Area Presidency Message
Establish Zion Among Us
As we help others feel that they belong, as they believe in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, they can—and will—become converted unto the Lord and be united unto His restored Church.
The prophet Moroni taught concerning those who come unto Christ through the ordinance of baptism and make the covenant to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, “and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them”1.
“And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith”2.
President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel”3. President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) reminded us that “Every convert is precious. Every convert is a son or daughter of God. Every convert is a great and serious responsibility”4. It is an absolute imperative that we look after those who have become a part of us as we participate in this great work of the latter days.
Our responsibility is to follow the inspired example of Our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, when approaching the end of His mortal ministry, said to the Father, “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
He continues saying “those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost”5.
My beloved brothers and sisters, we are the ones who can better understand the situation of those who make the decision to let God prevail in their lives. This is part of the covenant that we make with our Heavenly Father—specifically, that we will strengthen our brothers and sisters in all our conversation, in all our prayers, in all our exhortation, and in all our doings6.
In 1999, a woman newly baptized in the Church wrote the following letter to President Hinckley: “‘My journey into the Church was unique and quite challenging. This past year has been the hardest year that I have ever lived in my life. It has also been the most rewarding. As a new member, I continue to be challenged every day.’ …
“‘Church members don’t know what it is like to be a new member of the Church. Therefore, it’s almost impossible for them to know how to support us.’…
“This woman goes on:
“‘When we as investigators become members of the Church, we are surprised to discover that we have entered into a completely foreign world, a world that has its own traditions, culture, and language. We discover that there is no one person or no one place of reference that we can turn to for guidance in our trip into this new world. At first the trip is exciting, our mistakes even amusing, then it becomes frustrating and eventually, the frustration turns into anger. And it’s at these stages of frustration and anger that we leave. We go back to the world from which we came, where we knew who we were, where we contributed, and where we could speak the language.’”7
In order to help us to strengthen recent converts, the Lord has revealed through our living prophet, President Nelson, a newer, holier approach to caring for and supporting others. Called ministering, this is when we watch over our people and nourish them with the things pertaining to righteousness8. My prayer, my beloved brothers and sisters is that we all commit to care for each other—and particularly for recent converts to the Church.
We can do it by talking, listening, guiding, answering their questions, smiling, and nourishing them. These can be simple acts, but they will have a profound effect on others. We should help others, so they may not feel alone in their efforts to stay and progress on the covenant path, but yet feel a sense of belonging in the family of Christ9.
I invite you to reach out in friendship and love to those who come into the Church as recent converts. We cannot leave them to stand alone. They need help to become accustomed to the ways and culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Let us help them learn how to pray, how to study the scriptures, how to testify, how to pay tithing and fast offerings—let us invite them to seminary classes or institute of religion courses, let us help them to know how to hold a home evening, how to engage in temple and family history work, how to send or take a name to the temple for the proxy ordinances. Let us take them to visit the temple with us as soon as they are baptized.
I promise you that if we do these things, Zion will be established here among us. As we help others feel that they belong, as they believe in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, they can—and will—become converted unto the Lord and be united unto His restored Church.
Thierry K. Mutombo was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 2020. He is married to Tshayi Nathalie Sinda; they are the parents of six children.