Perfect day for a break of school: because "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath"

Since I was probably in 5-6th grade, I took the decision that I would never do homework on Sundays... Little I knew about the impact that decision would have in my life later, as I would experience what "homework" really meant...

I kept that promise for many and never did homework on Sundays, but I grew up, and homework became more and more demanding...

When I was 16, my last year in high school, I had a very important research to do about a bactery, virus, parasite, for my biology class, and it was due for a Monday morning in November. Because of the 9/11 events weeks earlier, I had heard about letters containing anthrax spores that had been mailed after those events, so I decided to do my research about the anthrax. I thought it would be easy, but I was wrong! After many weeks of research, all I could find was the news about those attacks, but anything about what I had to find for my research.

It was Friday, and my week-end was already booked. I had seminary that evening. Saturday morning we had a temple trip for the  youth of my ward. Then, that afternoon, we had a youth stake activity and dance. And then well, it was Sunday, the day were I wasn't supposed to do homework. What would I do? Although I had always be a pretty good student for all those years, I was already struggling with that biology class and knew that this research could make a huge difference. The Lord could understand that, right? It would be only once! No more! This research was crucial for my success in my biology class!

But I knew I had made a promise; I had to keep it! So I organized my priorities and planned my week-end in order to complete my homework on time, before Monday morning. All the activities were good, but I had to prioritize, and thought that learning in Seminary, serving in the temple and keeping my promise for the Sabbath day were more important than the wholesome fun I would have had at the youth stake activity.

Saturday after the temple, I got back home around noon, ate lunch, and began to work on my project. I worked on it until 11 p.m. At the end of the day, I had barely completed the half of my research. Before going to bed, a friend told me that she would look for more information and would send me the links so that I could continue my research before Monday. 

That Sunday after church, about at 3-4 p.m., I worked on my seminary scripture study and homework. I read a lot and completed many exercises. I spent some time with my family and then went to bed at 8, asking my dad to wake me up at midnight to finish my homework.

At midnight, I woke up, turned on the computer, and continued to work on that long homework. My friend had send me new links that she had miraculously found, and I found some meaningful information. About at 3:30 a.m., I had the thought that perhaps I could probably find books in my dad's personal library, so I went downstairs, looked at his books, and found a book about microbiology, where there was a lot of information about anthrax. With all that, I had gathered all the information needed for my research.

Miraculously, at 7:10 a.m., the time when I usually woke up to get ready for school, I turned off the computer, with my project done, in my hands, and got ready for school. I went to my biology class and gave my project to my teacher. I thought I would fall asleep all day, but I didn't even felt tired. I felt so glad that everything got well, and I was happy that I had kept my promise, even if I didn't knew my results yet.

Some days later, the teacher gave us back our projects. I was thrilled to know how was mine, and waited, waited, and waited. When she finished the distribution, she kept one in her hands. It was mine! She said she wanted to congratulate me for my good work, that my research was well done, and that she was proud of me because I had made a lot of progress in that class, and had the best mark on that researc, a 95%, due to some little grammar mistakes that I hadn't noticed (remember, I composed it at night...). 

I felt really happy, but most of it, I felt grateful to the Lord because I knew he had blessed me for my decision to keep his day holy, in my own way. Since that moment, I don't know what hapenned, but I began to understand everything in my biology class, that at the end of the year, I had the best marks and received a price in biology.

Friends, I know the Lord bless us when we keep his day holy. I have experienced many other miracles on this topic later, but having that experience when I was about to finish high school and begin college gave me the motivation to keep doing the same during my college years, and I have been blessed for that.

Because I know I won't do homework on Sundays, I have:

• learned to organize my time in a better way on weekdays, to ensure that I won't need to stress out about school on Sundays. We already have 6 days a week to think about those things... give me a break! Take a break! Sundays are just perfect for that! 
• come to experiences many other great moments to serve and feel closer to the Lord, taking a "day off" of school. 
• refreshed my mind and felt me more enthusiasm in my studies, because there is at least a day a week were I don't worry about that.
• received intellingence, understanding, and good results at school, of course, when I've done my best to study.

When I was 19, a doctor in my ward shared his testimony that he had take the same decision when he began college, and that during all his years in medical school, he had never touch his medicine books. Many thought that would be impossible, but he did it, and he had always succeed in school, becoming a great doctor. When he shared that, it strengthened my testimony of what I already knew.

Avoiding homework on Sunday is not a commandment, and I don't believe that those who do work on school on Sundays will be damned or will fail school because of that "great sin". I just believe that is something that have helped me to focus on other things on Sundays, and because of that, it has blessed my schooling too. I invite you to try! You need a break from school was in a while, and doing it once a week, on Sundays, will give you the strength and motivation you need to perform better in school on week days. I know it must be hard sometimes because of the amount of homework we often have to do once in college, but I promise you that if you give it a try, you will see the blessings from it.

Take a break of school for a day! As you do, you will discover the reality of "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" - Mark 2:27 It's the perfect day to take a break!