Since the holidays are coming up, many home and visiting teachers like to give gifts to the families they teach. Here is a list 200+ very inexpensive gift ideas I’ve compiled
I also have a FHE in a Jar printable PDF that makes a good gift for families you home or visit teach here
I hope they are of some use to some of you! Happy Holidays!
Visiting Teaching Do It Reminder - Great Handouts for your LDS Relief Society Visiting Teaching Program.
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
From the LDS Daily WOOL Archive on Visiting Teaching.
“Today, countless women in the Church reach out to others through visiting teaching and compassionate service, which are still the heart of Relief Society. They bless the lives of others-and buoy up those who may be discouraged or homesick, frightened or disheartened. They remember the counsel given us by a prophet that ‘God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom’ (Spencer W. Kimball, “Small Acts of Service”, Ensign, Dec. 1974, p. 5).” Sister Joy F. Evans, Lord, When Saw We Thee An Hungred, General Conference, April 1989
“Elder Bruce R. McConkie has so eloquently taught us that service is essential to salvation. I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. Progress is not created by contented people. It is up to us, you and me, to be uncomfortable in complacency, to refrain from being spectators, and to be players in the game of life. The Lord has chosen His people to perform a mighty work. Our home teaching, our visiting teaching should be more than going; it should be doing with Christian love. It can be done; you can each do your portion of the work because you desire it.” Elder Russell C. Taylor, The Joy of Service, General Conference, October 1984
“The first-line support to the families in the Church organization is priesthood home teaching and Relief Society visiting teaching. These functions provide two important services. They keep the bishop, the quorum leader, and the Relief Society president adequately informed of the physical, emotional, temporal, and spiritual condition of the membership. They also have teaching opportunities and serve as a resource to provide some of the training to the families as they prepare for self-sufficiency.” Elder L. Tom Perry, The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness, General Conference, April 1981
“Welfare services is the full program the Lord has provided us–provident living, personal and family preparedness, home and visiting teaching, producing and distributing goods to the poor, rehabilitating members with especially difficult needs or handicaps, securing jobs for the unemployed, restoring emotionally disturbed souls to full activity in the Church and society, with all of us consecrating our lives to the building up of the kingdom of God on earth.” President Spencer W. Kimball, The Fruit Of Our Welfare Services Labors, General Conference, October 1978
“I bear testimony to you that home teaching is the divinely inspired method by which we can best touch lives within this Church. Right beside this tremendous priesthood process is Relief Society visiting teaching. Paul had the spirit of home teaching and visiting teaching when he wrote to Timothy: ‘And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.’ (2 Tim. 2:2.)” Elder Robert L. Simpson, These Four Things, General Conference, April 1976
“I have another good friend–a contemporary of mine–Geneva Brown. She has also been a great inspiration to me. A number of years ago she became afflicted with multiple sclerosis. Her health steadily deteriorated, confining her to a wheelchair. It would have been an easy thing for her to give up, but it was not her nature. She was a person who was used to doing and being busy in all kinds of things. But she has shown more determination than ever and has kept herself busy.
We saw her one day just coming out of the temple. I watched as her husband wheeled her across the street from the temple to the car, as he opened the door, and as she lifted herself from the wheelchair into the car. I kept wanting to reach out and help her some way. But she has learned how to manage. She is interested in people and things. How easy it would have been for her to refuse a calling in the Church, even to be a visiting teacher. Certainly she had an excuse. She didn’t need to be a visiting teacher, but it was not her nature to quit. She was able to drive a car with special controls, so she would go on her visiting teaching rounds with her companion. When she arrived at the home of the sister to be visited, a beep of the horn would bring the sister out of her home to sit in the back seat of the car and be taught. Neighbors along the street, seeing the fun that was going on, would come out of their homes and join them until there was a car full. Many were lifted and edified by this wonderful woman who was willing to push on and go the extra mile.” President Barbara W. Winder, “No Joy Without The Struggle”, BYU Speeches of the Year 1987-88, 7 June 1987
“Opportunities to lose oneself for the good of others present themselves daily:… visiting teaching; time for compassionate service; giving comfort to those who need strength; serving with diligence in Church callings;… Truly, the day of sacrifice is not past.” President Ezra Taft Benson, This Is A Day Of Sacrifice, General Conference, April 1979
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
Visiting Teaching Circle
Great Handouts for your LDS Relief Society Visiting Teaching Program
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
LDS Relief Society Visiting Teaching Helps
Great Handouts for your LDS Relief Society Visiting Teaching Program.
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
I found this article on visiting teaching which includes suggestions on how to make visiting teaching a more meaningful experience. There are also a few good quotes.
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
A - A calling from God.
V - Visting Teaching can be a wonderful exerience if you…
I - Invite the Spirit of God to go with you through prayer.
S - Say only kind word in the home of those you visit and…
I - Inspire the sisters by bing a good example.
T - Teach the message the Lord wants each sister to receive.
I - Ivite each one to attend Relief Society.
N - Never take your troubles into the homes of those you visit.
G - Gossip should not be allowed or encouraged.
T - True love to give to your fellow sister.
E - Each visiting teach can be friend
A - Always check in during the first part of the month.
C - Consider yourself a teacher and…
H - Honor the call that is yours
E - Enjoy your companion and sisters and the…
R - Rewards will be great
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
I promise I won’t talk about me, my problems or my opinions. I won’t rattle on about the weather or the latest news. I won’t talk about my operations or medical problems, real or otherwise. And I won’t tell you about “friends” or family members whom you do not know and their problems and medical health.
I won’t talk about my work, or that annoying co-worker that I am sure you must be able to relate to. I won’t talk about my house, pool and boat and trying to find Tommy Hilfiger socks in this town. I won’t tell you about how I need to lose 10 lbs because I “feel so fat at 120 lbs”. I won’t tell you how my oldest son only got an 85% on his final math exam or how my daughter won the art contest. And, I will NOT engage in a conversation with my VT partner and forget that you are even there. And more than anything else, above all, I will NOT sit there in front of you and READ the lesson because very few people are aural learners and none of this will retain in your memory because you will be thinking of all the work you have left to do in the house and wishing I would finish and get out of your house.
HOWEVER…
I will get you talking about yourself. Not “How are you?”, but meaningful, open-ended questions, and if I see that you don’t want to talk about your life, I will make sure you laugh and forget about your troubles for those moments I steal you away from your everyday life. And the lesson?… well… you won’t even know you had a lesson. I will keep it in the back of my mind and when the opportunity presents itself (and it will, thanks to the Spirit), I will cleverly weave it into the conversation without you even knowing it. But later, when you are alone, the Spirit will repeat it to you and you will say I am so glad my VT’s came today.
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
My partner and I used fishing lures for July’s message - and talked about how Satan uses some pretty things to tempt us and some things that might look just like the real thing, but are just fake lures and then when we bite - we’re hooked - and it is hard to quit or get away.
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas
1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Mix flour, butter and powdered sugar thoroughly. Press evenly into an ungreased 8 x 8 x 2 inch or 9 x 9 x 2 inch square pan. Make a little rim up the edges to hold in the filling. A quarter inch or so will do it. Bake 20 minutes.
3. Beat remaining ingredients about 3 minutes of until light and fluffy. Pour over the hot crust, spreading it out evenly.
4. Bake about 25 minutes longer or until no imprint remains when touched lightly in the center. Remove from oven, sprinkle the extra powdered sugar on the top, if you like. Cool, cut into squares.
Posted by John in Visiting Teaching, VT-Ideas