Our Potential for ParenthoodListenDownloadPrintShare
“It was essential that God’s spirit children have mortal birth and an opportunity to progress toward eternal life,” taught Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “In light of the ultimate purpose of the great plan of happiness, I believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity.”1

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said:“We believe in families, and we believe in children. …“‘… God said unto [Adam and Eve], Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth’ [Genesis 1:28]. …“This commandment has not been forgotten or set aside in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”2

Though not all of us become parents in this life, we can nurture children of every age. We enjoy the blessings of being part of Heavenly Father’s family, and we experience the joys and challenges of being part of an earthly family. And for many, parenthood awaits them in the eternities ahead.

“Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family,” said Elder Andersen. “My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: ‘[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.’ She then adds: ‘Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.’”3

In what ways is our earthly family like our heavenly family?

VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE:                                           Temple Ordinances and Covenants

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All the ordinances necessary for salvation and exaltation are accompanied by covenants with God. “Making and keeping covenants means choosing to bind ourselves to our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ,” said Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president.1

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “The Lord said, ‘In the ordinances … the power of godliness is manifest.’ “There are special blessings from God for every worthy person who is baptized, receives the Holy Ghost, and regularly partakes of the sacrament.”2 

“When men and women go to the temple,” said ElderM. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “they are both endowed with the same power, which is priesthood power …

“… All men and all women have access to this power for help in their lives. All who have made sacred covenants with the Lord and who honor those covenants are eligible to receive personal revelation, to be blessed by the ministering of angels, to commune with God, to receive the fulness of the gospel, and, ultimately, to become heirs alongside Jesus Christ of all our Father has.”3

Additional Scriptures:

1 Nephi 14:14; Doctrine and Covenants 25:13; 97:8; 109:22

Living Stories

In 2007, four days after a massive earthquake in Peru, Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy met branch president Wenceslao Conde and his wife, Pamela. “Elder Nash asked Sister Conde how her little children were. With a smile, she replied that through the goodness of God they were all safe and well. He asked about the Condes’ home.

“‘It’s gone,’ she said simply.

“… ’And yet,’ Elder Nash noted, ‘you are smiling as we talk.’

“’Yes,’ she said, ‘I have prayed and I am at peace. We have all we need. We have each other, we have our children, we are sealed in the temple, we have this marvelous Church, and we have the Lord. We can build again with the Lord’s help.’ …

“What is it about making and keeping covenants with God that gives us the power to smile through hardships, to convert tribulation into triumph … ?”

“The source is God. Our access to that power is through our covenants with Him.”4

Consider This:

How do temple ordinances and covenants strengthen and empower us?

May 2016 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

Each April and October we Visiting Teachers are to select talks

 from Conference to share with out sisters. 

I made my bookmark with quotes from April Conference, 

for you and myself to share with those we teach.

Love to all, Pat

April 2016 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

The scriptures teach us that “we are the offspring of God” (Acts 17:29). God referred to Emma Smith, wife of the ProphetJoseph Smith, as “my daughter” (D&C 25:1). The family proclamation teaches us that we are each “a beloved spirit … daughter of heavenly parents.”1

“In [the premortal] realm, we learned about our eternal female identity,” said Carole M. Stephens, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

“Our mortal journey to earth did not change those truths.”2

“Your Father in Heaven knows your name and knows your circumstance,” said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “He hears your prayers. He knows your hopes and dreams, including your fears and frustrations.”3

“We each belong to and are needed in the family of God,” said Sister Stephens. “Earthly families all look different. And while we do the best we can to create strong traditional families, membership in the family of God is not contingent upon any kind of status—marital status, parental status, financial status, social status, or even the kind of status we post on social media.”4

Additional Scriptures                                                                                                 Jeremiah 1:5; Romans 8:16; Doctrine and Covenants 76:23–24

From Our History

In his account of the First Vision,5 the Prophet Joseph Smith verifies many truths—including that our Heavenly Father knows our name.

Young Joseph struggled to know which church to join and found guidance in James 1:5. Joseph concluded he would ask God.

One spring morning in 1820, he went to the woods to pray but was immediately seized upon by some dark power. Of this he wrote:“Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

“It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17).

Consider This                                                                                                                                           How does knowing you are a daughter of God affect your decisions?

March 2016 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

               Created In His Image

“A‌nd God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. …

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26–27).

God is our Heavenly Father, and He created us in His image. Of this truth, President Thomas S. Monson said: “God our Father has ears with which to hear our prayers. He has eyes with which to see our actions. He has a mouth with which to speak to us. He has a heart with which to feel compassion and love. He is real. He is living. We are his children made in his image. We look like him and he looks like us.”

“Latter-day Saints see all people as children of God in a full and complete sense; they consider every person divine in origin, nature, and potential.” Each is “a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.”

“[The Prophet] Joseph Smith also learned that God desires that His children receive the same kind of exalted existence of which He partakes.” As God said, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Additional Scriptures:                                                                                                                          Genesis 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 3:17; Doctrine and Covenants 130:1

The brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon sought for a way to light the eight barges designed to carry the Jaredites across the waters to the promised land. He “did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones” and prayed that God would “touch these stones” with His finger “that they may shine forth in darkness.” And God “stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one.” The veil was taken from the eyes of the brother of Jared, and “he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man. …

“And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?

“And he answered: Yea, Lord.”

And “the Lord showed himself unto [the brother of Jared]” and said, “Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.” (See Ether 3:1–17.)

February 2016 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

Prophets, apostles, and leaders continue to “solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan.”1                                                                                                                

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God’s plan to thrive. …Neither we nor any other mortal can alter this divine order of matrimony.”2       

Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women general president, said: “Everyone, no matter what their marital circumstance or number of children, can be defenders of the Lord’s plan described in the family proclamation. If it is the Lord’s plan, it should also be our plan!”3

Elder Christofferson continued: “Some of you are denied the blessing of marriage for reasons including a lack of viable prospects, same-sex attraction, physical or mental impairments, or simply a fear of failure. … Or you may have married, but that marriage ended. … Some of you who are married cannot bear children...Even so, … everyone can contribute to the unfolding of the divine plan in each generation.”4

Additional Scriptures

Genesis 2:18–24; 1 Corinthians 11:11; Doctrine and Covenants 49:15–17Living Stories

Brother Larry M. Gibson, former first counselor in the Young Men general presidency, remembered when Shirley, now his wife, said:                                                                           “‘I love you because I know you love the Lord more than you love me.’ …“That answer struck my heart. …[And] I wanted her to always feel that I loved the Lord above all else.”5

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “The Lord Jesus Christ is the focal point in a covenant marriage relationship. … [Imagine that] the Savior is positioned at the apex of [a] triangle, with a woman at the base of one corner and a man at the base of the other corner. Now consider what happens in the relationship between the man and the woman as they individually and steadily ‘come unto Christ’ and strive to be ‘perfected in Him’ (Moroni 10:32). Because of and through the Redeemer, the man and the woman come closer together.”6

Consider This

How am I individually and steadily striving to “come unto Christ”?

Relief Society Declaration Bookmark

I made this bookmark for my February Lesson entitled: 

"Living Life With a Purpose: Do You Struggle to Juggle or Seek Guidance to Balance It?"