Sunday, May 10, 2009

Visiting Teaching Conference Notes

Happy Mother's day to you all! How I loved hearing all of you chatting with each other before we started Relief Society today. How wonderful it was to join in with a room full of my sisters and sing "as sisters in Zion we'll all work together". Here is the recap. (E. King)
God does notice us...it is usually through another mortal that He meets our needs.
~President Kimball
Nancy and Shoba did a great job in putting together our Visiting Teaching "Conference" today. Who doesn't love flowers and cake!

Shoba spoke to us of the importance of visiting teaching and urged us to remember that this is a call from God. She said that we are all busy, but that if we have a willing heart, God will help us find the time.

Nancy then reminded us that our love for each other will grow as we are obedient and serve one another. She had a very practical list of suggestions to remind us of how to create the connections that are so important for women and in visiting teaching.
  1. Go Beyond the superficial--Be a friend. LISTEN! Sit with her in church. Find common interests. Spend time together outside normal visits.
  2. Create a spiritual connection. Pray for her specifically in your personal prayers. Bear testimony. End your visit with a prayer.
  3. Develop trust. Keep confidences. Share personal experiences if appropriate.
  4. Be considerate regarding children. Get permission to bring your children or arrange to meet at a park to visit while kids play.
  5. Care for your companion. You'll enjoy getting together to visit.
  6. Don't be difficult with your schedule. Make yourself available to visit and to be visited.
Discipleship is not a spectator sport...We need to get off the sidelines and practice what we preach. ~President Uchtdorf
Thanks Shoba and Nancy!

[Check out some visiting teaching gift ideas.]
And more on Sugar Doodle.

4 comments:

  1. I am very disappointed by the way things were brought about today. I am a member of the ward, but am not a sister. I am an Elder and my wife was very hurt by the way this whole message was presented today. I too agree with her and think it is just wrong to have done what you did on Mother's Day of all days. Today should have been a day to talk about how special motherhood is and what a great role women play in the Great Plan of Happiness. None of us are perfect. We can all do better. I for one could do better with my home teaching, but only the Lord can be the judge as to what my best is. Let us not compare ourselves to one another and maybe try to be encouraging without putting others down for their shortcomings. The work of the Lord is not about numbers on a sheet of paper every month. It is about how we show one another that we love each other, and by so doing, we show the Lord that we love Him. Happy Mother's Day sisters. Your sweet spirit is felt throughout the ward and by all those whom you come in contact with. Do your best, and the Lord will ask nothing more.

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  2. I am so sorry that I missed this inspiring meeting! My Mom was there and commented that it was a wonderful spiritual experience and a treat as always to be united with fellow sisters and be spoiled with cake and flowers.
    Thank you to all of you that made her feel so at home and especially to those who helped her find a diaper for Alex!! I have a burning testimony of Visiting Teaching and know that it really is an inspired means by which we can bless each others lives and truly grow closer to each other and to the Lord.

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  3. A suggestion I could make, based on my experience in RS presidencies and VT coordinators, is that yearly VT interviews be held for each sister who is willing to make themselves available, so that the VT coordinator, district superviors and presidency are in tune with the needs of the sisters as visiting teachers and sisters as visitees (if you will). That's just one way I've seen the program be more flourishable and spriritually guided, in the past. Just a suggestion because I've seen it utilized in other wards. And also, for the sisters to remember, in effort to not pass judgement one way or the other, that our testimonies are growing in different areas at different rates. I've heard old temple president wives admit to me that they despised the VT program in their youth, but grew stronger in their testimony as life went on and personal circumstances changed.

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  4. Sisters, Mother's Day is a special time to think of our mothers, our own motherhood, and the important role of mother in the gospel plan. We praise you for your untiring (and sometimes tiring) efforts to be good mothers. In preparing for the Relief Society lesson we knew that you would enjoy this topic in Sacrament meeting talks and hopefully be fed by the Spirit, so we chose a more universal theme, visiting teaching. Not all our sisters are mothers, but we are all women who want to care for one another and serve the Lord.

    We, as women, mother those around us in so many ways. One important way is visiting teaching. Please know that we only meant to remind, encourage, and yes, maybe even prod you to do a little better in this one thing. Visiting teaching begins with seeds of commitment, budding into friendship, and finally blossoming into love.

    Let the cake and flowers you received yesterday be a symbol of our gratitude and appreciation for you. Thank you for the hours of devoted visiting teaching you give collectively each month and as President Hinckley so often said, "Let us all try to stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better." We truly love you all.

    Your Relief Society Presidency

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