On being a good neighbor

In HP Group today, we were talking about Pres. Monson’s “warm fuzzy” talk. I mentioned that we need to stop assuming we know what inactive members need and showing up at their doorsteps to tell them what they need to do. I said we need to visit them and ask them what they want – that we need to focus on doing for them what they want us to do for them.

In response to that, another brother said that too often we Home Teach, for example, out of a sense of duty. That means that even if we “do our Home Teaching” every single month for the Smiths, if our teaching assignment changes we might never visit the Smiths again. If we are there because we are supposed to be there, we’re missing the real power of what Home Teaching is supposed to be – at least in an area like ours where most people can’t turn to family who live nearby if they need help.

Another brother mentioned that when he was injured a while ago it was his neighbors who rallied immediately and helped the most – more so than church members. Then the brother next to him made a profound point. He said:

That’s how it should be. If you’ve been the type of neighbor you should be, your immediate neighbors should be the first to be there to help you. Your church family can be there, as well, but those who live closest to you should be those who help you the most and the most quickly.

One of those men talked with me after the meeting and told me of his own journey to find peace with his decision to join the Church years after his baptism. He said he wouldn’t change that decision for anything now, but he had questioned it seriously in the past. I think there are SO many people who have had that type of experience who simply don’t talk about it openly, for many reasons.