December Visiting Teaching Message

Visiting Teaching Message

Visiting Teaching, a Work of Salvation

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Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.

Visiting Teaching, a Work of Salvation

Visiting teaching gives women the opportunity to watch over, strengthen, and teach one another—it is truly a work of salvation. Through visiting teaching, sisters minister in behalf of the Savior and help prepare women for the blessings of eternal life.

“We are ‘to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite [others] to come unto Christ’ (D&C 20:59), as the Lord said in his revelations,” said President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985). Further, he said, “Your testimony is a terrific medium.”¹

When we as visiting teachers increase our knowledge of gospel truths, our testimonies strengthen and support sisters who are preparing to be baptized and confirmed. We help new members become anchored in the gospel. Our visits and love help “win back those who have gone astray [and] warm up the hearts of those who have grown cold in the gospel.”² And we encourage sisters to come unto Christ through temple attendance.

“You are going to save souls,” said President Kimball to visiting teachers, “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 vision. You pulled back the curtain. You extended their horizons. …

“You see, you are not only saving these sisters, but perhaps also their husbands and their homes.”³

From the Scriptures

Doctrine and Covenants 20:59; 84:106; 138:56

From Our History

When the Prophet Joseph Smith organized the Relief Society, he said that the women were not only to look after the poor but also to save souls. He also taught that women in the Church play essential roles in Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.⁴ Guided by the principles taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we as sisters in Relief Society can work together to prepare women and their families for God’s greatest blessings.

“Let us have compassion upon each other,” said President Brigham Young (1801–77), “and let [those who are] strong tenderly nurse the weak into strength, and let those who can see guide the blind until they can see the way for themselves.”⁵

For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

What Can I Do?

1. How does Relief Society prepare me for the blessings of eternal life?

2. What can I do to increase the faith of those I watch over?

Another Happy Sunday!

 

Make it a great one!!

About Tammy: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of 7 (ages: G12, G11, B8, G6, B5, B2, G1). Stepmom of 2. Mother in law to two, Grandma to Peyton, Mattix and Andrew and blogger at BellaOnline!! Happy & Satisfied!!

Desktop Background for October

Well, I have actually had this background done and just neglected to get it posted. It has been crazy normal around here and I plum forgot. :(

Alayna turns 1 next Sunday!! So excited for her!!! Gotta get that party planned and in to gear!! :) Curtis works on her birthday so maybe we will do something on the Friday that he is off. hmmmmm. :) She won’t know it is 5 days later than her birthday now will she!! ;)

This afternoon I am going to get the children dressed up and get their pictures taken. My wonderful Daddy has offered/volunteered/been dragged into doing it for me. I am very excited as he is a wonderful photographer!! Can’t wait to see the pics!! There are some things I can’t procrastinate and yearly pics of my children is one of them. I did that last year and have had the worst guilt feelings ever since. (boooo)

Can’t wait for Conference this weekend as well! Stay tuned because I will be sharing some of my favorite Things to Do for Conference later this week!!

 

Make it a great one!!

About Tammy: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of 7 (ages: G12, G11, B8, G6, B5, B2, G6mos). Stepmom of 2: ages B 25, G 22. Mother in law to two, Grandma to Peyton and Andrew (With another on the way - due in December!!) and blogger at BellaOnline!! Happy & Satisfied!!

Wacky Wednesday

Why Wacky, you ask? Wednesdays are our crazy, busy days. The children have multiple activities going in different directions and mostly at the same time. :) Can be challenging and frustrating – especially since Curtis is on 2nd shift and I am doing all the transporting and picking up. Never wanted to be a chauffer.However, it is all for a good and wise purpose. Hopefully. :D

This past Sunday was GrandParents Day. The children were able to make cards for both sets of Grandparents. :) That was nice. However, I forgot to take the card with me when we met Curtis’ parents on Saturday. :( BOOOOO!! So, I will save it for them. The children called and talked to them instead. We went over to my parents house and stayed for awhile and did remember to bring the giant-sized card that they made. YAY!!

Clayton, Taryn and Quade are doing school with Mercury Online School. It is a College Prep school. I like it for the Elementary School. I didn’t like the organization of the Middle School program and have since pulled Kierstyn and Kaity out of it. Yesterday, in fact. Kaity was a bit overwhelmed with 6 online teachers and the pacing and no clear cut directions on things. (Kierstyn had the SAME problems when we started the school last quarter.) The way it is set up is easy to forget about things and not see that things are due. Although we have ALL learned sooooo very much regarding computers and uploading documents, scanning, emailing, etc. It has been great and I have been impressed with how quickly the children (at least the three bigger ones) had caught on to all of that. Clayton is even doing better at it.

Kierstyn and Kaity are doing Lighthouse Academy. :) They are studying Church History and reading The Work and the Glory series. They will have lots of essays to write and oral presentations on it. There are lots of spelling/definitions going a long with it. They will also have Science Projects and Art Projects weekly. They will have Math minutes daily – testing them on their basic math skills. LOVE IT! I think it will be good. There is also time for Scripture reading and Gospel Study as well as journal writing and testimony building. I LOVE THAT! So, I have high hopes that it will work and be good for them. We prayed and fasted on Sunday and Kaity and I (she was the one with the ‘issues’) both felt like this was the direction we needed to go. Kierstyn volunteered herself to participate in it. Awesome!

Cori has been on her mission now for over a month (by a week) and has been in Indiana for 2 weeks. (I think) We are so proud of her and have lots of prayers and thoughts on her behalf. I need to be better at sending the letters though. :( Just thinking of her ISN”T enough! GOAL: Send Cori weekly letters!!!

Make it a great one!!

About Tammy: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of 7 (ages: G12, G11, B8, G6, B5, B2, G6mos). Stepmom of 2: ages B 25, G 22. Mother in law to two, Grandma to Peyton and Andrew (With another on the way - due in December!!) and blogger at BellaOnline!! Happy & Satisfied!!

September Visiting Teaching Message

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Prayerfully study this material and, as appropriate, discuss it with the sisters you visit. Use the questions to help you strengthen your sisters and to make Relief Society an active part of your own life.

Special Needs and Service Rendered

“The needs of others are ever present,” said President Thomas S. Monson, “and each of us can do something to help someone. … Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives.”¹

As visiting teachers we can sincerely come to know and love each sister we visit. Service to those we visit will flow naturally out of our love for them (see John 13:34–35).

How can we know the spiritual and temporal needs of our sisters so we can render service when it is needed? As visiting teachers, we are entitled to receive inspiration when we pray about those we visit.

Maintaining regular contact with our sisters is also important. Personal visits, telephone calls, a note of encouragement, e-mails, sitting with her, a sincere compliment, reaching out to her at church, helping her in time of illness or need, and other acts of service all help us watch over and strengthen each other.²

Visiting teachers are asked to report the well-being of sisters, any special needs they have, and the service rendered to them. These kinds of reports and our service to our sisters help us demonstrate our discipleship.³

 

From the Scriptures

John 10:14–16; 3 Nephi 17:7, 9; Moroni 6:3–4

 

From Our History

Serving one another has always been at the heart of visiting teaching. Through ongoing service we bring kindness and friendship that go beyond monthly visits. It is our caring that counts.

“My desire is to plead with our sisters to stop worrying about a phone call or a quarterly or monthly visit,” said Mary Ellen Smoot, the 13th Relief Society general president. She asked us to “concentrate instead on nurturing tender souls.”⁴

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught, “It is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom.” Yet he recognized that not all service need be heroic. “So often, our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving … help with mundane tasks,” he said, “but what glorious consequences can flow … from small but deliberate deeds!”⁵

For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.

 

What Can I Do?

1. Am I seeking personal inspiration to know how to respond to the spiritual and temporal needs of each sister I’m assigned to watch over?

2. How do the sisters I watch over know that I care about them and their families?

 

Make your appointments today!! And . . . as always . . .

Make it a great one!!

About Tammy: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of 7 (ages: G12, G11, B8, G6, B5, B2, G6mos). Stepmom of 2: ages B 25, G 22. Mother in law to two, Grandma to Peyton and Andrew (With another on the way - due in December!!) and blogger at BellaOnline!! Happy & Satisfied!!

Monthly Calendar Background

I have been working on Calendar backgrounds for our computers (of which there are 7 . . . don’t ask!) =)

 

You *should* be able to right click on it and click on “Set as Desktop Background”. :) Voila! You have a calendar on your desktop! LOVE IT!!

Let me know if you have any suggestions or needs for future ones. :) I already have Septembers ready to go! =) I am going to be prepared!

Make it a great one!!

About Tammy: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of 7 (ages: G12, G11, B8, G6, B5, B2, G6mos). Stepmom of 2: ages B 25, G 22. Mother in law to two, Grandma to Peyton and Andrew (With another on the way - due in December!!) and blogger at BellaOnline!! Happy & Satisfied!!

Personal Progress

I have decided to work on my Personal Progress with Kierstyn. It is a slow process. I am trying to read and understand what the Scriptures are telling me and then try to pray about it and have those ‘qualities’ or gifts help me in my own life. It has, so far, been an amazing experience. If you click on Personal Progress (anywhere I type it) it will take you to the Church Website where it explains it in greater (better) detail. You can set up your own account (You do NOT have to be a member!!!). Then work on your own. I love the fact that the journal and everything is online. How much easier it is to get my thoughts in order when I can just type it in. =)
The Value I want to touch on today is Divine Nature.  

Personal Progress

Divine Nature

Be partakers of the divine nature. … Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (2 Peter 1:4–7).
I have inherited divine qualities, which I will strive to develop.

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What are some of the divine qualities of a daughter of God? Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”; 2 Peter 1; Alma 7:23–24; and Doctrine and Covenants 121:45. In your own words, list the divine qualities discussed in your reading. Think about how you can discover and develop each of these qualities. Record your ideas in your journal.

I love how “SIMPLE” it is. HAHA Just kidding. I mean if I am really taking time to read the scriptures and learn from them – it is quite a process. I am not going to write all of my journal entry but, I will share a part of it.

The Divine Qualities that were discussed in these readings were:
1) being a mother/parent/wife.
2) Faith
3) Charity
4) Virtue
5) Hope
6) Humble
7) Submissive
8) Temperate
9) Patient & Long Suffering
10) Prayerful
11) Diligent
12) Having brotherly kindness
13)

You may come up with more or less or different ones. But these are the ones that I am focusing on. I wrote a second journal entry with my thoughts and feelings.
Take a moment and try it out. We can work on it together. You can share your thoughts here, too!
Make it a great one!!

About Tammy: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of 7 (ages: G12, G11, B8, G6, B5, B2, G6mos). Stepmom of 2: ages B 25, G 22. Mother in law to two, Grandma to Peyton and Andrew (With another on the way - due in December!!) and blogger at BellaOnline!! Happy & Satisfied!!