Elder D. Todd Christofferson has taught: “A major reason the Lord has a church is to create a community of Saints that will sustain one another in the ‘straight and narrow path which leads to eternal life.’…This religion is not concerned only with the self; rather, we are all called to serve. We are the eyes, hands, head, feet, and other members of the body of Christ.” Why the Church, October 2015
Questions for you to ponder:
- Why do you come to church?
- What about meetings other than sacrament? Are Sunday School and Relief Society important?
- How do ALL meeting bless our lives, including all Sunday meetings and additional Relief Society meetings held during the week?
- Why don’t we attend our meetings? What have you observed about attendance at church, in Relief Society, at our weekday meetings? Can we do anything about it?
- Are there things we can do as a Relief Society that can create a greater feeling of community in our neighborhood?
We can make an effort to be aware of who is not in church, to contact them and let them know they were missed. We can speak of the blessings we receive through our activity in the Church. We can be aware of the example we are setting to our families and our neighbors.
As we discussed these questions it also became clear that if our focus is simply on “getting them to church” we are missing the point. Our focus should be to love one another, to create a community, to have mutually supportive relationships with all our neighbors. We are disciples of Christ and we reach out to others in love.
What should we do? What is our action plan?
Sister Cannon read the names of every sister on the Relief Society rolls and asked: Did any names stand out to you? Were there names on the list that you didn’t even know? Were you inspired to take action and reach out to anyone? These are our sisters, they each have their own stories, struggles and needs.
Do we know our neighbors?
Can you name those who live by you?
Can you do one thing to get to know them or serve them?
As we council together, we hope the Spirit has inspired you to take action personally. Our individual choices create collective good. We will take time in our next Relief Society meeting to share some of our experiences. Follow the spirit. You don’t need to do everything at once; by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.
