Some converts are the first in their family to ever join the Church, and some are like President Nelson, whose parents were inactive members of the Church. If you’re a convert with inactive Church members in your family, you’ll really appreciate President Nelson’s perspectives on this.
When President Russell M. Nelson was called as the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July 2015, the Church published a fun article, 11 Things You Didn’t Know about President Nelson. In this lds.org piece, we learned that in addition to hating liver, having perfect pitch, and going to Harvard, our President is a convert to the Church—
Russell’s parents weren’t active members, but they still sent him to Sunday School. He often ditched his class to go play football. But his home teacher patiently taught him the gospel and the importance of church and the Sabbath. When he was 16, President Nelson and his siblings were baptized. His parents eventually became active in the Church again.
President Nelson shared some of his thoughts on his parents, and his efforts to bring them back into activity during a special Church broadcast, The Work of Salvation: Parable of a Father at Bedtime.
If you are a convert with inactive family members, or if you are a convert who has drifted away yourself, take comfort in President Nelson’s words—
Could a loving Father in Heaven, who commanded us to preach the gospel to every creature, ever draw a line of distinction between those who had never heard the gospel and those who had once heard and then forgotten?
Surely the answer is no. The work of salvation excludes no one!
…In this great work, we love to bring souls unto Christ with their first covenants, and we also love to bring souls back to their previous covenants. President Joseph Fielding Smith so explained. He said, ‘To save the souls of those who have strayed from the fold is just as worthy and commendable, and causes just as much rejoicing in heaven, as to save souls in far away parts of the earth.’ —President Russell M. Nelson
