sunday is something you have to work out between you and God.

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