What do adult converts bring to the Church

[prisonchaplain]

A friend of mine is getting baptized this Sunday. He's in his 60s and has been pentecostal most of his life. He just told me this week. There are a couple of areas he is uncertain about, but says he takes assurance in leaders of the church that have said he does not have to discard his beliefs, but should bring all he has that is good with him. I understand that it was President Hinckley who said that. My own common sense suggests that this new convert will not be able to hold on to his doctrines, if they conflict with church teachings. He will gradually give them up, or face a major spiritual struggle. So, my simple question is: what do adult converts bring with them? What blessings might my friend be bringing with him to his new ward? What did President Hinckley have in mind when he said that?

[Dravin]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

He will gradually give them up, or face a major spiritual struggle. So, my simple question is: what do adult converts bring with them? What blessings might my friend be bringing with him to his new ward? What did President Hinckley have in mind when he said that?

Four things that come to my mind:

• A strong testimony of reality of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. There may be a different understanding of exactly what that entails but any testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father wouldn't just disappear.
• A veritable host of Christlike attributes. Attributes like patience, charity, faith, virtue, and humility are by no means absent from non-LDS Christians and they would bring these with them.
• Biblical knowledge, yes a lot of it may be seen in a different light now but familiarity with the Bible is still a blessing.
• Understanding of his past religion. Not just in preventing caricatures that would tend to arise when discussing others, but in understanding the concerns and hurdles those of his past religion faith may be undergoing when they investigate the Church.

I'm sure if I spent more time on it I could think of more, but those are what come to mind first.

[gopecon]

You are right, where there are doctrinal differences the LDS understanding should stick with a convert. However there are a lot of good things converts can bring. For one a love of Jesus Christ that many have had in previous Christian churches they were a part of. A love/testimony of the Bible is another big thing. All of the good habits they already have in their lives. I've heard a lot of LDS converts talk about all the great things their parents taught them growing up.

[Vort]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

A friend of mine is getting baptized this Sunday. He's in his 60s and has been pentecostal most of his life. He just told me this week. There are a couple of areas he is uncertain about, but says he takes assurance in leaders of the church that have said he does not have to discard his beliefs, but should bring all he has that is good with him. I understand that it was President Hinckley who said that. My own common sense suggests that this new convert will not be able to hold on to his doctrines, if they conflict with church teachings. He will gradually give them up, or face a major spiritual struggle. So, my simple question is: what do adult converts bring with them? What blessings might my friend be bringing with him to his new ward? What did President Hinckley have in mind when he said that?

I don't pretend to know exactly what President Hinckley was talking about, but it seems to me that in our imperfect world, the Saints' understanding of their own doctrine and its implications is pretty shallow. I compare it to a gene pool; if you don't have much variation, you can end up with pretty limited phenotypes. Worse, any bad mutations tend to be amplified in a limited gene pool. In many ways, I think convert baptisms provide "new blood" that keeps us from getting too complacent in our understanding of the gospel.

I think it provides us an opportunity to serve and to learn, as well. When we see other adults, perhaps smarter and more accomplished than we are, having to learn from a very naive state and try to incorporate gospel principles into their lives, it can give us both empathy for their struggle and insight into our own. I think it's a win-win when the approach is correct.

And then there's the small matter of our brothers and sisters gaining eternal life, which is perhaps another little sweetener...

[prisonchaplain]

I've just started to learn golf. I'm not finding that the blessings I bring for my childhood sport (bowling) are proving very useful. :-)

[Tough Grits]

I was raised atheist/agnostic. What did I bring with me? Actually, quite a bit. Despite having to learn a whole bunch more than most who convert later in life--as many converts are already familiar with attending church, scriptures, Jesus, God, prophets, and so forth.

I brought myself. I brought my talents, abilities, thoughts, insights, experience, and individual Spirit.

Each of us are very individual, unique Spirit children of our Heavenly Father. Our spiritual self is as varied and unique as our physical self.

Every child of God provides a unique thread to the tapestry of His gospel. It does not matter what religion we came from, or lack of religion. All that matters is that we come unto the Lord with a sincere, willing heart.

[prisonchaplain]

I wonder if any here could share a time when you said something and a member raised in the church responded, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before."

[THIRDpersonviewer]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

I wonder if any here could share a time when you said something and a member raised in the church responded, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before."

I can't think of a what he said, but there was a englishman who was converted in his 70's. He would make comments about what he felt, he was educated and took a few years of studying the gospel to decide that is was right. He would also talk and teach about things that just made me feel that it was a different way of thinking of things yet it brought me closer to Christ.

I also grew up in the south and I went with missionaries to teach lessons and so forth. As I went one of the great blessings was to hear the testimonies of these good Christians, and their testimonies were different for one reason or another. It helped me appreciate others, their situations, and the love they have for God. It inspired me to go forth and live the Gospel better myself.

That is the big thing to me. Elderly people often have lots of experience and the fact that they have the faith and the desire to live the Gospel amidst all the knowledge they had. That they could tell definitively that the Gospel was the only life they wanted, that inspires me to live better. I am strengthened by seeing Christ working in them.

I believe those are extraordinary blessings, and some which I am eternally grateful for.

[Anddenex]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

I wonder if any here could share a time when you said something and a member raised in the church responded, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before."

PC, I believe this is a perfect example of a member of the Church, only 8 months, who taught one of our apostles a new understanding. I think with the many years you have been on this site, you understand our feelings toward our apostles.

Elder Bednar shared this when he was in South Africa:

"A sister in Africa who had only been a member of the church for eight months...she was teaching a class about fasting. Now, at the time I was fifty-four years old, member of the church since I was eight and an apostle for two years. Now remember, she's been a member of the church for eight months.

This is in a place in Africa where they're not starving but they're hungry most of the time. And they would probably have about one meal a day as we understand it. This woman was teaching the sisters in Relief Society and she said, "Sisters, there are many days when we do not have food and we do not eat. That is not fasting. It's only fasting on a day when we have food and we can choose not to eat it."

I had been a member of the church all my life and I had to go to Africa to learn from a woman who had joined the church just eight months earlier what it really meant to fast."

Surely, if an apostle can be taught by a new convert of 8 months, we as members, life-long members need to remember the value of humility also.

[john doe]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

I wonder if any here could share a time when you said something and a member raised in the church responded, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before."

I don't have any exact instances to relate, but I hear someone say something similar at least every other week. We in the LDS Church dissect and examine scripture and the Principles of the Gospel far more than most outsiders would think we do. We recognize that every person is on a different spiritual plane and the scriptures are beautiful in the sense that no matter what spiritual plane you are on, we can all find something worth applying to our lives in them.


And then there is the factor of how, with our different books of scrtipture, they don't disagree with each other but each one helps us flesh out or better understand concepts taught in another volume. They enhance our understanding and give us new ideas or insights that we hadn't considered before.