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     

 

 

All Sisters Evening-May 13 at 6:30pm

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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