Nurturing new converts is our continuing responsibility
Taken from Lesson 41: “Every Member a Missionary”, Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 237
Each year, hundreds of thousands of converts are brought into the Church. These new members need to be nurtured and strengthened by all of us.
• Why is it sometimes difficult for new converts to stay active in the Church?
President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “It is not an easy thing to become a member of this Church. In most cases it involves setting aside old habits, leaving old friends and associations, and stepping into a new society which is different and somewhat demanding” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1997, 66; or Ensign, May 1997, 47).
• What can new converts do to strengthen themselves? What can other members do to strengthen new converts? How have you seen members do this effectively?
President Hinckley taught that “every convert needs three things:
“1. A friend in the Church to whom he can constantly turn, who will walk beside him, who will answer his questions, who will understand his problems.
“2. An assignment. Activity is the genius of this Church. It is the process by which we grow. Faith and love for the Lord are like the muscle of my arm. If I use them, they grow stronger. If I put them in a sling, they become weaker. Every convert deserves a responsibility. …
“3. Every convert must be ‘nourished by the good word of God’ (Moro. 6:4). It is imperative that he or she become affiliated with a priesthood quorum or the Relief Society, the Young Women, the Young Men, the Sunday School, or the Primary. He or she must be encouraged to come to sacrament meeting” (Ensign, May 1999, 108).
