If you have a friend who is a Mormon or a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, your friend has probably asked if you're interested in attending an event at our church or being taught by the missionaries or in reading and praying about The Book of Mormon. Maybe you've wondered why they won't leave you alone. Let me share with you an analogy.

A few years ago I heard about a co-op called Bountiful Baskets. I signed up, paid, and volunteered and then picked up my basket of fresh fruits and vegetables at a nearby business. Serving with other volunteers was a great experience and the fruits and vegetables I received were a tremendous value and variety. I wanted all my friends to benefit. Three of my friends and myself trained and opened a Bountiful Baskets site closer to our homes. I was a coordinator for over three years and enjoyed meeting and interacting with people in my community and having my family eat more fruits and vegetables. I told all my friends that they should do Bountiful Baskets. Why wouldn't they? Healthy food, good company, and at a great value. Sure, it was inconvenient to order a week ahead and then go and help distribute the produce especially in the freezing cold of winter and sometimes the truck was late and interfered with my plans. But I felt like being a member of the co-op was worth it. Some of my friends participated, other didn't. Some tried it for a while and stopped. I wanted to share because I cared about the co-op and I cared about my friends.

That's how it is with being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I care about the church and its teaching and I care about my friends. I want them to have the benefit of being a member as well. But most of the time I'm less enthusiastic about promoting the church than I was in sharing the benefits of Bountiful Baskets. That is because the gospel of Jesus Christ is much more important and sacred than vegetables. And if my friends didn't participate in Bountiful Baskets, I didn't feel as rejected as when I share the gospel and my friends aren't interested.

I want the gospel of Jesus Christ through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be for all those I love and care about. I love this scripture from Alma, a great missionary in The Book of Mormon. "And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me" (Alma 29:10). I want my friends to experience the joys of the gospel: the fellowship of members of the same church, shared values, skills for raising children and succeeding in life, uplifting activities, service opportunities, ancient and modern scriptures, modern-day prophets, eternal marriage and families through covenants in the temple, the companionship of the Holy Ghost, a conviction of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon, and a knowledge of the Savior. I want all of this for everyone. I know that every person that seeks for the truth by listening to the missionaries, reading The Book of Mormon, and praying to know if what our church teaches is true, will have much more than healthy bodies from fresh produce. They will have guidance in this life and eternal life which is life with our Heavenly Father after we die.

Ask me or any of your Mormon friends. We're happy to share with you the benefits of being a Mormon.  We're happy to not leave you alone.

Once you have been baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day-Saints, you are on the records of the church. Even if you stop attending, decide you don't believe anymore, and move and don't let the church know, you are still on the records. Members who don't attend our meetings are called less-active members. We assign home teachers and visiting teachers to all members even less-active members. Home teachers are two men with the priesthood who visit the families of all members monthly. Visiting teachers are two women who visit the women monthly.

There is a technical process for having your name removed from the records of the church which I'm not familiar with, but most people who stop coming, just stop or come less and less and may wonder why active members keep showing up on their doorstep. Over the years as I've been involved in visiting those who don't come to church, I've pondered about why we don't leave them alone. My conclusion is that at one time each of us who are members of the church made a covenant. A covenant is a promise between a person and God that is eternally binding and can only be broken by a person. God never breaks his covenants. We each made a covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, to always remember Him, to keep His commandments, and to serve Him. Whether we were 8 or 18 or 28 when we were baptized, whether we remember feeling strongly about those covenants or not, whether we understood the implications of the covenants or not, we made covenants. And since God does not break His covenants and since those of us who still attend church are trying to keep our covenants to always remember Jesus, keep His commandments, and serve Him, we look out for anyone who has made covenants.

I used to think that my job as a covenant member of Jesus Christ's church was to make sure less-actives came back to church. But that isn't my job. I can't make anyone do anything. Every person has agency or the ability to choose to continue to follow Jesus Christ by being an active member of His church or not. We keep contacting and loving because at some point, less-active members may decide they are ready to keep their covenants again. From our church handbook, Handbook 2: Administering the Church, this is what we are instructed. "Ward priesthood and auxiliary leaders strive continually to help less-active members return to Church activity. The Savior said, 'Unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them' (3 Nephi 18:32). Less-active members usually still believe in the gospel, but they may be experiencing difficult trials that make them feel uncomfortable attending church. They also tend to have fewer friendships in the Church, so they are less likely to feel they are among friends when they go to ward meetings. Those who return to activity often do so when they see that something is missing from their lives. As a result, they realize that they need to make changes in the way they live. At such times, they need the love and friendship of caring, active Church members who accept them as they are and show genuine personal interest in them" (pg. 26).

For those I won't leave alone whose names are on the records of the church:
I keep contacting you, because whether or not you return to church, I still care. Because I love Christ, I love you and as I reach out to you and let you know I care, I get the opportunity to get to know and love you more.

I’m going to share a story from my daughter’s letter to her dad this last week. My daughter is on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She will serve for 18 months. She can e-mail us once a week. She can also send letters which we usually get once a week. She can call or skype us two times a year: Christmas and Mother’s Day. I miss her and am more grateful for this opportunity for her than I ever imagined.

“The other day we were leaving an appointment to park at the church to go tracting. I went to turn the key in the truck and it wouldn’t turn! I remembered that the Hyundai used to do that and you told me to just turn the wheel and that would unlock it. Only it didn’t work. Sister S was upset at me, because she thought I broke the truck. I told her it wasn’t broken but we just needed to figure out the trick. She wasn’t impressed. I wanted so bad just to call you. I knew if I called you that you could fix it. We said a prayer. The wheel turning thing still didn’t work. We called three different people for help and no one answered. I wanted more than anything just to call you and you could help me. I thought of your phone number in my head and the phone was in my hand. But guess what, I didn’t call you. Just then Brother C (an 82 year-old man that I had called for help) called us back. He told us about the wheel turning trick. I tried and it didn’t work. He said he was getting in his truck to come get us, even though he lives twenty minutes away. I told him to walk us through it again, and all of a sudden, it worked. It was a miracle and he didn’t have to get us. I love you! Someday I will be able to call you for help with all my dumb problems.
Love,
Sister RH”

This story teaches me that:

1. She loves her dad.
2. She listened to her dad when she lived at home.
3. She knows how to pray.
4. She is obedient.
5. The Lord lets us put in effort and use what we know before providing a way.
6. The Lord often provides an answer to our prayers through someone else.
7. She is a good story teller.

​I look forward to the day when she can call us with all her dumb problems. But I’m willing to wait, because she is gaining skills, experience, and conversion that will be invaluable.