What Every Member Needs

In preparing for home teaching the other day, I considered the October First Presidency message in the Ensign, which is directed at new members of the Church. In it, President Hinckley mentions again the three things that every new convert needs: a friend, a responsibility, and nourishment by the good word of God.

As I pondered this message in relation to the family I would be teaching, I thought at first that it wouldn't apply and I considered finding another message to share. We don't have new converts around us; how would this family apply this message? Then I thought, as I have before, that those three things are important for all Church members, but the family I would be teaching does not include people in ward leadership positions where they could implement those suggestions to help others.

Then I thought—this blog is not titled "Think On (and on and on and ...)" for nothing—"But who's responsible for our individual salvation, anyway? Am I not ultimately responsible for my eternal destiny?"

So I turned the lesson into a conversation about how each of us individually can endure to the end. We are all "new converts" in a sense, and when you look at 2 Ne. 31, it is clear that we all need to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ." And so President Hinckley's trio of directives works for all of us.

Each of us needs a friend, someone to help us through hard times, to welcome us warmly to activities and help us feel comfortable at Church. And if we don't have friends at Church, we should expend the effort to make friends. I recall when I was in Chicago and I had a hard time making friends in the ward. I made efforts, but I just couldn't click with anyone. Then I received a stake calling and suddenly my circle broadened dramatically and I found myself associating with people in other wards. I found the young single adults of the Spanish ward to be very welcoming and warm and friendly, and I began to spend more time with them. My whole experience in Chicago turned around in a significant way once I had some friends. The Lord knew I needed friends, and he recognized my unsuccessful efforts so he opened a way for me to have the friends I so desperately needed.

Each of us needs a responsibility. This one, at first glance, may seem like something we can do nothing about. Assignments and callings come from the bishop, right? Well, all of us are (or should be) home or visiting teachers. There's a responsibility, and it's a responsibility most of us could magnify more than we currently do. And then there are opportunities galore for volunteer service. When I returned from my mission, I didn't receive a calling in my ward for a long time, despite my requests for one. That lack of responsibility was terribly frustrating for me. I went from busy Church service to a big void. Then one day at the temple I thought I should go see if they needed help in the baptistry. They did, and it turned out that they always needed help in the baptistry. Before I left that day I was signed up to be a weekly temple worker in the baptistry. I vividly recall leaving the temple that day, walking out into the bright blue of a Saturday morning and feeling an immense swelling of joy and gratitude for the opportunity to serve. And I loved that job. I worked in the baptistry for about a year, and it was a marvelous experience I will always treasure.

Finally, each of us needs nourishing by the word of God. In the context of President Hinckley's injunction, we often think of lessons and talks at Church and the responsibility of leaders and teachers to make sure those lessons and talks are well prepared and spiritually guided. But the scriptures make it clear that we have an obligation to come prepared to be nourished (see D&C 50:19–22). And of course our nourishment should not be limited to Church meetings. We should be nourishing ourselves daily through our gospel study with our families and on our own. Twice during this recent General Conference, I felt gently chastized and lovingly encouraged to nourish myself better through my scripture study. Two speakers mentioned the need to not just study scriptures but to apply them to our lives. My goal is to do that—mostly through writing about what I read, reflecting on my reading in a personal journal.