If you grew up Latter-day Saint, you probably heard the warning: “Don’t go in the water on Sundays — Satan is out there.”

It’s one of those cultural lines that stuck — even though it never came from scripture.

It actually grew from a misreading of Doctrine and Covenants 61.

What Actually Happened on the Missouri River

In August 1831, Joseph Smith and several elders were canoeing down the Missouri after the first Zion conference. The river turned violent; the group nearly capsized; tensions rose among the brethren.

In that moment of danger and contention, Joseph received the revelation now known as D&C 61. The Lord said that although He blessed the waters at Creation, “in the last days… I cursed the waters.”

That line — lifted from its historical moment — eventually morphed into the “Satan in the water” myth.

A Targeted Warning Misunderstood as a Blanket Rule

The Missouri River in the 1830s was notorious for drowning travelers, and most people couldn’t swim.

“Cursed” meant dangerous and under divine warning — not demonic, not forbidden, and not tied to Sundays.

Nothing in the revelation forbids swimming or boating.

Nothing mentions the Sabbath.

Nothing suggests water is spiritually unsafe.

History seals the point: within years, missionaries were crossing oceans. If water were banned, the Restoration would’ve died in Missouri.

So Why Did Members Avoid Swimming on Sundays?

Because prophets taught about Sabbath worship — not because water is evil.

Church leaders did counsel against Sunday recreation, including water activities, but always for Sabbath reasons:

• President Spencer W. Kimball warned that Sunday recreation distracts from worship and rest.
• President Ezra Taft Benson listed swimming and boating as activities that undermine a holy Sabbath.
• Elder Mark E. Petersen likewise discouraged recreational swimming on the Sabbath.
• President Gordon B. Hinckley cautioned against weekend outings that pull families from sacrament meeting.

And Joseph Fielding Smith — who discouraged Sunday swimming — explicitly clarified that D&C 61 had nothing to do with it.

Put simply:

(1) Sabbath teachings + (2) a misunderstood verse = the folklore.

Prophetic counsel focused on worship; cultural storytelling added the superstition.

Why the Revelation Mentions the Land Too

D&C 61 also says the land is cursed.

If both land and water face judgment, the Lord clearly wasn’t teaching “water = bad.”

The issue was mission urgency.

The Saints needed to reach people “perishing in unbelief,” and the river slowed them down.

God wasn’t banning water — He was redirecting His missionaries.

The Biblical Language of Water

D&C 61 echoes familiar biblical symbolism: water can represent both blessing and danger depending on God’s purpose.

• Blessing: Creation (Gen. 1), the Red Sea (Ex. 14), baptism (John 3:5)
• Judgment: The Flood (Gen. 6–8), Nile to blood (Ex. 7), Revelation’s bitter waters
• Chaos: The stormy sea (Isa. 57:20), calmed by Christ (Mark 4:39)

In scripture, water isn’t inherently evil; it’s powerful. God uses it to save or to warn.

D&C 61 fits that perfectly: the Missouri River was dangerous at that moment, and God said so.

The Real Lesson of D&C 61

The Lord explains that not everyone needs to travel quickly by water, especially when people along the land route still need the gospel. He allowed some elders to take the river so they could witness what happened, but He warns that water travel carries real dangers — consistent with biblical events like the Flood, Jonah’s storm, and Paul’s shipwreck. Yet He promises that all flesh is in His hands and the faithful will be protected according to His will.

He then instructs Sidney Gilbert and W. W. Phelps to hurry on their mission by land.

The point isn’t that water is cursed — it’s that obedience and timing matter.

As always, God directs His people based on circumstance, safety, and spiritual priority.

The Principle for Today

Here’s the truth:

Obedience protects you. Folklore doesn’t.

D&C 61 isn’t a universal ban on water — it’s a reminder that God sees what we don’t, and His guidance in the moment is what keeps us safe.

This is exactly how God works in the Bible:

• He tells Paul not to go into Bithynia at one moment (Acts 16:7) — but allows others later.
• He tells Jonah to go to Nineveh now, not later.
• Jesus tells the disciples to avoid certain towns, then later commands them to go to all nations.

The pattern is always obedience to the specific moment, not a fixed rule about the terrain.

Parent Disclaimer (humorous but true)

Parents of minors: you are hereby authorized to temporarily preserve this myth if it saves you one weekend meltdown, one extra load of wet towels, or one more trip to the pool when you desperately want a nap. The Lord knoweth thy burdens.