One of the blessings of being member of the Relief Society (the women's organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is being included in the Visiting Teaching program. Women of the church are assigned companions and asked to visit several other women in their homes on a monthly basis, sharing an uplifting message and just becoming a friend. Visiting Teaching is a way for the women of the church to watch over one another. In times of need or sorrow or hardship, we have someone close by who we can trust to help us through the difficult times. We call one another sisters, and we truly become like sisters as we visit and care for one another. The sisters who I have visited over the years have become some of my dearest friends, along with the sisters who have been my companions, and those sisters who have visited me.
Linda K. Burton the current General President of the Relief Society had this to say about visiting teaching in last October's General Conference of the church:
To help us better love one another, I would like to suggest four words to remember: ‘First observe, then serve.’… We are all invited to follow Jesus’s teachings and to minister to others.”
I am not a sterling example of a visiting teacher. I try to be faithful in making regular visits and being a friend, but I know I am not always there when needed or the first one available to help. This month is almost over, and I have not yet made a visit or a phone call to the sisters that I should be visiting. I have spoken to each of the three sisters in passing . . . I think, and I did deliver a birthday gift earlier in the month, but I have not taken the time to arrange a personal in home visit with each one. I will try to do better, to become more charitable and Christ-like, because I truly am grateful to be a visiting teacher.
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