What would you say to a friend who is less than active?

Last week I was posed a very interesting question by a friend of mine.
He asked, "what do you say to someone who is less active? What would
you say if that person were me?" Today I would like to address
everyone who is less active in the church. These people who once were
happy in the church and have since become more complacent with their
worship. President Uchdorf gave a fantastic talk this last conference
about this topic which I would encourage each of you to read
regardless of your activity in the church.

Today I want to respond to that friend of mine as well as responding
to each of you, my dear readers, as I am sure that at one time or
another you have pondered that question for ourselves as well. So what
do you say when someone you care about has turned away from the
church? How do you remind them of the things they once help so dear?
How do you be bold and yet help them understand how much you still
love and care about them? Catch 22 right? Yeah. It is.

Here are some tips that I have come up with for what to do/say-
1. Have them read Alma 5. This chapter of the Book of Mormon is
amazing for making you reflect on your level of conversion. One of my
favorite questions posed in this chapter is, in my own words, will you
be happy on Judgement day with the decisions you are making today?

2. Remind them of Spiritual experiences that they once had. Joseph
smith said concerning his vision of God the Father, "I knew it and I
knew that God knew it and I could not deny it" (Joseph Smith History
1:25). Many of us have amazing revulatory experiences that we know are
from God, but then we go on to gradually forget about them or even
begin to justify within ourselves that it is was "just me" or
"endorphin" or even coincidence that was making us so good. Help your
friends remember their spiritual experiences of the past. Help them
remember the conviction they once had to never deny the thoughts and
feelings they once knew were from God.

3. Remember that many people step away from the church because they feel guilty for making mistakes or even feel judged by other members of the
congregation. I would like to remind those people that the church is
not a home for saints but it is a hospital for sinners. We all
sin and we all feel guilt for sinning, that is what makes the
Atonement so amazing. We can have that guilt removed! "Just as chalk can be removed from a blackboard, with sincere repentance the effects of our transgression can be erased through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That promise applies in every case." (Boyd K Packer 2013)

So the fact of that matter in all of this is that it's all about their choices. They are the ones that need to let the Spirit act within them. They are the ones that have to listen to those quiet promptings. They are they ones to make the changes. Our job, is to help them in whatever way we can and love them.  Never give up. Their time will come, whether in this life or the next, it will come.

I want to end this with a quote from the last General Conference, "My
dear brothers and sisters, if you ever come across anything that
causes you to question your testimony of the gospel, I plead with you
to look up. Look to the Source of all wisdom and truth."  (Look Up
Elder Adrian Ochoa October 2013)