Do any of the following situations sound familiar?

“I recently found out that my new co-worker is LDS. I know I shouldn’t talk about religion at work, so how can I share Jesus with her?”

“My cousin from the Mormon side of my family and I have recently started keeping in touch more. We really only see each once or twice a year. I’m afraid I’ll ruin our relationship if I always bring up Jesus when we’re together. What do I do?”

“I’ve lived next door to my Mormon neighbor for 10 years and we’ve always kept our conversations fairly superficial. I really want to start talking about my joy in Jesus with her. Where do I start?”

“My daughter is so angry at me for the way we handled her telling us that she was baptized into the Mormon church. I know I reacted poorly. What can I do to make it better?”

Have you been there? Have you struggled with the “How do I start the conversation?” question?

It sounds elementary, but the basic rules of making friends apply here:

• Be Kind: Can you go out to lunch? Invite them over? Help them with a project?
• Ask Questions: Can you tell me more about your church services? What is a Family Home Evening? Were you raised in the church?
• Listen Carefully: Their response often leads you to ask a related question and perhaps even an opportunity to share something about yourself.

Taking an interest in someone’s life shows them you care and opens the door for you to share Jesus. As you continue with the following few lessons, we will share more examples of how you can start the conversation.

God loves us unconditionally. He wants us to reflect unconditional love to others. At times, this is challenging to do consistently because your LDS friend or family member might not reciprocate. They might even misrepresent you or take you the wrong way.

Then, there is our sinful nature. The last thing it wants is for us to be patient and loving. We need to combat it constantly so we don’t respond poorly. The way to fight it is to regularly immerse ourselves in God’s love for us.

“We love because he first loved us”

1 John 3:19