Dear Brother Cahoon,
I saw an e-mail notice in my first issue of Shepherds that you have advice for Home Teaching. I am the new elders quorum president and our home teaching statistics in our ward is VERY low. Please, do you have any suggestions, links, stories, etc. that you can share with me? Thank you!
Dan Seely
Congratulations on being called as the elder’s quorum president for your ward; the best calling in the Church in my not-so-humble opinion!
And why do I say that being an elder’s quorum president in the best calling in the Church? Listen to Moroni’s challenge:
“And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful. unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.” (Moroni 6:4)
You have been given the opportunity to ‘nourish’ your quorum members with ‘the good word of God’, to assist in ‘keeping them in the right way’, and to ‘keep them continually watchful unto prayer’. That sounds like a lot to do for just one person, but that is where home teaching steps in and carries this sometimes overwhelming and heavy load forward.
Make sure you concentrate on the members of the quorum, not on the numbers and statistics. If you truly love your counselors, and you and they truly love the members of the quorum, they will feel that love and concern that you have and follow through with their assignments. It starts by meeting with each home teaching companionship one on one and having a heartfelt home teaching interview. Find out about the families they home teach, but also find out how the companionship is doing. From those interviews, you can make whatever changes need to be made to allow the companionships to be as successful as they choose to be. This is not a one-time task, but an ongoing process.
Also, talk about home teaching in each quorum meeting. No need for long-winded talks that most of the quorum have heard repeatedly; just mention how the quorum is doing and continue to encourage the quorum to ‘do better, and be better’. When you have statistics, share them. Let the quorum know how they are doing, especially if the numbers improve! Throw an ‘incentive’ barbecue, if they get over 90% home teaching for three months, for instance. It may seem like I’m contradicting my earlier counsel, but if the quorum never knows how they are doing, numerically speaking, how can they improve? Just let the numbers take a back seat to the real reason for home teaching, which is to take care of each member of the quorum.
The Lord will bless you as you reach out to your quorum. He will inspire you to make appropriate changes to companionships, and most importantly, He will bless you with increased love and wisdom.
Posted by John in Home Teaching, Ask Brother Cahoon