Dear Reader,
Welcome to my new area book. It's not really a journal. It's a training center. And this is an introduction.
In the church there is a lot of training for people that want to go on missions, to get married, to make and keep covenants, and to understand doctrine in general. But there seems to be a great scarcity of resources to train people concerning their personal participation in the work of salvation. Even after all of the great videos that the prophets and apostles have released on the subject, members of the church still seem confused as to how they can help. Most of us think that we just go out with the missionaries once or twice a week, but there is so much more that we can do. The church doesn't need the members to be full-time missionaries, because they can't be. Missionaries that serve full-time do certain things that we'll never be able to do as general members of the church. They have spiritual gifts necessary for that role which they fill. But we as members are in a position to do great and necessary things as well in the work of salvation.
This brings me to the first principle of member-missionary work: FRIENDSHIP. Unfortunately, most recent converts struggle with being active after baptism because their only friends are the missionaries that taught them. That is totally backwards. Their best friends have to be the members. Not only that, but they should meet, and get to know, and become friends with the members long before they meet the missionaries. This will allow more people to be introduced to, and then later accept, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, how can we participation in the work of salvation? We must be friends with everyone that we meet. There are part-member families in our wards. Perhaps we ourselves are members of such a family unit. We have associates at work and at school. We are surrounded by God's children almost constantly, and we are under call to minister unto them.
"The prophet has ... called each one of us to a very important work. He said, 'Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him'" (Elder S. Gifford Nielson, October General Conference 2013).
There is a work for us to do. We must do it.
This blog is, therefore, an illustrative course on how you can do it. And you can do it! There won't be a lot of doctrine-talk here (although there will be some of that). Mostly it will include written and recorded examples of how one member can make friends and help them progress in the gospel. Take ideas from here, and also share them in your comments. Please feel free to share your own experiences as a result of implementation of what you learn here or elsewhere.
May we be united in this cause to graft our brothers and sisters into the true Vine, which is Christ.
