Here
are some great quotes that can be read in opening exercises on the first
Sunday of each month to encourage the sisters to do their VT .
JANUARY:
Visiting teaching will provide every sister in the Church with a
friend, a helper, someone to care. Not one sister need ever feel alone. We
need not feel that no one understands or cares. We will all be called to
be visiting teachers to our sisters. Our time with each other will be what
we make it. Our sister's needs will be our challenges. Some will need
physical help; others spiritual or social help. But all will need
something from their visiting teachers. Serving means doing it! 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!
FEBRUARY:
A meaningful visit is one in which the teachers and the sisters
visited have an opportunity for a private conversation and where the
visited sister can feel the warmth, love, and concern that her visiting
teachers have for her...studying carefully the visiting teaching messages,
adapting them as necessary, and presenting them effectively to meet the
individual needs of each sister. (RS Handbook)
MARCH:
No calling in RS requires greater tact, better
judgment, keener
insight, more prayerful preparation, deeper sincerity of purpose or a
warmer heart than that of a visiting teacher. The duties associated with
the calling help to emphasize its importance. (RSVT Report Book)
APRIL:
"As a Visiting teacher what I do is important because I
exercise watch care of another woman. What I do is important in a global
sense. I am one of thousands of women who are together-literally and
figuratively. We do this work because we love the Lord and we feel a
kinship with our sisters. Through our imparting one to another we learn of
the Lord, we discover how to be like Him, we rejoice in each other. I am
part of a righteous sisterhood building the kingdom of God throughout the
earth. What my sister and I do together and individually matters."
(Sister Clark)
MAY:
When we help one another, we serve God. King Benjamin, a great King
in the Book of Mormon times, taught his people this principle by the way
he lived. He served them all his days, earning his own living instead of
being supported by his people. In an inspired sermon, he explained why he
loved service, saying, "When ye are in the service of your fellow
beings, ye are only in the service of your God..." "And if I,
whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye labor to
serve one another?" (Mosiah 2:17-18)
JUNE:
"Four things are specially the property of friendship; love and
affection, security and joy. And four things must be tried in friendship:
faith, intention, and discretion, and patience. Indeed, as the sage
says-all men would lead a happy life if only two tiny words were taken
from them-mine and thine." (Aelred of Rievaulx)
JULY:
"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the
kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual
inspiration that comes to one when (she) discovers that someone believes
in (her) and is willing to trust (her) with (her) friendship." (Ralph
Waldo Emerson)
AUGUST:
Visiting teaching has been an important part of the RS program
since 1843. VT typifies the friendly interest and concerns of the RS for
the physical and spiritual well-being of the families of the Church. Each
month the visiting teachers, upon assignment of the ward RS president,
visit in pairs (the sisters) in the ward. Visiting teachers are expected
to exercise watchful care over Latterday Saint sisters in their homes; to
offer encouragement, help, solace, and comfort to Latterday saint women;
to establish warm, friendly relationships with them, so that in time of
need they will instinctively turn to the visiting teachers, knowing that
through them sisterly help is available. (RS Handbook-1972)
SEPTEMBER:
I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can
do something. And what I can do, that I ought to do. And what I ought to
do, that I shall do. (Edward Everett Hale)
OCTOBER:
Should I ever need a favor
I know you are there for me.
Seems like just when I am giving up
This friendly face I see.
Endless times you've shared my sorrows
Rarely asking in return.
The definition of "Sister",
From you I daily learn.
NOVEMBER:
Visiting teaching messages are found in the Ensign for each
month of the year, except for May and November. These are conference
issues. The sisters should after prayerful reading select a message for
her sisters from the addresses given. The visiting teaching message is an
important tool in the hands of the visiting teacher to establish rapport
with a sister in the home. It is the basis for uplifting conversation. It
is a means for teaching gospel truths and for strengthening the spiritual
fiber of the home.
DECEMBER:
You've been there for me all year long
When I was weak, you were so strong.
You gave me gifts of love and deeds.
You helped to satisfy my needs.
Now that Christmastime is drawing near.
What can I give a friend so dear?
There's just one gift that fits the part.
I give to you, dear friend...my heart!
(Unknown)
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