I had recently become active again, & I was asked to be a visiting teacher. My companion was the best. I didn’t know very many people in the ward & she became my friend. She sat with me during Relief Society & invited me over to her house. I was so grateful for her. She had such a strong testimony that she was a light to be around. I then enjoyed going to church knowing that I had a friend there. I have recently moved & now am trying to make friends once more. I am just getting to know my new companion & I think before that we can be good visiting teachers we need to be friends with our companions.

Hali Cross

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My husband and I were at the temple last August and he was really unwell. He had been vomiting blood. We managed to get home but he was admitted into hospital as an emergency. He was in a few days. I had been up to the hospital to visit him and when I got home I had a message from my visiting teacher on the answering machine saying that she had prepared a pasta dish for us and when we got in we were to call her and she would be right round. I had no energy or desire to cook and this came as such a blessing to me and my children. She came around, spent a few minutes and left.

To this day I still feel great love to that woman. She never forget your birthday or the things that are coming up for you and she always shows an interest in how things are and what she can do for us. It was great.

Dawn Connell

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During one of my visiting teaching home visits with my ever prepared partner, I gave a lesson about motherhood that was found in the Gospel Principles manual (usually for new members). As a new member, I shared with the sister who is expecting a baby boy in October 2002, the few paragraphs this manual gave on the duties/expectations of motherhood. I read all side bars references from the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon. I knew instantly this is what the sister wanted to hear by her steady look towards me as I read to her this message (as well as the monthly visiting teaching message for July 2002).

All three of us received benefit, if not as a renewal of the message, then as a first time. I also shared recipes (our sister is a newly-wed and I know her wedding anniversary and birth date).

I hope this experience is beneficial to all.

Rita Sander-Campfield

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I am Visiting Teacher Coordinator in my BYU-Idaho college student ward. With a Relief Society of primarly 18-20 year olds, it can sometimes be challenging to get them motivated to take on the calling of a Visiting Teacher. We have it fairly easy, however.

Living in an apartment complex where your next door neighbors are usually the sisters you visit should make it easier for us to get our visits done each month. With roommates as your visiting teaching companion, and your supervisor one of your roommates as well, we should be able to accomplish 100% every month. But, unfortunately, there is still the church-wide problem of accomplishing visiting teaching each month.

Now, after being in Relief Society for almost 3 years, and having the calling of visiting teaching coordinator, I have gained a testimony of the visiting teaching program. I know that it is important and know that with the Lord’s help and counsel of so many wonderful leaders, that each and every one of the sisters in the church can accept the calling of visiting teacher and fulfill it to their best ability.

Lauren A.

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May I share a story about having an Aaronic Priesthood holder as a companion in Home Teaching?

When we were stationed in Germany with the Air Force, I had my first Aaronic Priesthood companion in Home Teaching, who also was my son. I did not think I was going to like this arrangement - I remembered that as a youth I always felt like only a half-companion because I could not help with blessings, etc. My senior companion would always sigh and look at me like I wasn’t a REAL companion when we would get to someone’s house and they needed a blessing. I guess I just wasn’t convenient enough. Well, my son and I were assigned to families who did not need me - they needed my son as a Home Teacher. The husbands were in jobs in the Air Force that required them to be gone for long periods of time, and what the wives needed was an older boy who could come to the house and help her with the children.

One particular Sister had sons who were all taller than her, meaner than her, and were basically uncontrollable. When her husband would leave - for a month at a time at the minimum - my son got to where he would simply pack his bag and just wait for a phone call. She would call, looking for help, and he would be out the door and would be at her house for at least three and four days, literally being the strong arm in the house, making those boys of hers do what they knew they should be doing. At the same time, he was able to set an example for them and teach them to treat their mother right.

What I thought at first was going to be a “ball and chain”, because that’s how I was treated when I was a junior companion, turned out to be the best companion I could have had for that Sister and for other families we were assigned. They did not need me; they needed my junior companion. And he was one they knew they could depend upon. Many times I was told that “we” were the best Home Teachers they had ever had.

Bruce T. Forbes

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I am a convert to the church. I became a convert to the church because of the faithfulness of the Home Teacher who was assigned to our home. He was on the High Council. My wife, an inactive member for about ten years, and I had Word of Wisdom problems. I smoked several packs of cigarettes every day. My wife smoked as well. I remember that I always wanted to be there when our Home Teacher came. He was a special person and I could feel a special spirit. We would quickly put out our cigarettes and hide the ash trays and spray the room (he could still tell) just before he came.

And then one day, I felt an overwhelming desire to become a part of this church. It was a power that pulled and tugged like nothing I had ever experienced before. My Home Teacher and the Ward Mission Leader and the Missionaries gave me a blessing to stop smoking. I never touched another cigarette after that blessing. After I knew that I would never have the problem again, I set a date for my baptism.

Several callings later, I became the bishop of the ward we had just moved into. My wife received a blessing from a member of the Quorum of the Seventy to release her smoking habit and within two months, she and I and our two children were sealed in the Dallas Temple. My wife was called as the Relief Society President of our Ward and was just recently released after several years. I am on the High Council at this time. The brother the home taught us became the Bishop of our Ward, and is now serving as Mission President in one of the Philippine Mission areas.

I have shared all of this long-winded information for one reason; If it had not been for the persistent efforts of our Home Teacher just 10 years ago, I would not be able to have received this gospel; I would not have received the innumerable blessings; I would not been able to baptize my children; I would not be sealed to my wonderful and loving wife. None of these things would have been experienced.

Please, please commit to doing your Home and Visiting Teaching right now, today. You may not realize that God would like you to be his messenger for a family just like we were, or to strengthen the Testimony of a family member (or entire family). In Jesus name. Amen

Jim Stival

Posted by John in Home Teaching, Visiting Teaching, HT-Experiences, VT-Experiences

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This afternoon as I was reading a question from a young man from Scotland, concerning an inactive family and they not being too eager to meet with him. It took me back to 1996. My husband was not a member and I had been inactive for years. One day when I had gotten home from work, I found this basket on my door with a message signed “your visiting teacher Jane.” My first thought was oh boy, here we go again.

There had been a very dark time in my life when I had so desperately needed a visiting teacher and no one came. Anyway, every week I would find something on my door or a message on my machine from this diligent visiting teacher. I tried ignoring her for three months in hopes that she would go away. But deep down I was hoping that she would stick it out. Which she did.

I finally decided to return her calls and thank her for the little tokens she left on my doorstep. We played phone tag for about another month or so before we finally met face to face. The first time I saw her she had this most beautiful smile and such a twinkle of love filled her eyes. She reached for my hand and said “My name is Jane, and I can see in your eyes that your not dead.” I instantly fell in love with her. She brought me back into activation.

In 1997, I went through the Salt Lake Temple and took out my endowments. Heavenly Father has poured so many beautiful blessings upon my head. I share a very beautiful friendship with her and now I am going out to those lost sheep and leaving little tokens and phone messages hoping that I can touch their lives the way she touched mine. Yes, there are some who are very angry and have been hurt, but our heavenly father taught me a beautiful lesson.

I was having a really hard time reaching a dear friend of mine who is on a really bad road. One day, she just come out and asked me, “Why don’t you just give up on me? Everyone else has.” I was speechless. What would I say? Then I felt this warmth of love fill my soul, and in my mind I heard this question. “Would I give up on you?” With tears pouring down my face I looked at her and asked, “Would your Heavenly Father give up? Throw His arms up in the air and say, ‘You’re a lost cause’?” Tears came to her eyes as she shook her head no. I then asked her who was I to give up on her if He wouldn’t give up on any one of us. Then I bore my testimony to her and shared with her the story of my friend Jane.

Thanks for letting me share this with you, I enjoy your articles.

Lorie Bishop

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I spent last night in the home of a non-member sister and her member husband as they bid goodbye to their 3 1/2 year old son. He had passed away just minutes before I arrived and the newness of their grief was a physical presence in the room. Because they do not have an understanding of the gospel yet and are at this time unaware of the significance of the blessings of the temple the finality of this loss was even greater.

I give you this background so you will understand the great gift of service and compassion given by the visiting teachers, compassionate service leaders, Relief Society presidency and Priesthood leaders in this ward. These selfless sisters and brothers do not look at this family as a project. They have over the past few months since they found them developed an abiding love for this family. Now at a time of greatest need this sweet mother knew immediately she could reach out to her new “Mormon Girlfriends” and find help.

This calling of Visiting Teacher is as divine a calling as the greatest office in the church. As we are selected to serve one another it is with the awareness of our Heavenly Father. He cannot be here to do it Himself so he has us as his arms, hands, and legs to do his work on earth.

As the flowers and cards will pour in over the next few days and this young family comes to accept their loss they will also have the constant reassurance of loving sisters who are coming with food and cleaning service and babysitting for the other children. They have already had the comfort of a priesthood blessing. These quiet services will prepare this family to someday embrace the gospel and its message of eternal union. More than any other gift these beautiful sisters have told this young mother that they love her and will stand by her always. They aren’t qualifying their love with an insistence on her membership in our church. This is truly Christ-like, unconditional love.

I am so grateful for this divine program and the sisters who have a testimony of it.

Michele Hamilton

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When we moved into this Ward 16 years ago, my wife was assigned to a lady who was not active at all and didn’t want to go to church. She did enjoy having Visiting Teachers come though, and always welcomed them and was receptive to the messages.

She and her husband were smokers and drank coffee and beer quite regularly. Her husband was unemployed and she worked a full time job.

About a year after my wife had been assigned to her, they changed the assignments and she was given to someone else. Three months later, my wife decided to go and visit her to see how she was getting along. No one had visited her since my wife had, so she went to the Relief Society President and told her she wanted her back because no one was visiting her. They reassigned her to my wife and her partner.

Whenever her partner wasn’t able to go with her, I went along, and we always had a prayer in their home before leaving. They enjoyed that very much, but still didn’t want to go to church. We never asked them to go, but they let us know they were not church goers.

After about ten years of visiting and friendshipping them, one day my wife came home and was elated as the woman wanted to start going to church. She had quit drinking coffee and beer and stopped smoking, and wanted to become active in the church. Many times she and her husband told us that as far as they were concerned, we were the church to them and we could come anytime.

Then her husband started coming out with her, and had put a sign on his door which read “No smoking in this house.” Many of their friends didn’t believe they would do it, but they did.

Right before we got our mission call to Romania this sister came to us and asked us if we would go with her to the temple to take out her endowments, as she was getting a temple recommend that Sunday. We told her we would love to, but we had to go Monday morning to the MTC and probably wouldn’t get to go with her as the temple was closed on Mondays and we’d be in training Tuesday. She went anyway.

We went to Romania and carried on a letter writing program with her and her husband, and was told that she loved going to the temple and had been called as a temple worker which she loved so much.

When we returned home from our mission, they assigned me to be their Home Teacher, and my partner and I went every month for a year, and then they released me as their Home Teacher. I cried, because I loved them. But soon they were being taught by the Stake Missionaries, and before long they were both coming out to church.

Recently he got his recommend and went to the temple to take out his endowments, and in November, they went to the temple and were sealed for time and all eternity. Everyone loves them, and are always there shaking their hands at church. It is such a joy and blessing to see them coming to church, and loving to go to the temple. I just have to give them a big hug every time I see them smiling…shaking hands with everyone that comes in the door to the chapel. It wasn’t just us, but many of the members of the Ward who reached out and welcomed them into the ward. They had lived in this ward for over 20 years, and have made tremendous progress in just the last two years. God be praised.

Jim and Betty Lee

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When we lived in Sandy, Utah, I was assigned to go and visit a new family to my district, and the Elder’s Quorum President told me that the lady hadn’t let the Home Teachers in for two years, and to be aware that I might not get into their home.

I contacted my Home Teaching partner that evening and we went to visit this family. As we stood on the porch, not knowing what to expect, but having prayed for guidance from the Holy Ghost, the door opened, and I informed the lady that we were their new Home Teachers and wanted to come in and get acquainted. She replied, “I am very glad that you came. We haven’t had Home Teachers for two years.

I told her that we wanted to start coming every week for a while to make up for them missing their visits over the past two years, and she agreed. The second visit, one week later, brought me to the table in their kitchen to help her son with his math which she said she couldn’t do. We spent about an hour, and then prepared to leave.

I was prompted by the spirit to invite her and her family to church. They had not been out for at least two years. As we were going to the door, I said, Sister _________, we would like to invite you to bring your family and come out to church next Sunday. The Lord needs your help in His kingdom, and we need your love and friendship. Will you come?” She said she would love to come, and would see us next Sunday. She was there with her children, and a smile on her face.

Some months later, she was put into the Primary Presidency, and loved every minute of it. One Fast Sunday she stood and bore her testimony and cried as she pointed her finger at me and said, “It is because of him that I am here today. Thanks for being a good Home Teacher.” Then I was crying.

It wasn’t me, but the Holy Ghost that directed me to invite her to come to church, and it was Him that helped her to make the right choice. Thank goodness for the Home Teaching program. And thank God for the gift of The Holy Ghost, and the wisdom to follow its guidance.

Jim

Posted by John in Home Teaching, Visiting Teaching, HT-Experiences, VT-Experiences

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