Visiting Teaching - I will go and do!

Sister Claire taught us about visiting teaching yesterday. She had us refer to 1 Nephi 3 which talks about how Nephi and his brothers obtained the plates and likened it to us doing our visiting teaching.

4 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness.

Us: Wherefore, the Lord has commanded Claire that we and our sisters should go and do visiting teaching.

5 And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.

Us: And now, behold sometimes we sisters murmur, saying it is a hard thing which Claire has required of us; but behold Claire has not required it of us, but it is a commandment of the Lord.

6 Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast ^anot ^bmurmured.

Us: Therefore go, sisters, and we shall be favored of the Lord, because we have not murmured.

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Us: And it came to pass that we, sisters, should say to Heavenly Father: We will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded, for we know that the Lord gives no commandments unto the children of men, save He shall prepare a way for us that we may accomplish the thing which He commands us.

10 And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another.

Us: And it came to pass that when we have gone up to the meeting place, I and my companion(s) should consult one with another.

13 And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry, and thrust him out from his presence; and he would not that he should have the records. Wherefore, he said unto him: Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee.

Us: And behold, it came to pass that sometimes the sisters we visit teach may be angry, and may thrust us out from their presence; and they would not that we should have the meeting.

15 But behold I said unto them that: ^aAs the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have^baccomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.

Us: But behold Claire says unto us that: As the Lord lives, and as we live, we should not go down unto our homes until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord has commanded us.

Nephi made many sacrifices and tried many times before he was successful in obtaining the plates. We too may need to make sacrifices and may need to keep trying before we are successful in earning the love and trust of the sisters whom we visit teach.

"The purposes of visiting teaching are to build caring relationships with each sister and to offer support, comfort, and friendship. In visiting teaching, both the giver and the receiver are blessed and strengthened in their Church activity by their caring concern for one another." (Church Handbook of Instructions, page 202)

Charity in Action - Sister Susie How

Many years ago, when I was staying in Taman Supreme, Cheras, I seldom had visiting teachers who would come to my house to visit me. My house was up on a hill with a long and very steep slope. The angle of the slope was more than forty-five degrees and the distance more than one kilometer. Of course, there was no bus service and unscrupulous taxi drivers charged extra to go up the hill. As I lived there, I constantly walked up and down the hill but for others, it was quite a trek uphill to visit me unless they had a car. My own brothers complained that going uphill there daily would put a toll on their cars!

Later, I had a set of visiting teachers who made no excuses when visiting teaching and no hill was going to deter them. Sister Lillian Lim and Sister Annie Teh were the two faithful sisters who were obedient and diligent to their callings as visiting teachers and who loved me enough to visit me faithfully every month. They would come together after work by bus to the foot of the hill, then walked up. After a whole day of sunny weather, the road up the hill would usually be hot and the soles of their feet would also be heated up. Naturally, the first word they would utter when they saw me was always, "Water!" After drinking, then only would the greetings and message given. Theirs were the visits I've always treasured!

The Visiting Teaching Movie

Thanks to Sister Irene (Sister Liew's wonderful mom) who e-mailed me about this movie, I've watched it and decided that it's totally worth sharing with everyone here.  In Sister Irene's words, "Hope you enjoy the movie.  It is funny!" and I'd add this, "and spiritual too."

Miracles - Our Hands Are His Hands

Remember when President Renner spoke to us last Sunday about miracles and after that I shared with you about miracles that happened when I was preparing the Relief Society Birthday celebration? I experienced another one today.

Remember also that I highlighted a few articles from the Ensign and Liahona that I felt were really important to us? I've posted the Ensign magazine on the right so that you can click on it and read them.

Anyway, one of the articles I mentioned was Focussing on the Lord's Work of Salvation by Julie B Beck, our current General Relief Society President. One of the things she mentioned was: "Visiting teachers minister in behalf of the Savior. Our hands are His hands, our love is His love, and our service is His service."

Now, how did that happen? How was it that our chosen theme was also HANDS? Sisters, I believe that was a miracle. The Lord truly was mindful of us and wanted us to know and understand this concept.

There's another article that echoes the one above entitled: on faith: Relief Society united worldwide in faith and service to others.

The two Enrichment Meetings we had (The Visiting Teaching Workshop and The Relief Society Birthday) truly are tied together and you'll be able to see the connection by reading these articles. Just click on the titles.

Visiting Teaching Workshop

We had such a spiritual experience on Saturday.  I felt the spirit so strongly.  Thank you, Sister Lim for inspiring us to do our best in our visiting teaching.