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Quick Quotes on Visiting Teaching
 "Visiting
teaching is really so much more than a visit or a thought. It's how we connect
with one another and have someone to rely on, someone to help, so meone to turn
to when things fall apart, someone who wants us to draw closer to the Lord…
Visiting teaching is the heart and soul of Relief Society." -Bonnie D.
Parkin, RS General President, 2002-2007.
"Before
visiting teachers go into a home, they should pray, study the message together,
and consider the needs of the sisters they visit by asking questions like, "What
within this message would be of help? What would meet her needs and lift her
spirits?" It may be just a verse of scripture, but it is an opportunity to
share. I think bonding begins when we share together as women." -*Bonnie D.
Parkin, RS General President, 2002-2007.
"Our
assignment is not only to make visits but to consistently carry the Spirit into
homes, to bless families with the pure love of Christ, to inspire, encourage,
lift, and fortify. Every home is in need of additional support. Visiting
teachers bring that blessed reinforcement. It is a sacred trust we have been
given. We can overcome the obstacles." -Bonnie D. Parkin, RS General President,
2002-2007.
"Every
time we watch over one another, godlike qualities of love, patience, kindness,
generosity, and spiritual commitment fill the souls of those we visit and
enlarge our souls as well." -Bonnie D. Parkin, RS General President, 2002-2007.
"We
don't "do" visiting teaching. We "are" visiting teachers. And in the process of
fulfilling this most precious assignment, we become more like our Savior, Jesus
Christ. We fulfill our covenants to teach one another the doctrine of the
kingdom so that each woman is nourished by the good word of God." -Bonnie
D. Parkin, RS General President, 2002-2007.
"I
hope you open your schedules and your hearts as well as your doors as you
experience the heart and soul of Relief Society; as you experience support,
comfort, and friendship; as you experience watchcare. This is a great work
watched over & cared for by Almighty God." -Bonnie D. Parkin, RS General
President, 2002-2007.
"Women
are hungry for things of the Spirit, for truths that counter the slide of
virtues all around them. Visiting teaching is a measure of the heart, an
unselfish work, a sacred trust that blesses both giver and receiver."
-Bonnie D. Parkin, RS General President, 2002-2007.
"We
visit teach because we've made covenants with the Lord, and they are fulfilled
as we share our hearts and souls. We visit teach to extend charity, which is the
"highest, noblest, strongest kind of love." -Bonnie D. Parkin, RS General
President, 2002-2007.
"Visiting
teaching is missionary work —reading
the message, and then sharing what you believe the scripture means to you and
saying, "What do you think about this scripture? How does it feel to you?" It's
a dialogue together. It's sharing of hearts and testimony." -Bonnie
D. Parkin, RS General President, 2002-2007.
"Visiting teaching is all about family. As we show charity to those we serve, we
become family by affection. We all belong to the Lord's family, and when we
serve sisters —and through them their
families—we strengthen the family as
designed in the heavens." -Bonnie D. Parkin, RS General President,
2002-2007.
"Visiting
teaching is a way to help us care for and about each other. It is a way for us
to develop the characteristics of a follower of Jesus Christ. It is a way to
make sure that no one in the Lord's kingdom is alone." -Mary Ellen Smoot,
RS General President 1997-2002.
"Through
visiting teaching, we provide both spiritual and temporal watchcare.
Sharing a message as a central part of that watchcare —especially
a message grounded in the scriptures and teachings from Church leaders—can
bring the Spirit of the Lord into the lives and homes of those we visit." -Mary
Ellen Smoot, RS General President 1997-2002.
"In visiting teaching we reach out to each other.
Hands often speak as voices can't. A warm embrace conveys volumes. A laugh
together unites us. A moment of sharing refreshes our souls. We cannot always
lift the burden of one who is troubled, but we can lift her so she can bear it
well" -Elaine L. Jack, RS General President 1990–1997.
"Visiting teaching gives us an opportunity to learn
how to follow the Savior. As we extend love and unselfish service, we become
instruments of the Lord, helping in times of physical, emotional, and spiritual
need to touch hearts and change lives. -Barbara W. Winder, RS General
President 1984 –1990.
"Visiting
teaching is the very essence of the gospel and gives us the opportunity to
practice the principles found in
Mosiah
18:8 –9:
'willing to bear one another's burdens, … willing to mourn with those that
mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as
witnesses of God at all times, … that [we] may have eternal life.' "
-Barbara W. Winder, RS General President 1984–1990.
"It is vital that each sister have visiting teachers —to
convey a sense that she is needed, that someone loves and thinks about her. But
equally important is the way the visiting teacher is able to grow in charity. By
assigning our women to do visiting teaching, we give them the opportunity to
develop the pure love of Christ, which can be the greatest blessing of their
lives." - Barbara W. Winder, RS General President 1984–1990.
"We
hope visiting teachers are praying for the Spirit of the Lord to direct them in
meeting their sisters' needs. I think we have that responsibility and the right
to know that the Lord really will work through us to serve each other."
-Barbara B. Smith, RS General President 1974 –1984.
"Visiting
teaching is a tool given to us by the Lord. Properly used it is a great source
of inspiration, strength, and comfort. We often hear of a sister whose prayers
have been almost miraculously answered by visiting teachers in a time of need."
-Barbara B. Smith, RS General President 1974 –1984.
"In
an urban world that is often filled with loneliness, in the midst of a crowd,
visiting teachers are essential. They are the Lord's way of helping us keep in
touch with each other, and I think they are his recognition of the sanctity of
each home. What the visiting teaching program needs is more dedication to those
we are called to visit." -Barbara B. Smith, RS General President 1974 –1984.
"We
should go personally into each other's homes, and we should tune our souls to
the point that we may find those in need and offer friendship, help as needed,
and courage to meet each day's challenges." -Barbara B. Smith, RS General
President 1974 –1984.
"I
think visiting teaching is one of the greatest strengths we have as an
organization. *Every* woman in this Church has the right and opportunity to
serve as a visiting teacher. As the visiting teacher takes the gospel message to
her assigned homes and reaches out to serve another's needs, she experiences
personal growth." -Ann S. Reese, 2nd Counselor, RS General Presidency 1974 –1984.
"Sometimes
a woman just needs to talk with another woman. The visiting teaching visit fills
that need. Visiting teaching also plays a significant role in welcoming the
newly baptized sister into the Church. Women, with their sensitivity to the
home, are often able to identify needs that may otherwise go unobserved."
-Ann S. Reese, 2nd Counselor, RS General Presidency 1974 –1984.
"Relief
Society is according to your nature. It is natural for females to have feelings
of charity. You are placed in a situation where you can act according to these
sympathies, which God has planted in your bosoms. If you live up to these
privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates!"
-Prophet Joseph Smith
"When
you go into the homes, there should be no vain babblings or impressive words.
You are going to save souls, and who can tell but that many of the fine active
people in the Church today are active because you were in their homes and gave
them a new outlook, a new understanding. You pulled back the curtain. You
extended their horizons. You gave them something new. Maybe they will never tell
you about it in all their lives, but you did the work just the same."
-President Spencer W. Kimball
"Watch
over the church always" —not twenty
minutes a month but always—"and be with and strengthen them"—not a knock at the
door, but to be with them, and lift them and strengthen them, and empower them,
and fortify them." - President
Spencer W. Kimball.
"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 receiver are blessed & strengthened in their church activity by their
caring concern for one another." - Relief Society Handbook, 202.
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