April 2018 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

This month the Ensign Magazine has stopped the Visiting Teaching section of it's magazine. I opted to use the "from the pulpit" message as my bookmark this month.  As the months progress so will this blog posting. Hopefully we as visiting teachers will become better friends with the sister we are called to serve, therefore; better able to meet their needs. May you be blessed with the spirit of our f

Father in Heaven and if inspired please feel free to pass along this blog or print and distribute the bookmark.

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Video: Baskets & Bottles     Music: Perfect Love     Fun Song: We Are Different

March 2018 Visiting Teaching Principles

Pray for Each Sister by Name

Our love for and inspiration concerning those we visit will increase
when we humbly pray for each sister by name.

One sister related that during a difficult period in her life, a phone call or simple text message often came from her visiting teachers on “particularly dark days.” They seemed to know just when she needed a lift. She knew that they prayed for her, both during their visits and on their own.

The scriptures share many examples of men and women who prayed for others by name. Among the most dramatic is the father of Alma the Younger. An angel spoke to Alma the Younger, telling him that his father “ha[d] prayed with much faith concerning thee … ; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith” (Mosiah 27:14).

Praying for others not only invokes Heavenly Father’s blessings upon them but also helps us know how we can bless them too. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Praying for others with all of the energy of our souls increases our capacity to hear and to heed the voice of the Lord.”

“Think of our combined strength if every sister had sincere prayer every morning and night or, better yet, prayed unceasingly as the Lord has commanded,” said Julie B. Beck, former General Relief Society President. Praying for those we visit strengthens us as individuals and as Latter-day Saint women.

President Henry B. Eyring, then First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “Pray for the way to know their hearts. … You will need to know what God would have you do to help them and to do it all, as nearly as you can, feeling God’s love for them.”

Click Here for "Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire"

Click here  for Light the World: "Jesus Prayed For Others So Can You."

Click Here for David A Bednar message," Pray Always"

February 2018 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

Consider This: Within the families of the sisters you visit, what upcoming events should you be aware of and remember?

   

Rita Jeppeson and her visiting teacher have become good friends as they meet and share gospel conversations. But their visits also include playing word games together, which helps Rita’s mind stay sharp. Because her visiting teacher has learned what Rita needs and enjoys, they both look forward to each visit. Rita knows that they are friends and that the visit is not just an obligation. There are so many things sisters can do during a visit, such as taking a walk together or helping a sister with her chores.

Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, expressed her feelings in 1842 about how Latter-day Saint sisters in the newly established Relief Society should feel about one another. She said, “We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction, that we may all sit down in heaven together.”1 This is still true today.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “See yourselves as emissaries of the Lord to His children. … We would hope … that you will establish an era of genuine, gospel-oriented concern for the members, watching over and caring for each other, addressing spiritual and temporal needs in any way that helps.”

The Lord through Moses commanded the children of Israel that “the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love [her] as thyself” (Leviticus 19:34). The sisters we visit may be “strangers” as we begin our service, but as we get to know them and their families, our desire will increase to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light” and have our “hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:8, 21).

Primary in the 1950-60's

      Primary for me was a wonderful day of the week. I was learning to be a Homebuilder, spending time with my friends, and keeping my mind busy.

      Also, each week Bea Fischer Sr. had us girls come early and practice singing.

She had us perform around town and in the Stake. We had wonderful opportunities even after we left Primary. She kept us singing as a group until we graduated from High School and left for college etc. Those I remember being in the group were:

Bea & Candy Fischer, 

Pam Skinner,

 Melva Noble, 

Delilah Marks, 

Carol & Charlotte Mikesell (my cousins), I

Me & my sister Margaret 'm sure there were more but memories are fallible.

Here is the sampler we crossed stitched  and the bandlo we wore to mark our achievements. (I can remember what they were except memorizing the 13 Articles of Faith, which I did and can remember to this day.)

 I will bring the light of the gospel into my home by greeting the day with a song...(I can't remember the rest.)

We were Larks, then Bluebirds, than Seagulls. I haven't found any reference in google on this but will add to this post if I do. I'm setting a goal for 2018 to bring the light of the gospel into my home!

Great memories, I pondered in the Temple today. 

January 2018 Visiting Teaching

VISITING TEACHING PRINCIPLES

Keep in Touch with Her

 Anytime, Anywhere, Any Way!                                                       Visiting teaching is about ministering. Jesus ministered anytime and anywhere. We can do the same.

·        To “minister” is to give service, care, or aid that contributes to the comfort or happiness of another. Visiting teaching is about discovering ways to minister to those we visit. Jesus Christ ministered to all—anytime and anywhere. He fed the 5,000, comforted Mary and Martha at the death of their brother, and taught His gospel to the woman at the well. He did it because of His sincere love.

·        Following His example, as visiting teachers we can come to know and love each sister we visit, remembering that love is the foundation of all we do. When we pray for inspiration to know how to serve her and help her strengthen her faith, “the angels cannot be restrained from being [our] associates.”

·        From the organization of Relief Society in 1842 to today, the ministering of women has blessed lives. For example, Joan Johnson, an 82-year-old widow, and her visiting teaching companion visit their neighbor who is 89 and has pneumonia. They could see that their neighbor didn’t just need them once a month, so they began checking in on her every week in person or by phone.

·        For other visiting teachers, sending a text or email giving encouragement might be the best thing to do for a sister that month. Making personal connections and listening with an attitude of love is the essence of visiting teaching. Modern technology and time-honored face-to-face visits help us do it anytime, anywhere, and in many ways. That is ministering as Jesus did.

"Be Strong"  Music video

"My Sister's Hands"  Music video

"Miracles"  music video

"Because You prayed for me" music video

December 2017 VT Bookmark

I made the gold bookmark first and didn't think it looked like Christmas so I made the red one. Print the one you like best for the ladies you Visit Teach.                                          Merry Christmas!

Willing to Bear One Another’s Burdens                                       

                                                                                                "We are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, our kindness,” said President Thomas S. Monson. “We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us.”                                                                                              

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “A great change began in your heart when you came into the Church. You made a covenant, and you received a promise that began changing your very nature. … You promised that you would help the Lord make [others’] burdens light and be comforted. You were given the power to help lighten those loads when you received the gift of the Holy Ghost.”         

“We want to use the light of the gospel to see others as the Savior does—with compassion, hope, and charity,” said Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President. “The day will come when we will have a complete understanding of others’ hearts and will be grateful to have mercy extended to us—just as we extend charitable thoughts and words to others. … Our obligation and privilege is to embrace improvement in everyoneas we strive to become more like our Savior.”                       

As we bear one another’s burdens and keep our covenants, we are more aware of Jesus Christ’s healing power. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, ‘Come unto me,’ He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.”                                                                                                                                      

Additional Scriptures: Matthew 25:40; Galatians 6:2; Mosiah 2:17; 18:8–9                      

Consider This:   How does helping bear the burdens of others and keeping our covenants open the way for Jesus Christ to heal those in need?                                        

Enrichment Videos:                                                                                                                  

Lifting Others                       Love Knows No Borders Music Video                              

The Old Shoemaker             My All Is thine Music Video            

October 2017 Visiting Teaching Bookmark

Enfolding with Love Those Who Stray

“The reality is that there are no perfect families … ,” said President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. “Whatever problems your family is facing, whatever you must do to solve them, the beginning and the end of the solution is charity, the pure love of Christ.”1

Of those who are not participating fully in the gospel, Linda K. Burton, former General President of the Relief Society, said: “Heavenly Father loves all His children. … No matter where they are—on or off the path—He wants them back home.”2

“However wayward [your children] might be, … when you speak or talk to them, do it not in anger, do it not harshly, in a condemning spirit,” taught President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918). “Speak to them kindly.”3

Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Seventy reiterated the Savior’s instruction to those who have 10 pieces of silver and lose one: “Search until you find it. When the lost one is your son or your daughter, your brother or your sister, … after all we can do, we love that person with all of our hearts. …

“May you and I receive the revelation to know how to best approach those in our lives who are lost and, when necessary, to have the patience and love of our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, as we love, watch, and wait for the prodigal.”4

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “I have prayed with faith that someone I loved would seek and feel the power of the Atonement. I have prayed with faith that human angels would come to their aid, and they came.

“God has devised means to save each of His children.”5

Additional scriptures: Matthew 18:12; Alma 31:35; 3 Nephi 13:32; D&C 121:41–42

Music video:  Only Love

Additional video: Love Grows at Home