Chapter 22: Reaching Out with Love to New Converts and Less-Active Members

1. Chapter 22: Reaching Out with Love to New Converts and Less-Active Members “We must constantly [be] aware of the tremendous obligation to fellowship … those who come into the Church as converts, and to reach out with love to those who … step into the shadows of inactivity.”

2. From the Life of Gordon B. Hinckley “The challenge now is greater than it has ever been because the number of converts is greater than we have ever before known. … Every convert is precious. Every convert is a son or daughter of God. Every convert is a great and serious responsibility.”1 President Hinckley’s concern for new converts and less-active members was a result of his experience in seeing how the gospel blesses lives. A news reporter once asked him, “What brings you the greatest satisfaction as you see the work of the Church today?” President Hinckley replied: “The most satisfying experience I have is to see what this gospel does for people. It gives them a new outlook on life. It gives them a perspective that they have never felt before. It raises their sights to things noble and divine. Something happens to them that is miraculous to behold. They look to Christ and come alive.”2

3. “The Lord left the ninety and nine to find the lost sheep.”

4. We have a great responsibility to minister to the individual. We must look after the individual. Christ always spoke of individuals. He healed the sick, individually. He spoke in His parables of individuals. This Church is concerned with individuals, notwithstanding our numbers. Whether they be 6 or 10 or 12 or 50 million, we must never lose sight of the fact that the individual is the important thing.3 We are becoming a great global society. But our interest and concern must always be with the individual. Every member of this church is an individual man or woman, boy or girl. Our great responsibility is to see that each is “remembered and nourished by the good word of God” (Moro. 6:4), that each has opportunity for growth and expression and training in the work and ways of the Lord, that none lacks the necessities of life, that the needs of the poor are met, that each member shall have encouragement, training, and opportunity to move forward on the road of immortality and eternal life. Why must “our interest and concern … always be with the individual,” even in a worldwide church? What are some ways we can be more sensitive in looking after each individual?

5. Every convert is precious and is a great and serious responsibility. I have come to feel that the greatest tragedy in the Church is the loss of those who join the Church and then fall away. With very few exceptions it need not happen. I am convinced that almost universally those who are baptized by the missionaries have been taught sufficiently to have received knowledge and testimony enough to warrant their baptism. But it is not an easy thing to make the transition incident to joining this Church. It means cutting old ties. It means leaving friends. It may mean setting aside cherished beliefs. It may require a change of habits and a suppression of appetites. In so many cases it means loneliness and even fear of the unknown. There must be nurturing and strengthening during this difficult season of a convert’s life. A tremendous price has been paid for his or her presence in the Church. The long efforts of the missionaries and the cost of their service, the separation from old relationships and the trauma associated with all of this make it imperative that these precious souls be welcomed, reassured, helped in their times of weakness, given responsibility under which they may grow strong, and encouraged and thanked for all they do.6 What can we learn and apply from the letter that President Hinckley shares in section 2?

6. “I invite every member to reach out in friendship and love for those who come into the Church as converts.”

7. Every convert needs friendship, a responsibility, and nurturing with the word of God. With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with “the good word of God” (Moro. 6:4). It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things.9 Friendship: Let us reach out to these people! Let us befriend them! Let us be kind to them! Let us encourage them! Let us add to their faith and their knowledge of this, the work of the Lord.12 Responsibility: Every convert who comes into this Church should have an immediate responsibility. It may be ever so small, but it will spell the difference in his life.16 Nurturing with the good word of God: I believe … that these converts have a testimony of the gospel. I believe they have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and know of His divine reality. I believe they have truly repented of their sins and have a determination to serve the Lord. Why does every new convert need friendship, responsibility, and nurturing with the word of God? What are some ways we can be friend new converts?

8. There is everything to gain and nothing to lose by coming back to Church activity. There are thousands across the world … who are members of the Church in name, but who have left, and who now in their hearts long to return, but do not know how and are too timid to try. To you, my brethren and sisters, who have taken your spiritual inheritance and left, and now find an emptiness in your lives, the way is open for your return. … If you will take the first timid step to return, you will find open arms to greet you and warm friends to make you welcome. Why is it sometimes difficult for members to return to Church activity? How can we help people return?

9. For Latter-day Saints who return to Church activity, it will feel good to be home again. One Sunday I found myself in a California city for a stake conference. My name and picture had been in the local newspaper. The phone rang at the stake center as the stake president and I entered the building that morning. The call was for me, and the caller identified himself. He wanted to see me. I excused myself from the meeting I was to have held early that morning and asked the stake president to carry on with it. I had something more important to do. He came, this friend of mine, timidly and somewhat fearfully. He had been away for a long time. We embraced as brothers long separated. At first the conversation was awkward, but it soon warmed as we discussed together days spent in England many years ago. There were tears in the eyes of this strong man as he spoke of the Church of which he had once been so effective a part, and then told of the long, empty years that had followed. He dwelt upon them as a man speaks of nightmares. When he had described those wasted years, we talked of his returning. He thought it would be difficult, that it would be embarrassing, but he agreed to try. I [received] a letter from him not long ago. He said, “I’m back. I’m back, and how wonderful it feels to be home again.” What do you learn from the account that President Hinckley shares in section 5?