Dear Aunt Debera,
This letter probably won’t get to you by the time you give your lesson on being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but I want to share some thoughts that I have about the subject. I have been studying this subject and I think it is very interesting because I don’t think we realize how big a deal it is to be a member. Something that goes along with being a member is the covenants that we make, baptismal and temple.
Baptism is the first covenant that we make with our Heavenly Father. By being baptized we are promising our Heavenly Father that we will try to be perfect. We know that we will always fall short but no matter what, we will try to be better. As we keep our side of the covenant, God always keeps His.
Why is it that so many people fall away after being baptized? Why is it so hard to have people fulfill their callings in the Church? As I thought and studied these questions I found this. In Alma 5:14, Alma asks his brethren if they have been spiritually born of God. He also asks them if they have experienced a mighty change of heart. Now to be Alma’s “brethren” we have to be baptized members.
I love this scripture because it explains it well. We will not fully commit ourselves to anything in the Church until we have been spiritually born, until we know for ourselves that it is true. So many people fall away from the church and go less active because they haven’t had a mighty change of heart. When we have that mighty change of heart nothing will bring us down. We will do whatever the Lord asks of us and we will do it to the best of our ability.
Why is it that people who have gone to the temple and have made those sacred covenants fall away? In Isaiah 23:5 we learn that only people can break the covenant. God does not break the covenant. In the end it all comes down to faith. If everyone that was baptized was obedient to all the commandments then their faith would grow and eventually they would become spiritually born of God and would do anything for the building up of the Kingdom.
These are just my thoughts but I wanted to share them with you. It might not make sense but I do have a strong testimony that as members of this church we need to do our part.
Another thing that goes along with being a member is missionary work. Members need to give referrals to missionaries. Allow the missionaries to come teach your friends or family members in your home. Also, help with fellowshipping new converts of the church. New converts need a friend because if they don’t have a friend they won’t want to come because they haven’t been totally spiritually born yet.
Love Elder Mouritsen
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