July Visiting Teaching Message

 

 

Visiting Teaching Message

The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Advocate

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share.  How will understanding the life and Mission of the Savior to increase your faith in

Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

  

Faith, Family, Relief

This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.

Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father.  The word advocate has Latin roots meaning “one who pleads for another”¹  The Savior pleads for us, using, understanding, justice, and mercy.  Knowing this can fill us with love and gratitude for His Atonement.

“Listen to [Jesus Christ] who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

“Saying: Father, behold the suffering and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

 

“Wherefore, Father spare these my brethren that believe on my name that they may come unto me and have everlasting life” (D&C 45:3-5).

 

Of Christ as our Advocate, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles sale: “It is of great significance to me, that I amy at any moment and in any circumstance approach through prayer the throne of grace, that my Heavenly jFather will hear my petition, thatmy Advocate, him who did no sin, whose blood was shed, will plead my cause.”²

Additional Scriptures

Mosiah 15:8-9; Moroni 7:28; Doctrine and Covenants 29:5; 110:4

 

From the Scriptures

 

Throughout the history of the Lord’s Church, female disciples of Jesus Christ have folled His example.  Esther was faithful and courageous.  Her cousin Mordecai sent her a copy of the king’s decree that the Jews should be destroyed, and he charged her “to make request before [the king] for her people.”  He added: “And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:8,14)

Despite the danger, Esther agreed:  “So will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

Esther then spoke humbly to the king and “fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears … to reverse the letters… to destroy the jews.”  She added, “How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”  (see Esther 8:3, 5-6).  The king’s heart was softened and he granted her petition.³

Consider This

 How can the advocacy of Jesus Christ inspire us to extend mercy and forgiveness to others?

Notes

      1.  See Russell M. Nelson, “Jesus Christ Our Master and More” (Brigham Young Univ. fireside, Feb 2 1992) 4; speeches, byu.edu

      2.  D. Todd Christofferson, “I know in Whom I Have Trusted,” Ensign,May 1993, 83.

      3.  See also Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Word of Relief Society (2011), 180

 

 

June Visiting Teaching Message

 

Visiting Teaching Message

The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Minister

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share.  How will understanding the life and Mission of the Savior to increase your faith in

Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

 

Faith, Family, Relief

This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.

As we minster to others, we become true followers of Jesus Christ, who set the example for us.  President Thomas S. Monson said: “We are surrounded by those in need. … We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children.”¹

Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president, taught:  “With practice, each of us can become more like the Savior as we serve God’s children to help us better [minster to] one another, I would like to suggest four words to remember:  “First observe, then serve.’ … As we do so, we are keeping covenants, and our service, like President Monson’s, will be evidence of our discipleship.”²

 

We can pray each morning to recognize opportunities to serve others.  “Heavenly Father will guide you, and angels will assist you,” said David L. Beck, Young Men general president.  “You will be given power to bless lives and rescue souls.”³

From the Scriptures

Mathew 20:25-28; 1 Nephi 11:27-28;

3 Nephi 28:18

 

From Our History

 

At the October 1856 general conference, President Brigham Young (1801-77) announced that handcart pioneers were still crossing the plains and that everyone was to help gather supplies for them immediately.  Lucy Meserve Smith wrote that women “stripped off their petticoats [large underskirts], stockings and everything they could spare, right there in the Tabernacle, and piled [them] into the wagons.”

 

As the rescued pioneers began to arrive in Salt Lake City, Lucy wrote, “I never took more … pleasure in any labor I ever performed in my life, such a unanimity of feeling prevailed.  I only had to go into a store and make my wants known; if it was cloth, it was measured off without charge.”4

 

President George Albert Smith (1870-1951) said of ministering to others:  “Our eternal happiness will be in proportion to the way that we devote ourselves to help others.”5

 

Consider This

     1.  How can prayer lead us to be instruments in the Lord’s hands?

 

     2. How can ministering to others help us keep our covenants?

 

     Notes

      1.  Thomas S. Monson, “What Have I Done for Someone Today?” Ensign, Nov. 2009, 86.

      2.  Linda K. Burton, “First Observe, Then Serve,” Ensign, Nov. 2012, 78,80.

      3.  David L. Beck, “Your Sacred Duty to Minster,’ Ensign, May 2013,56

      4.  Lucy Meserve Smith, in Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 36-37.

      5.  George Albert Smith, in Daughters in My Kingdom, 77     

 

 

May Visiting Teaching Message

 

 

Visiting Teaching Message

Participate in Sincere Prayer

Prayerfully teach these scriptures and quotations or, if needed, another principle that will bless the sisters you visit.  Bear testimony of the doctrine.  Invite those you visit to share what they have felt and learned.

Participate in Sincere Prayer

 

Sincere Prayer Has Strengthening Power

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president:  “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.  If every family had family prayer daily…, we would be stronger” (“What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best; Stand Strong and Immovable,” Liahoma and Ensign, Nov. 2007, 110).

 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915-85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Prayer changes our lives, Through it we draw near to the Lord, and he reaches out his finger and touches us, so we never again are the same

Prayer is a great tower of strength, a pillar of unending righteousness, a mighty force that moves mountains and saves souls: (“Patterns of Prayer,” Ensign, May 1984, 52).

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:  “Every honest and sincere prayer adds another piece to chain-mail armour, … One of the most important ways to clothe yourselves I the armour of God is to make sure that prayer – earnest, sincere, consistent prayer – is part of your daily lives” (“Be Strong in the Lord,”  Ensign, July 2004, 10).

D&C 112:10: “Be thou humble, and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers,”

Sincere Prayer is Holy Communication

President James E. Faust (1920-2007), Second Counselor to the First Presidency:  “First, prayer is a humble acknowledgement that God is our Father and that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, Second, it is a sincere confession of sin and transgression and a request for forgiveness.  Third, it is recognition that we need help beyond our own ability.  Fourth, it is an opportunity to express thanksgiving and gratitude to our Creator.    It is important that we frequently say: ‘We Thank Thee … ,’  ‘We acknowledge before Thee …,’ ‘We are grateful unto Thee …’ Fifth, it is a privilege to ask Detty for specific blessings.

“… Sincere prayers come from the heart.  Indeed sincerity requires that we draw from the earnest feelings of our hearts:  (The Lifeline of Prayer,”  Liahona, July 2002, 62;  Ensign, May 2002, 59-60).

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:  “Meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work.  Blessings require some effort on our part before we can obtain them, and prayer, ‘as a form of work, … is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings’ (Bible Dictionary, “Prayer,’ 753).  We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say ‘amen,’ by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father” (“Ask in Faith,’ Liahona and Ensign, May2008, 95)

President Thomas S. Monson: ”As we offer unto the Lord our family and our personal prayers, let us do so with faith and trust in him.  Let us remember the injunction of the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews:  “For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewaarder of them that diligently seek him.’ If any of us has been slow to hearken to the counsel to pray always, there is no finer hour to begin than now” (A Royal Priesthood,” Liahona and Ensign, Now, w007, 61).

 

 

 

April Visiting Teaching Message

 

Visiting Teaching Message

The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Light of the World

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share.  How will understanding the life and Mission of the Savior to increase your faith in

Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

 

Faith, Family, Relief

 

This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.

 

Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles.  “Redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt.  Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom. … Each of these meanings suggests different facets of the great Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ through His Atonement, which includes, in the words of the dictionary, “to deliver from sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice made for the sinner.”¹

Linda K. Burton, Relief Society general president, said:  “Heavenly Father … sent His only Begotten and perfect Son to suffer for our sins, our heartaches, and all that seems unfair in our own individual lives.

“… One woman who had been through years of trial and sorrow said through her tears, ‘I have come to realize that I am like an old 20-dollar bill- crumpled, torn, dirty, abused and scarred.  But … I am still worth the full 20 dollars.’  This woman knows that she … was worth enough to [God] to send His Son to atone for her, individually.  Every sister in the Church should know what this woman knows.”²

From the Scriptures

     2 Nephi 2:6; Helaman 5:11-12; Moses 1:39

 

From Our History

     The New Testament includes accounts of women who exercised faith in Jesus Christ, learned and lived His teachings, and testified of His ministry, miracles, and majesty.

 

     Jesus said to the woman at the well: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting live.

     “The woman saith unto him,Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not. …

      “I know that [the Messiah] cometh, which is called Christ…; when he is come, he will tell us all things.

     “Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.”

     She “then left her waterpot” and bore testimony of Him in the city.  (See John 4:6-30.)

What Can I Do?

     1.  how can we show gratitude to the Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ?

     2. How can we partake of the blessings of our Savior’s atoning sacrifice in our lives?

Notes

     1.  D. Todd Christofferson, “Redemption”, Ensign, May 2013, 109.

     2.  Linda K. Burton, “Is Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ Written in Our Hearts?”  Ensign, Nov. 2012, 114

 

 

 

March Visiting Teaching Message

 

Visiting Teaching Message

The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Light of the World

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share.  How will understanding the life and Mission of the Savior to increase your faith in

Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

Faith, Family, Relief

This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.

As we come to understand that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World, we will increase our faith in Him and become a light to others.  Christ testified of His role as “the true light that lighteth every man [and woman] that cometh into the world” (D&C 93:2) and asked that we “hold up [His] light that it may shine unto the world” (3 Nephi 18:24).

Our prophets have also testified of the Light of Christ.  President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said:  “Each time you chose to try to live more like the Savior, you will have your testimony strengthened.  You will come in time to know for yourself that He is the Light of the World. … You will reflect to others the Light of Christ in your life.”¹

Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said of our being a Light to the world:  “We need to protect our families and be at the forefront together will all people of goodwill in doing everything we can to preserve light, hope, and morality in our communities.”²

 

From the Scriptures

John 8:12; Doctrine and Covenants 50: 24; 115:5

 

From Our History

Latter-day Saint women today continue to hold up their light.

On the 80^th floor of a high-rise in Hong Kong, China, a single sister with physical disabilities—the only Latter-day Saint in her family – created a home that was a haven where she and visitors could feel the influence of the Spirit.  She kept her scriptures, her Relief Society manuals, and her hymnbook nearby.  She traveled to the temple to perform ordinances for her ancestors.³

In Brazil a righteous mother raised her children in the light of the gospel.  Primary songs filled the air in her red brick home, and pictures from Church magazines of temples, prophets of god and the Savior covered the walls.  She and her husband sacrificed to be sealed in the temple so their children could be born in the covenant.  Her constant prayer was that the Lord would help her bring up her children in the light, truth, and strength of the gospel.4

 

What Can I Do?

1.  Discuss what it means to be a light to the world today.

2.  Ponder how following the Light of Christ helps you endure trials.

 

Notes

1. Henry B. Eyring, “A Living Testimony,” Ensign, May 2011, 128.

2. Quentin L. Cook, “Let There Be Light!” Ensign, Nov. 2010, 30.

3. See Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 163-64.

4.  See Daughters in My Kingdom, 164

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November Visiting Teaching Message

 

 

 

 

Visiting Teaching Message

Visiting Teachers Led Me to Jesus Christ

By Jayne P. Bowers

“[The Lord] said unto [Peter] the third time, Lovest thou me?  And [Peter] said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.  Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).

 

In the late 1970s, a friend asked me to go to Relief Society with her.  “What’s that?” I asked.  My friend simply said, “Come and see.”  Wow! I was captivated from the first moment.

 

Later that summer Leann came to my house and said that she was my visiting teacher.  This seemed strange and wonderful at the same time, especially since I was not a member of the Church.  Here she was taking time from her busy schedule to share a spiritual thought with me and to see if there was anything she could help me with. I knew from her spirit that she was sincere.  I’ve never forgotten Leann and the messages she shared with me.

 

A couple of years passed, and Frances moved into our ward.  Truthfully, it wasn’t exactly “our” ward since I wasn’t a member yet, but I thought of it that way.  By this time I had two little girls, and I could see how the Church auxiliaries were blessing their lives.  Come rain or come shine, Frances, my new visiting teacher, visited me with a lesson, a laugh, a story, or a helping hand.  I recall when Frances came one hectic afternoon.  Seeing that I couldn’t sit and talk, Frances stirred my culinary concoctions on the stove while I tended to my daughters’ needs.

 

Years passed and I moved.  As much as I hated to leave my Church friends, I soon found another group of sisters with strong testimonies and big hearts in the Relief Society in “my” new ward.  A Relief Society teacher gave us a decorated to-do list and encouraged us to write “Be kind” at the top of our lists each day.  The sisters sitting beside me and I thought it was a grand idea, especially since it supported the Relief Society motto “charity never faileth” (Moroni 7:46).

 

Then I read a story about a pioneer women.  When that woman was a child, the prophet asked her family to help settle a Latter-day Saint community in a remote area.  Tragedy befell when one of her siblings died.  Her mother was distraught and deep sadness permeated the family.

 

One day this little girl was looking out the window.  As far as she could see, a blanket of snow surrounded the family’s modest home,.  As the little girl stared at the horizon, she saw two people trudging toward the house.  On they came, slowly making their way, and suddenly the child realized who they were—they were her mother’s visiting teachers.

 

That story inspired me.  I was baptized in May 1983.  It is an honor to be a visiting teacher my self.  I love associating with so many women who exemplify the “virtuous woman” whose “price is far above rubies’ (Proverbs 42:20).  It is wonderful to be with women who are also striving to be kind, to love one another, and bring others unto Christ.

 

“Many women have reported that the reason they came back into Church activity was because a faithful visiting teacher came month after month and ministered to them, rescuing them, loving them, blessing them.

 

“At times the most important blessing about your visit will be to just listen.  Listening bring comfort, understanding, and healing. Still another time you may need to roll up your sleeves and go to work in the home or help to calm a crying child.”

 

“When I went visiting teaching, I always felt better.  I was lifted, loved and blessed usually much more than the sister I was visiting.  My desire to serve increased.  And I could see what a beautiful way Heavenly Father has planned for us to watch over and care for one another.”

 



October Visiting Teaching Message

 

 

 

Visiting Teaching Message

The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Creator

Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share.  How will understanding the life and Mission of the Savior to increase your faith in

Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

 

This is the first in a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.

 

Jesus Christ “created the heavens and the earth’ (3 Nephi 9:15).  He did so through the power of the priesthood, under the direction of our Heavenly Father (see Moses 1:33).

 

“How grateful we should be that a wise Creator fashioned an earth and placed us here,” said President Thomas S. Monson,”… that we might experience a time of testing, an opportunity to prove ourselves in order to qualify for all that God has prepared for us to receive,”¹ When we use are agency to obey God’s commandments and repent, we become worthy to return to live with Him.

 

Of the Creation, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said: 

 

“We are the reason He created the universe! …

“This is a paradox of man; compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God.”²  Knowing that Jesus Christ created the earth for us because we mean everything to Heavenly Father can help us increase our love for Them.

 

From the Scriptures

John 1:3; Hebrews 1:1-2; Mosiah 3:8;

Moses 1:30-33,35-39; Abraham 3:24-25

 

From Our History

We have been created in God’s image (see Moses 2:26-27), and we have divine potential.  The Prophet Joseph Smith admonished the sisters in Relief Society to “live up to [their] privilege.”³  With that encouragement as a foundation, sisters in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been taught to live up to their divine potential by fulfilling God’s purposes for them.  “As they come to understand who they really are—God’s daughters, with an innate capacity to love and nurture—they reach their potential as holy women.”4

 

“You are now placed in a situation where you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms,” said the Prophet Joseph Smith.  “If you live up to these principles how great and glorious!—if you live up to your privilege, the angels cannot by restrained from being your associates.”5

 

What Can I Do?

 

1.  How does seeking to understand our divine nature increase our love for the Savior?

2.  How can we show our gratitude for God’s creations?

 

Notes

1.  Thomas S. Monson, “The Race of Life,”  Ensign, May 2012,91.

2. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “You Matter to Him” Ensign, Nov. 2011, 20.

3. Joseph Smith, in Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society (2011, 171.

4. Daughters in my Kingdom, 171.

5.  Joseph Smith, in Daughters in my Kingdom, 169

 

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September Visiting Teaching Message

 

 

 



 

Visiting Teaching Message

Self-Reliance

Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit.  Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org

Self-reliance is the ability, commitment, and effort to provide for the spiritual and temporal well-being of ourselves and of our families.¹

As we learn and apply the principles of self-reliance in our homes and communities, we have opportunities to care for the poor and needy and to help others become self-reliant so they can endure times of adversity.

We have the privilege and duty to use our agency to become self-reliant spiritually and temporally.  Speaking of spiritually self-reliance and our dependence on Heavenly Father, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught:  “We become converted and spiritually self-reliant as we prayerfully live our covenants – through worthily partaking of the sacrament, being worthy of a temple recommend, and sacrificing to serve others.”²

Elder Hales counseled us to become self-reliant temporally, “which includes getting a postsecondary education or vocational training, learning to work, and living within our means.  By avoiding debt and saving money now, we are prepared for full-time Church service in the years to come.  The purpose of both temporal and spiritual self-reliance is to get ourselves on higher ground so that we can lift others in need.”³

From the Scriptures

 

Matthew 25:1-13; 1Timothy 5:8; Alma 34:27-28; Doctrine and Covenants 44:6; 58:26-29; 88:118

 

From Our History

 

 

After the Latter-day Saints had gathered in the Salt Lake Valley, which was an isolated desert, President Brigham Young wanted them to flourish and establish permanent homes.  This meant the Saints needed to learn skills that would allow them to become self-sufficient.  In this effort, President Young had great trust in the capacities, talents, faithfulness, and willingness of the women and he encouraged them in specific temporal duties.  While the specific duties of Relief Society sisters are often different today, the principles remain constant”

    1.  Learn to love work and avoid idleness.

    2.  Acquire a spirit of self-sacrifice.

    3.  Accept personal responsibility for spiritual strength, health, education, employment, finances, food, and other life-sustaining necessities.

    4.  Pray for faith and courage to meet challenges.

    5.  Strengthen others who need assistance.4

 

What Can I Do?

1.  How am I helping the sisters I watch over find solutions to their temporal and spiritual needs?

2.  Am I increasing my spiritual self-reliance through preparing for the sacrament and sacrificing to serve?

 

Notes

 

1.  See Handbook ²: Administering the Church (2010), 6.1.1

 

2.  Robert D. Hales, “Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service,”

Ensign, May 2012,34.

 

3.  Robert D. Hales, “Coming to Ourselves,” 36.

 

4.  See Daughters in my Kingdom:  The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 51.

 

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August Visiting Teaching Message

Visiting Teaching Message

Welfare

Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit.  Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org

 

Welfare

The purposes of Church welfare are to help members become self-reliant, to care for the poor and needy, and to give service.  Welfare is central to the work of Relief society.  President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, has taught:

 

“[The Lord] has from the beginning of time provided ways for His disciples to help.  He has invited His children to consecrate their time, their means, and themselves to join with Him in serving others. …

 

“He has invited and commanded us to participate in His work to lift up those in need.  We make a covenant to do that in the waters of baptism and in the holy temples of God.  We renew the covenant on Sundays when we partake of the sacrament.”¹

 

Under the direction of the bishop or branch president, local leaders assist with spiritual and temporal welfare.  Opportunities to serve often begin with visiting teachers who seek inspiration to know how to respond to the needs of each sister they visit.

 

From the Scriptures

Luke 10:25-37; James 1:27; Mosiah 4:26; 18: 8-11; Doctrine and Covenants 104:18

 

From Our History

On June 9, 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith charged the sisters in Relief Society to “relieve the poor” and to “save souls.”²  These goals are still at the heart of Relief Society and are expressed in our motto, “Charity never faileth”  (1 Corinthians 13:8).

 

Our fifth Relief Society general president, Emmeline B. Wells, and her counselors launched this motto in 1913 as a reminder of our founding principles:  “We do declare it our purpose to [hold] fast to the inspired teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith when he revealed the plan by which women were to be empowered through the calling of the priesthood to be grouped into suitable organizations for the purpose of ministering to the sick, assisting the needy, comforting the aged, warning the unwary, and succoring the orphans.”³

 

Today the Relief Society has a worldwide reach as sisters extend charity, the pure love of Christ, to their neighbors (see Moroni 7:46-47).

 

What Can I Do?

1.  How am I prepared to care for myself and for my family spiritually and temporally?

 

2.  How can I follow the Savior’s example as I help meet the needs of the sisters I watch over?

 

Notes

1.  Henry B. Eyring,  “Opportunities to Do Good,”  “Ensign, May 2011, 222. 

 

2.  Joseph Smith, in Daughters in My Kingdom:  The History and Work of Relief Society (2011),  63.

 

3.  Daughters in My Kingdom, 63

 

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July Visiting Teaching Message

Visiting Teaching Message

Teaching and Learning the Gospel

Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit.  Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.  For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org

Teaching and Learning the Gospel

Jesus Christ was a master teacher.  He set the example for us as he “taught women in multitudes and as individuals, on the street and by the seashore, at the well and in their homes.  He showed loving-kindness toward them and healed them and their family members.”¹

He taught Martha and Mary and ‘invited them to become His disciples and partake of salvation, ’that good part’ [Luke 10:42] that would never be taken from them.”²

In our latter-day scriptures, the Lord commanded us to “teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom” (D&C 88:77).  Of teaching and learning doctrine, Cheryl A. Esplin, second counselor in the Primary general Presidency, said, “Learning to fully understand the doctrines of the gospel is a process of a lifetime and comes ‘line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little’ (2 Nephi 28:30).”³

As we learn, study, and pray, we will teach with the power of the Holy Ghost, who will carry our message “unto the hearts of the children of men [and women]” (2 Nephi 33:1).

From the Scriptures

Alma 17:2-3; 31:5;

Doctrine and Covenants 42:12-13; 84:85

 

From Our History

Our past prophets have reminded us as women that we have an important role as teachers in the home and Church.  In September 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) asked us to become sister scriptorians.”  He said: “Become scholars of the scriptures—not to put others down, but to lift them up! After all, who has any greater need to ‘treasure up’ the truths of the gospel (on which they may call in their moments of need) then do women and mothers who do so much nurturing and teaching?”4

What Can I Do?

1.  How am I prepared to be a better teacher?

 

2.  Do I share my testimony with the sisters I watch over?

 

Notes

1.  See Daughters in My Kingdom:  The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 3.

 

2.  See Daughters in My Kingdom:  The History and Work of Relief Society (2011), 4.

 

3.  Cheryl A. Esplin, “Teaching Our Children to Understand,” Ensign, May 2012, 12.

 

4. Spencer W. Kimball, in  Daughters in My Kingdom,50.

 

 

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