One aspect of my church (differentiating from gospel here) that I have come to love is the concept of Home and Visiting teaching.
Each willing adult member of the church is given an assignment to minister to other families in the congregation (we call it a 'ward'). It's an assignment that can be really difficult for some.
It can be hard to go out of your comfort zone and befriend and try to converse with someone you know nothing about.
The first visit is always the hardest to set up. It's not that you dislike the person you've been assigned to visit with, it's just scary to reach out to someone who might say, "Eh, no. Don't come by and I don't like you."
I've been fortunate to cultivate many relationships through Visiting Teaching, and each time I'm nervous about an assignment it always becomes less of an obligation and more of a desire to actually love, serve, and minister to my assignee.
The church puts out a short message each month that we believe is inspired, and we're asked to share the message with our families.
This months message is "Family Joy is Found in Righteousness" and I love it. My favorite quote from the message this month was as follows:
And while our family members can sometimes drift away from righteousness like the Nephites did, Elder Scott said that a Christ-centered home still “provides the greatest assurance for peace and refuge in our homes.” He acknowledged that “there will still be plenty of challenges or heartaches, but even in the midst of turmoil, we can enjoy inner peace and profound happiness.”
I found this to be true in my home growing up. Every family has their struggles and mine was no exception. But as my siblings and I lost sight of our righteous goals, we always felt the peace and refuge that our home provided. My mother always made our home a place where the spirit could dwell, and I think that's why so many of our friends liked to congregate there - unbeknownst to them, what they were feeling was the presence of the Spirit.
I've seen something similar in my own home since starting my own family. My husband is a student and his classmates often choose our home for social events, even when our home may not be the largest or the most accommodating. It could be that it's just easier since we're the only ones with kids that need to be sleeping while we're playing, but I believe there is an additional element there, that others can feel something different when they enter our home.
My second favorite part of the message that I loved was one of the 'Additional Scriptures', 2 Nephi 5:27 says, "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." I love that! I hope that as I continue to try my best to live in righteousness that I, like the Nephites, can live after the manner of happiness! My husband actually shared this quote from Elder Jeffery R. Holland on facebook today, and I thought it fit right along with this message:
"If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow—and every other day—is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don’t always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth “that all things work together for good to them that love God.” So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." Elder Jeffrey R Holland.I made up a few printables with my visiting teaching ladies in mind, and thought I'd share them with you if you'd like to share them with your families (and those you teach) too! They are sized at 16x20, but you can easily print them as 8x10s.
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| Download the Green one here |
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| Download the yellow one here |
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| Download the chalk one here |
