Norman Keeps the Sabbath Day Holy

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday in Mousetown and Norman couldn’t wait to go out and
play. “Mama, Mama, can I go play with Marty?” Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:24 AM
Deleted: ,

“Yes,” Mama Mouse said, “But first you have to do your chores.” Every Saturday the Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:24 AM
Deleted: ,
Mouse family cleaned the house, and it was Norman’s job to pick up his toys, dust the shelves
and empty all of the trashcans.
Elizabeth Derrick 5/11/2017 8:21 AM
“Why do we have to clean the house today?” Norman whined. Deleted: trash cans

“Well,” Mama said, “If we clean the house today we won’t have to do it tomorrow, and
that is good because tomorrow is Sunday. Sunday is a special day.”
Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:25 AM
Deleted: and
Norman huffed as he picked up a block and tossed it in the toy box.

Norman quickly finished all his chores and spent the rest of the morning playing with his
best friend, Marty. They rode their bikes up and down the lane, kicked around a soccer ball and
made a little bug zoo with the beetles they found under the rocks in the back yard.
Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:26 AM
Comment [1]: Specifics can create more
After lunch Papa Mouse asked Norman if he and Marty would like to go with him to the
charm and better mental images.
gas station.
Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:26 AM
Deleted: ugs
“Are you going to get the car washed?” Norman asked.

“I am,” Papa answered.

“Oh boy!” Every Saturday Papa Mouse made sure the car was full of gas and sometimes
washed the car. The gas station had a fancy car wash, and Norman loved sitting in the car while Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:27 AM
the brushes and suds swirled all around him. He and Marty had a great time pretending they Deleted: he

were in a volcano surrounded by white bubbly lava and that they were being attacked by aliens
with a million arms.

Later when Marty’s dad came to pick up Marty he had a surprise, “Mama, Mama guess
what?” Norman cried excitedly as he ran in the house, “Marty’s dad got tickets for us to go to the
circus tomorrow!”

“Well Norman, that sounds like fun, but you know, tomorrow is Sunday, and Sunday is a
special day. We don’t go to activities like the circus On Sunday.”

“But Mama! He already has the tickets, can’t I go, just this once?” Elizabeth Derrick 2/22/2018 5:33 PM
Comment [2]: Okay, this is a really good
“I’m sorry Norman, maybe you can go to a circus with Marty another day.” problem to address in the book, but how does it
resolve? Sometimes childhood friendships end
over this kind of issue. Can we show a positive
After dinner Norman had to take a bath. “Why do I have to take a bath?” Norman resolution with Marty and his dad?
complained.

“Tomorrow is Sunday, and you need to look your best because Sunday is a special day,”
Mama said.

The next morning Norman got up, quickly ate his breakfast and then hurried to play a
video game. Mama Mouse called from the next room, “Norman, it’s Sunday. Please turn that off
and go get dressed for church. Remember, in our house we don’t play those kinds of games on
Sunday because Sunday is a special day.”

Norman trudged slowly back to his room and got dressed in his best shirt and tie that
Mama had laid out for him the night before. Just as he tucked in his shirt and clipped on his tie
he heard a ball bouncing outside his window. He looked out and saw his friend, Freddy, in his
soccer uniform bouncing a ball as he headed to a game. Norman wished he were going to the Elizabeth Derrick 2/22/2018 5:35 PM
Comment [3]: I think it might be fun to
game, but he wasn’t on the team. Norman was one of the best players on his school team, but have this friend be Sam from Norman is a
the city team played most of their games on Sunday. “We don’t play sports on Sunday,” Missionary. It would make a fun connection,
Norman’s parents had said when he had asked if he could sign up for the city team, “Sunday is a don’t you think?
special day.”

“What’s so special about Sunday?” Norman cried as Papa Mouse walked in the room,
“Sundays are no fun!”

“You know Norman, it says in the Bible that Heavenly Father gave us the Sabbath, which
is Sunday. It is a gift and it is supposed to be a delight,” Papa Mouse said as he sat down by
Norman, “Do you know what that means?”

Norman shook his head, “No.”

“A delight is something that is really good and is meant to make us happy.”

Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:35 AM
Deleted: really
“But I can’t do anything on Sunday!”

“Well Norman, it’s true that there are things we don’t do on Sunday to help make it be a
special day, but there are a lot of things we can do.”

“Like what?” Norman asked.

“Sunday is a great day to do things with the family. All week we work hard at work and
in school and around the house, but on Sunday we don’t do those things so we can rest and be Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:35 AM
together. We can play quiet games together or watch uplifting videos or even go on a walk Deleted: our jobs

around the lake. We can also do service together. Remember last week how much fun we had Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:35 AM
making cookies and taking them to our neighbors?” Deleted: ,

“But if it is good to do things together,” Norman asked, “why can’t we play sports, or go
to the movies or the circus or even go fishing as a family on Sunday?”
 “Remember how I told you that Sunday is a gift from Heavenly Father?” Papa asked.

“Yes,” Norman replied.

Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:36 AM
Deleted: .
“Well,” Papa continued, “what are you supposed to do when you are given a gift?”

Norman hesitated, “I should say ‘thank you,’ right?”

“That’s right,” Papa said, “You know our Heavenly Father gave us the Sabbath as a gift,
but he has given us an even better and an more special gift than just that. Heavenly Father gave
us his son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus died for us so that we can live with Him and Heavenly Father Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:37 AM
again someday. We can say ‘thank you’ to Heavenly Father by thinking about Him and Jesus on Deleted: igger

Sunday. We go to church and we do other things that help us remember all the wonderful Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:37 AM
Deleted: even
blessings He has given us. When we do that, we show Him that we are thankful and that we love
Him. We are also being obedient and keeping the Sabbath day holy, and that makes it a very
special day.” Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:38 AM
Deleted: we are

Norman thought about what Papa had told him as he sat in church. He tried to think
about Jesus when he took the sacrament. He tried to be happy and grateful, but he was just a
little mouse, and it was a long meeting. During the last talk Norman started to think about his
friends and what he was missing because he was at church.

When sacrament meeting was over Papa Mouse winked at Norman, “Have fun in
Primary!” Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:39 AM
Deleted: S

“I’ll try Papa,” Norman sighed. Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:39 AM

Deleted: M

“Norman, Norman, sit by me!” his friend Billy exclaimed when he got to the Primary
room.

Norman’s Primary always started with sharing time and singing time. One of Norman’s
favorite things about Primary was singing time. Brother Nelson was a great big mouse with a
loud deep voice who really made singing fun. The little mice sang all kinds of silly songs to get
the wiggles out. Afterwards all of the mice settled down as they sang some reverent songs that
made Norman feel happy and peaceful inside.

The last hour of Primary was spent in class. Norman’s Primary teacher, Sister Jones,
always did her best to give good lessons, and this week she led Norman’s class on a treasure hunt
to help them learn about obedience.
Elizabeth Derrick 2/22/2018 5:35 PM
Comment [4]: This is rather distracting.
As Norman participated in Primary, he started to forget about all the things he couldn’t What does a treasure hunt have to do with
do on Sunday. Norman felt happy as his family drove home from church. When they passed obedience? If you think the Primary lesson will
Freddy kicking around his soccer ball Norman waved and was surprised that he wasn’t as sad as help Norman understand the Sabbath, you will
he had been earlier that morning. need to explain further. Otherwise, you may
want to find something more simple for the
lesson activity.
 After lunch Norman played a quiet game with his little sister while his parents took a nap.
Later Mama popped some popcorn for the family to enjoy while they watched some home
videos. Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:43 AM
Deleted: and l

Later as the Mouse family sat down to eat, Norman thought about how much he loved
Sunday dinners. Mama usually cut up the vegetables on Saturday and then threw everything in
the Crockpot before church Sunday morning. It slowly cooked all day, filling the home with a
warm, comforting smell. Mama said she did that because it was easy, Norman just thought it Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:44 AM
Deleted: c
was yummy.
Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:44 AM
Deleted:
As the Mouse family finished eating their dinner the phone rang. Papa answered it.
Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:44 AM
“Hello.... Oh hi! Sure, we’d love to. ... see you soon.” Papa smiled and hung up the phone.
Deleted: his

“What would we love, Papa?” Norman asked.

“Gramps and Gran have invited us over for some dessert,” Papa announced.

“Oh boy!” Norman exclaimed.

When they arrived at his grandparent’s house, Norman was happy to see that his aunt and
uncle and cousins had also been invited. It didn’t take long for everyone to finish off Gran’s Elizabeth Derrick 5/7/2017 11:45 AM
delicious homemade pie. After that, Norman had fun playing with his cousins while the adults Deleted: G

visited.

That night when his mama tucked him in, Norman smiled as he thought about the day.
“Sunday really is a special day, isn’t it Mama?”

“It really is,” Mama said with a smile.