Fellow LDS/mormons: What can we do to bring more sincere converts to the Church?

Question

There was a question about people joining churches because they are lonely. During my mission, I noticed that try as we might, we just couldn't seem to find many people that were genuinely interested in learning about the True (LDS) Christ and His Gospel. We just found a lot of lonely people, a lot of people seeking the welfare capabilities of the Church, and a lot of people that were just "church-hoppers".

What can members and missionaries do today in order to find more people that want to find Christ, instead of people who want to just find a pastime?

Answer 1

I am not a member but I would sincerely like to help you. I personally find the worldview of the church quite appealing to me. Having a Prophet in direct touch with Heavenly Father is great, how could you go wrong there? Just follow the Prophet and everything will be OK. My friendt wanted to convert me and I wanted to convert but I have a natural curiosity about things and when they said I was an Investigator, I proceeded to investigate.
I may be wrong, but the message I understood from the church was that they were the one and only true church and all others were an abomination according to Joseph Smith. To me this means that the current Prophet would have to be the greatest man alive on Earth because he is leading the one and only true church. These are big claims which were easily found to be false. Credibility problems with Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith were easily uncovered and my Mormon friends conceeded that there were issues that can't be cleared up. They didn't even bother trying to tell me some wishy washy fairy tale about an angel taking the plates back to Heaven , or a great upheaval destroying all the Book of Mormon evidence, ect. ect. ect.
They conceeded the problems and said its not uncommon in any religion to have baggage, so lets move on.
I said OK sign me up.
Then they said OK we got a bunch of rules you have to follow and you gotta get baptized and Blah blah blah RELIGION.
I said no way, your not true so I wont follow your rules. Why do you do it anyway? They said it was a family thing and they didnt want to make any waves so they go along with it.

Conclusion: The church needs to lighten up on defending the past just like the Catholics did. Trying to defend the clearly indefensible just makes you look foolish.
Make church a fun place to go to like what many non-denominational Protestant churches are doing. I am 45 years old and I have neer worn a tie in my life. I am not going to a church that tells me how to dress. Or what underwear to wear.
Dont be such control freaks. I dont need my name on some church's books and dont want anyone keeping tabs on me.
You guys are way too hard core with your religion. Just stick to teaching about Christ and quit harping about some dead Prophet. And thats another thing, give it up with your silly names like Prophet, Apostle, Melchizedek Priest, Aaronic Priest. All that does is convey an authority that you don't have and don't deserve.
Lastly, LIGHTEN UP !!!!!!

Answer 2

The responses to the above link seem mostly unfavorable to the premise. That indicates there seems to be a resistance to cease using the word yet, at least those who felt moved to answer. The choice to continue it's usage or not would have to come from the general authorities, not the membership. That's simply how the church is organized: from the top down. My turn: Sometimes a question will be posted in a certain fashion that indicates a 'side' has been chosen, and responses may be all over the board. I'm guilty on that regard, but I do not, or at least try not, to attempt to be 'inflammatory'. Being advesarial does not necessarily mean 'foe'. Answering post to preserve a point of view is equally difficult, and sometimes it's a chore to separate the poster from the post. Once again I'm as guilty as the next, but I try to at least research the 'other side of the coin', as the first side has usually been presented. I certainly never intended to become a vicious 'anti' and preceived as a villainous cretin, but I knew from the beginning this was not going to be a walk in the park. I've reread some of my past posts, and I can say that some were handled without too much sympathy or compassion; others I think are spot on. Learning to live with diverse attitudes is the beginning of acceptance. Without that, people will continue to run on emotions where reason could prevent a disaster. Like, Peace

Answer 3

Well, I think that anyone who is "lonely" and searching for the church are perfectly fine for converts. What we may need to concentrate on is keeping the new converts. I am a fairly new convert (I was baptized Nov. 12, 2005) and my ward was very loving and inviting. I have a wonderful Visiting Teacher, our Relief Society is very friendly and all our active members reached out to me to keep me active. Most of the wards I have visited have been great, but one was particularly unfriendly (thankfully I was not turned off by this!). As LDS we spend a lot of time working on being missionaries, but sometimes we forget to fellowship the new members. For example--when I was asked to be a visiting teacher, I had no training, no one to show me what to do in anyway. It was only after I met Sylvia (my visiting teacher) that I really knew what to do.

Sorry this is so long winded, but I really feel that fellow shipping is the answer.

Answer 4

We do have a problem with retention don't we. We're great at bringing people to the church. And for those of us who stay, we're a pretty devoted bunch, but I know of so many people who do great for a couple of years then just stop coming and never return. It's sad really. I'm sure we could all learn from them, and they could bring a richness to our wards and branches that is sorely needed.

I don't know what we can do differently. It's up to the person I think.

Answer 5

Teach by the Holy Ghost, and seek the sheeps that hear the Lord's voice.

Those who came to the fold with out the contrite spirit will soon learn the church is not a welfare shelter.

may the lord be with you.

Answer 6

I think we must rely on the Spirit to lead us to those who are genuinely seeking for the true Church. Many people are unaware that there is one true Church on the earth. Most people are unaware that Christ even established a Church in the meridian of time. They aren't necessarily looking for the "true" church, but "a" church, any church. Instead of searching for the one true Church of Christ many are just looking for the Church that seems right "for them." We have to emphasize that there is only one Church upon the face of the whole earth with which Heavenly Father is well pleased and recognizes as holding His authority to administer the sacred ordinances of the Gospel. This may sound arrogant, but we can't deny it because we know that it's true. And because we love our eternal brothers and sisters we witness to them of this truth that we have received via the Holy Ghost. I'm a fairly new convert. I love the Church. I know it's true. I pray that more come to know of the truth of it. God bless you.

Sincerely

Arthur

Answer 7

I agree with Tan Man - Simply ask Gordon. Or Boyd or Thomas or the Professor and Mary Ann.

If you've got a direct connection with god, this could be resolved in 20 minutes! Geez, even Joseph Smith got tons of immediate answers on dopey subjects all the time.

Oh, and always proselytize on Yahoo Answers. That is the most correct way.

Answer 8

Tell the truth at the beginning, talk about the past, clear things up, that way someone will not join, the later discover things they find disturbing and decide to leave.

Answer 9

Unlike the church, this is not a segregated forum. If people are "leaving" the Mormon church to find the Lord "elsewhere" don't you think the Lord knows BEST who deserves to be of his "wisest........."

Answer 10

try finding Christ first. Then you will be more successful leading others to Christ.