Double the Active Membership
Malta Branch
Conference
January 25, 2015
One of the three major goals of the Area Presidency this
year is to double the active membership in our wards and branches of the
church. That means instead of 30 people
attending Sacrament Meeting, there should be 60 people attending Sacrament
Meeting on a weekly basis. It’s not
enough to have record-breaking attendance one week and then go back to the bare
minimum the next week. We as members of
the church need to make it a priority to do everything within our power to
invite everyone we know to come to church.
That might be new investigators or helping someone who has gone inactive
return into full activity in the church.
The Area Presidency has given us three suggestions to help
us achieve the goal of doubling our active attendance.
a.
Bring a friend
b.
Invite friends to learn in our homes
c.
Focus weekly ward council on how to help our new
friends
That sounds like a very difficult task if we each feel
obligated to double the size of the Malta Branch. When you break it down and realize each
person only needs to be responsible for one new person, that makes it much
easier.
My guess is we all have a friend we have thought about
inviting to attend church with us, but are too afraid to ask them. Now is the time to ask them. If they choose to come, it could be the
greatest blessing of their lives. If
they say no, that’s okay, too. At least
you will receive the blessings of trying.
Invite your friends to learn about the gospel in your
home. It’s a safe, warm, friendly
place. All you have to do is invite your
friends and the missionaries will do all the work. They have been called of God for that very
reason and they are good at what they do.
Every week the ward council should focus on how to help new
investigators and new converts. We all
have a responsibility to care for them and teach them, and the ward council can
help us by giving guidance and direction to let us know if there are specific
areas that require our assistance. We
can accomplish a lot by just being a friend and being willing to answer
questions. New members have lots of
doubts and unanswered questions. They often
find themselves in a religion far different
from what they are used to. They
have lots of questions and things they don’t understand. They still make mistakes. We all do, but we learn from them and
progress. We can help them understand
this.
In 1999, President Hinckley in a satellite broadcast given
at the Salt Lake Tabernacle said:
“Last year there were approximately 300,000
convert baptisms throughout the
Church. This is tremendously significant. This is the equivalent of 120 new stakes of 2,500 members each. Think of that: 120 new stakes in a single year! It is
wonderful. But it is not enough. I am
not being unrealistic when I say that with concerted effort, with recognition of the duty which falls upon each of us as members of the Church,
and with sincere prayer to the Lord for
help, we could double that number.”
Brothers and sisters, with your help we can achieve that
goal. Many of us are timid about
inviting others to find out more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. It shouldn’t be that way. Why should we shrink from telling anyone
about the blessings available through membership in this marvelous church? Why should we fear inviting others to Come
Unto Christ and partake of life eternal?
We should be proud of our religion and not ashamed of
it. The Apostle Paul wrote:
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord.” (2 Timothy 1:8)
It is not just the responsibility of missionaries to Bring
Others Unto Christ. It is our
responsibility, too.
President Hinckley said:
“The process of bringing new people into the
Church is not the responsibility alone
of the missionaries. They succeed best when members become the
source from which new investigators are
found.”
“Let there be cultivated an
awareness in every member’s heart of
his own potential for bringing others
to a knowledge of the truth. Let him
work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it. Let each member
pray, as did Alma of old:
“O
Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success
in bringing [others] again unto thee in Christ.
“Behold,
O Lord, their souls are precious, and many
of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto
us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring
these, our brethren, again unto thee.”
(Alma 31:34-35)
President Hinckley went on to say:
“Now, my brethren and sisters, we can let
the missionaries try to do it alone,
or we can help them. If they do it alone, they will knock on doors day after day and the harvest will be meager. Or as members we can assist them in finding and teaching investigators.”
President Kimball said:
“Our great need, and our great calling, is
to bring to the people of this world
the candle of understanding to light
their way out of obscurity and darkness and into the joy, peace, and truths of the gospel. I believe we must
not weary in our well-doing. I believe
it is time again to ask ourselves
the question, what can I do to help
take the gospel to others and to the inhabitants of the world?” (Ensign, Oct
1974)
There are many ways we can share the gospel with
others. To name just a few we can:
1.
Set a good example for family members, friends,
and neighbors.
2.
Tell others about the Book of Mormon and share a
copy with them or ask the missionaries to deliver a copy to them.
3.
Give names of potential investigators to the
missionaries.
4.
Tell others why you live the way you do and
about your religion.
5.
Invite people to church activities, meetings,
and firesides.
6.
Invite family and friends to Family Home
Evening.
7.
Talk to people about Family History ad introduce
them to the ward Family History Specialist.
8.
Invite people to a baptismal.
As we attempt to double the membership of the ward, we will
undoubtedly find that our own lives will improve. When we are reaching out to others and
setting a good example for them, we will find ourselves being more cautious about
what we do and what we say. We will not
want to do anything to deter others from gaining a testimony of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We will find that the Lord will bless us as we are engaged
in this very important goal of doubling membership in the Church and He will
assist us in finding those who are prepared to hear about the gospel of Jesus
Christ that has been restored upon the earth.
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared:
“No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage,
mobs may combine, armies may
assemble, calumny may defame, but the
truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent,
till it has penetrated every continent, visited
every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of
God shall be accomplished, and the
Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
(History of the Church,
4:540)
We can’t stop the work so we may as well be part of the army
that goes forth helping to accomplish the purposes of God and receiving the
blessings that go with that effort.
In D&C 18:15-16 it says:
“And if it so be that you should labor all
your days in crying repentance unto
this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be
your joy with him in the kingdom of
my Father!
“And now, if your joy will be great with one
soul that you have brought unto
me into the kingdom of my Father, how
great will be your joy if you should bring many
souls unto me!”
It is my prayer that each of us will do our part to double
the active membership in this unique Malta Branch. As I look out at you, I see that each of you
has the light of Christ in your eyes.
Each of you has unique talents that can help bless the life of someone
else. The Lord said:
“Even as ye have done it unto the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me.” (Matthew 25:40)
I have faith in you.
I believe you are equal to the challenge. God bless you as you work to do your part in
His Hastening of the Work by doubling the active membership of the Malta Branch.
God lives. He loves
you. I love you, too.
Amen.
(Quotes were taken from Doctrine and Covenants and Church
History: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s
Manual [1999], Lesson 41: “Every member
a Missionary” and a talk given by President Gordon B. Hinckley entitled “Find
the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,” Ensign, May 1999)
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