I just wanted to briefly explain what Visiting Teaching is, since this is my first post regarding it. This is a church program that encourages the women to get to know each other better, a few at a time, through acts of kindness and service. Each woman (or sister as we refer to each other) is assigned a few other sisters to check in with once a month, see if they have anything going on that they can help with, and to offer a simple thought or spiritual message. The message is assigned for each month so it makes it really simple. This is also really great because every so often the women you are assigned to get switched around, so you get to know everyone a little better.
If you are anything like me, you wait until the last minute to do any Visiting Teaching. That is exactly what I'm doing tonight, waiting until the last minute. The woman I'm visiting with tonight is actually assigned to me so we get to kill two birds with one stone! I also work with her in Primary so I know her pretty well. Anyways, as I was preparing to share the message this month with her, I thought I would write down a few thoughts on it here, in case anyone else was preparing to go out the last week in September (whoops!).
When I was reading this I couldn't help but think of a lesson I'd been taught my whole life; want to love someone? Serve them. I have had my fair share of difficult people in my life. I have not always followed this advice, but I have found that when I do serve people, especially ones that are difficult, I have a newfound love and respect for them. This has helped me to develope better relationships at work, within my family, and when I was at school. I think that there are always people in our lives (as much as we don't want to admit it) that we don't get along with, or we would rather not see. Through listening and applying this lesson into our lives for this month, we can overcome these feelings. I am not saying that these people will be our new best friends, but maybe we can understand why they are the way they are, and I think that brings a certain level of acceptance and appreciation.
In the VTing message for this month it says, "As visiting teachers we can sincerely come to know and love each sister we visit." I think the key word here is "can." If we do not go out and visit these sisters, we will not get to know them. We will not know when there is a need or an opportunity for service. We will not know when someone is struggling. They will not feel comfortable enough with us to confide when they need to.
I know that I can do better as a Visiting Teacher. So I'm making a goal to be better and I want to challenge all of you do the same. If you visit everyone every month, awesome! Kudos to you! But even then, lets try to have more of a listening ear, to take more time and prepare our lessons, to put more thought into our handouts, be mindful of birthdays and special days in their lives. Lets just do better. There is always room for improvement. So next month, instead of posting a VTing thought on the 26th, I will try and have one up by the 7th. And on that note, here are some great printables I found to do for fun handouts.
This is the VTing message from the church.
This is a really cute handout from Latter Day Chatter. I would print it out on cardstock and maybe attach it to a baggie of cookies, or lotion or something.
This is probably my favorite and what I plan on doing for the lady I'm visiting tonight. I'm going to stop off at the dollar store and by a frame, stick this in there and voila! I think this is just adorable and so cute to go on a shelf to remind us all the time to do more service. I might even print one out for me ;)
Let me know if you come up with any fun ideas! I would love to hear about what you did this month or any tips you have on being a better Visiting Teacher.
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