“Nourished by the Good Word of God”

Church Educational System

That which is “wrought upon” is impacted or influenced. In Moroni 6:4 the phrase is symbolic and has reference to what occurs when the Spirit works on and changes a convert. The atoning sacrifice of Christ makes the remission of our sins possible, but it is through the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost—the baptism of fire—that sins are actually purged or removed (see 2 Nephi 31:17; Alma 13:12; 3 Nephi 27:20). It is also through the workings of the Holy Ghost that we gain the enabling power of the Atonement to help us become faithful Latter-day Saints.

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) told of a personal experience demonstrating how important it is that we take care of those who are newly converted:

“Every convert must be ‘nourished by the good word of God’ (Moro. 6:4). It is imperative that he or she become affiliated with a priesthood quorum or the Relief Society, the Young Women, the Young Men, the Sunday School, or the Primary. He or she must be encouraged to come to sacrament meeting to partake of the sacrament, to renew the covenants made at the time of baptism.
“Not long ago, I listened to a man and woman who spoke in my home ward. This man had served in many capacities in the Church, including that of bishop. Their most recent assignment was to fellowship a single mother and her children. He stated that it was the most joyful of all his Church experiences.
“This young woman was full of questions. She was filled with fear and anxiety. She did not wish to make a mistake, to say anything that was out of line that might embarrass her or cause others to laugh. Patiently this man and his wife brought the family to church, sat with them, put a shield around them, as it were, against anything that might happen to embarrass them. They spent one evening a week with them at their home, teaching them further concerning the gospel and answering their many questions. They led that little family along as a shepherd leads his sheep. Eventually, circumstances dictated that they move to another city. ‘But,’ he stated, ‘we still correspond with that woman. We feel a great appreciation for her. She is now firmly grounded in the Church, and we have no fear concerning her. What a joy it has been to work with her.’
“I am convinced that we will lose but very, very few of those who come into the Church if we take better care of them” (“Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,” Ensign, May 1999, 108–9).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted the universal responsibility for keeping our fellow members “in the right way”: “Inspired instruction in the home and in the Church helps provide this crucial element of nourishing by the good word of God. … Surely the opportunity to magnify that call exists everywhere. The need for it is everlasting. Fathers, mothers, siblings, friends, missionaries, home and visiting teachers, priesthood and auxiliary leaders, classroom instructors—each is, in his or her own way, ‘come from God’ for our schooling and our salvation. In this Church it is virtually impossible to find anyone who is not a guide of one kind or another to his or her fellow members of the flock” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 30–31; or Ensign, May 1998, 25).

Book of Mormon Student Manual (2009 Edition)

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