Come, Follow Me
How can I help my less-active friends return to church?

How can I help my less-active friends return to church?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

As part of our commitment to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9), we reach out to Latter-day Saint friends and neighbors who are not coming to church. We can help them by making sure they feel our genuine love and concern by sharing our testimonies through our words and actions and by including them in our activities.

Resources to Help You Prepare

These resources are to help you prepare for the “Learn together” section of the meeting.

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

What do you do to reach out to less-active members you know? What experiences can you share with the young women?

How do the young women treat members of their class who are less active? What are some ways they could reach out to these young women?

What can the young women do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to this doctrine.

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

The Savior helped those He taught grow spiritually and become converted by inviting them to act in faith. How might you show the young women you teach that you have confidence in their ability to live the gospel?

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

Led by a member of the class presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

  • Our class: Who is missing today? What visits do we need to make? Who should we invite to an upcoming activity? Who needs our help and prayers?

  • Our responsibilities: What assignments do we need to make? What assignments have we fulfilled? How have we invited others to come unto Christ, and how can we invite others now?

  • Our lives: Remind the class of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel?

If possible, discuss these items beforehand in a class presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the class; approximately 25–35 minutes

After studying the above resources and following the inspiration of the Spirit, you may select one or more of the activities below to help class members understand the doctrine.

  • Show the young women a picture of a shepherd and a sheep, such as the picture Jesus Carrying a Lost Lamb (Gospel Art Book [2009], no. 64). Ask the young women to listen for words or phrases that describe the love Jesus Christ has for His sheep as they sing or read “Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd” (Hymns, no. 221). To help the young women find ways they can help the Savior gather those who are lost, you could ask them to review the four lessons Elder S. Mark Palmer shared at the end of his talk “Then Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him.” How can these lessons help us as we reach out to our less-active family members and friends? What other principles can the young women think of that will help?

  • Ask the young women to think of a time when they lost something very valuable. What did they do to try to find it? Assign each young woman one of the three parables in Luke 15. Ask her to retell the parable in her own words and share a phrase from the parable that summarizes what the Savior was teaching in the parable. What do the young women learn from the actions of the shepherd, the woman, and the father in these parables? How can they follow these examples as they try to help those who are “lost” from the Church? Ask the young women to share any experiences of friends or family members who have returned to church after being less active, if they feel comfortable doing so.

  • In advance, invite a young woman to read Elder Mervyn B. Arnold’s talk “To the Rescue: We Can Do It.” Ask her to come prepared to share one or two stories from the talk that impressed her. Invite the young women to discuss how the stories might apply to them as a class. Whom do they know who has not been attending church? How can they work together as a class to help that person draw nearer to the Savior? You could also invite the young women to look for the four main principles in Elder Arnold’s talk. Do they know people who exemplify these principles? What can they do to be like these people?

  • Share the story of Elder Brent H. Nielson’s sister from his talk “Waiting for the Prodigal” or share an experience you have had helping a less-active friend or family member return to church. Invite the young women to read Alma 31:34–35 and Doctrine and Covenants 18:10–16. What do these scriptures teach about how Heavenly Father feels about His children? Help the young women make a list of less-active young women in the ward, and discuss as a class the great worth each of them has and things they can do to invite those young women to return.

  • Show the video “Help Others Come Back to Church.” Invite the young women to look for principles Elder Bednar teaches that will help them be more effective as they invite their less-active friends to return to church. Why is family history work a good way to invite less-active friends to participate in church? What other activities could accomplish what Elder Bednar is describing?

3. Plan to Act

Led by a member of the class presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

  • Ask the young women to discuss any feelings or impressions they had during the meeting. What was meaningful to them? Is there something they can do personally or as a class to apply what they have learned?

  • Give the young women a few minutes to record what they will do in the coming weeks to act on their impressions. Invite them to share their ideas.

  • Remind the young women that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.

Related Youth Activities

Plan a Mutual activity that will help the young women apply what they learned in this lesson.