Reach Out

This month, New Era readers share ideas on how to reach out to nonmembers, new converts, and less-active members. One reader from Bellevue, Nebraska, learned from her formerly less-active friends that “one of the top things that kept them from coming was that they didn’t feel welcomed.” Here are ways to help others feel they’re a welcome part of your ward:

• A friendly smile goes a long way.

• Introduce yourself and your friends; help them feel they’re part of the group.

• Sit next to them during class and fill them in on what’s going on. Offer to answer any questions they may have.

• Don’t judge. Accept and love them. Help them to feel wanted.

• Call and offer rides to church, activities, firesides, and camps.

• At church functions, be a friend. Really get to know them and help them feel at home.

• Pray for them.

• When someone misses church, send a card. Each Sunday, a Young Women class in Gahanna, Ohio, writes a card to each young woman who isn’t there that day. They express their love, tell the person they’re missed, and invite them to the next church function.

• Invite them to do things outside of church activities, like going to lunch, movies, dances, or sporting events; or invite them to your home to hang out.

• Make an effort to talk with them regularly. Say hello to them at school. Phone them just to chat as friends.

• Remember birthdays.

• Don’t ask right off, “Why don’t you come to church?” First, show them you really care about them.

• Give service, like helping with school problems, leaving a plate of cookies on their doorstep, or visiting them.

• Invite them to a family home evening.

• If you’re class or quorum president, prayerfully consider choosing a recent convert to be your counselor or class secretary.