Sunday, 22 March 2015
Relief Society Birthday
This week we had a Relief Society birthday celebration and I was asked to do a mini class on Creative Caring. I had lots of fun searching the internet for ideas to include in the 'goodie bag' I was putting together. One thing I did do was cards for Visiting Teachers to use so here they are. You are welcome to download and print as required. The download is a sheet of 8 cards.
Saturday, 21 February 2015
March 2015
Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How
will understanding the life and mission of the Savior increase your
faith in Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?
For more
information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
Patience is often thought of as a quiet, passive trait, but as
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said, “Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something … even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!”
In our premortal life, our Heavenly Father prepared a plan for us—His spirit children—and we shouted for joy at the opportunity to come to earth (see Job 38:7). As we choose to align our will with His during our earthly life, He “will make an instrument of [us] in [His] hands unto the salvation of many souls” (Alma 17:11).
President Uchtdorf continued, “Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being ‘willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father’ [Mosiah 3:19]. Ultimately, patience means being ‘firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord’ [1 Nephi 2:10] every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so.”1
Psalm 40:1; Galatians 5:22–23; 2 Peter 1:6; Alma 17:11
From the Scriptures
The scriptures tell us that in our earthly life, we should “be patient in afflictions, for [we shall] have many.” God then gives us this comforting promise, “Endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days” (D&C 24:8).
The following Bible story is an example of patience and faith.
“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years … touched the border of [Christ’s] garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched [stopped].
“And Jesus said, … Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
“And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
“And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace” (Luke 8:43–48).
Like her, we can find blessings and comfort, and even healing, as we reach out to Jesus Christ—whose Atonement can heal us.
Consider This
From the account in Luke 8, how was this woman’s years of patience and then her faith in Jesus Christ rewarded?
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This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Long-suffering and Patient
Download messagePatience is often thought of as a quiet, passive trait, but as
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said, “Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something … even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!”
In our premortal life, our Heavenly Father prepared a plan for us—His spirit children—and we shouted for joy at the opportunity to come to earth (see Job 38:7). As we choose to align our will with His during our earthly life, He “will make an instrument of [us] in [His] hands unto the salvation of many souls” (Alma 17:11).
President Uchtdorf continued, “Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being ‘willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father’ [Mosiah 3:19]. Ultimately, patience means being ‘firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord’ [1 Nephi 2:10] every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so.”1
Additional Scriptures
Psalm 40:1; Galatians 5:22–23; 2 Peter 1:6; Alma 17:11
From the Scriptures
The scriptures tell us that in our earthly life, we should “be patient in afflictions, for [we shall] have many.” God then gives us this comforting promise, “Endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days” (D&C 24:8).
The following Bible story is an example of patience and faith.
“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years … touched the border of [Christ’s] garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched [stopped].
“And Jesus said, … Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
“And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
“And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace” (Luke 8:43–48).
Like her, we can find blessings and comfort, and even healing, as we reach out to Jesus Christ—whose Atonement can heal us.
Consider This
From the account in Luke 8, how was this woman’s years of patience and then her faith in Jesus Christ rewarded?
Suggested handout (download)
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Saturday, 24 January 2015
February 2015
Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How
will understanding the life and mission of the Savior increase your
faith in Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?
For more
information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was the only one capable of making an atonement for mankind. “Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish, willingly laid Himself on the altar of sacrifice and paid the price for our sins,” said President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.1 Understanding that Jesus Christ was without sin can help us increase our faith in Him and strive to keep His commandments, repent, and become pure.
“Jesus was … a being of flesh and spirit, but He yielded not to temptation (see Mosiah 15:5),” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “We can turn to Him … because He understands. He understands the struggle, and He also understands how to win the struggle. …
“… The power of His Atonement can erase the effects of sin in us. When we repent, His atoning grace justifies and cleanses us (see 3 Nephi 27:16–20). It is as if we had not succumbed, as if we had not yielded to temptation.
“As we endeavor day by day and week by week to follow the path of Christ, our spirit asserts its preeminence, the battle within subsides, and temptations cease to trouble.” 2
Matthew 5:48; John 8:7; Hebrews 4:15; 2 Nephi 2:5–6
The Savior paid the price of our sins through His divine Sonship, His sinless life, His suffering and the shedding of His blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross and His Resurrection from the grave. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become clean again as we repent of our sins.
King Benjamin taught his people of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then asked if they believed his words. “They all cried with one voice, saying: … the Spirit … has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. …
“And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things” (Mosiah 5:1–2, 5).
We too can have a “mighty change” like the people of King Benjamin, who “had no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
How does being pure differ from being perfect?
2. D Todd Christofferson, “That They May Be One in Us,” Liahona, Nov. 2002, 71.
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This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Without Sin
Download messageOur Savior, Jesus Christ, was the only one capable of making an atonement for mankind. “Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish, willingly laid Himself on the altar of sacrifice and paid the price for our sins,” said President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.1 Understanding that Jesus Christ was without sin can help us increase our faith in Him and strive to keep His commandments, repent, and become pure.
“Jesus was … a being of flesh and spirit, but He yielded not to temptation (see Mosiah 15:5),” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “We can turn to Him … because He understands. He understands the struggle, and He also understands how to win the struggle. …
“… The power of His Atonement can erase the effects of sin in us. When we repent, His atoning grace justifies and cleanses us (see 3 Nephi 27:16–20). It is as if we had not succumbed, as if we had not yielded to temptation.
“As we endeavor day by day and week by week to follow the path of Christ, our spirit asserts its preeminence, the battle within subsides, and temptations cease to trouble.” 2
Additional Scriptures
Matthew 5:48; John 8:7; Hebrews 4:15; 2 Nephi 2:5–6
From the Scriptures
The Savior paid the price of our sins through His divine Sonship, His sinless life, His suffering and the shedding of His blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross and His Resurrection from the grave. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become clean again as we repent of our sins.
King Benjamin taught his people of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then asked if they believed his words. “They all cried with one voice, saying: … the Spirit … has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. …
“And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things” (Mosiah 5:1–2, 5).
We too can have a “mighty change” like the people of King Benjamin, who “had no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
Consider This
How does being pure differ from being perfect?
Notes
1. Dieter F Uchtdorf, “You Can Do It Now!” Liahona, Nov. 2013, 56.2. D Todd Christofferson, “That They May Be One in Us,” Liahona, Nov. 2002, 71.
Suggested handout (download)
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Some other sites to check
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The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe
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Sunday, 21 December 2014
January 2015
Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How
will understanding the life and mission of the Savior increase your
faith in Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?
For more
information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
Following Jesus Christ’s example of obedience increases our faith in Him. “Is it any wonder,” said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “that Christ chooses first and foremost to define himself in relation to his father—that he loved him and obeyed him and submitted to him like the loyal son he was? … Obedience is the first law of heaven.”1
The scriptures teach “when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:21). Our spiritual growth takes place as we draw close to God through obedience and invite the power of the Savior’s Atonement into our lives.
“As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life. … Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create.” 2
The parable of the ten virgins is an example of this principle. While all of the virgins took their lamps to “meet the bridegroom,” only five were wise and took oil in their lamps. The other five were foolish because they “took no oil with them.”
Then the cry came at midnight: “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” All the virgins trimmed their lamps, but the foolish virgins had no oil. They said to the wise virgins, “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.”
The wise virgins answered, “Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go … and buy for yourselves.” And while the foolish virgins were gone, the bridegroom came and the wise virgins went with him and “the door was shut”
(Matthew 25:1–13).
Hide References
2. D. Todd Christofferson, “The Power of Covenants,” Liahona, May 2009, 21.
3. David A. Bednar, “Converted unto the Lord,” Liahona, Nov. 2012, 109.
Suggested handout (download)
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This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Obedient Son
Download messageThis is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring attributes of the Savior.
Following Jesus Christ’s example of obedience increases our faith in Him. “Is it any wonder,” said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “that Christ chooses first and foremost to define himself in relation to his father—that he loved him and obeyed him and submitted to him like the loyal son he was? … Obedience is the first law of heaven.”1
The scriptures teach “when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:21). Our spiritual growth takes place as we draw close to God through obedience and invite the power of the Savior’s Atonement into our lives.
“As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life. … Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create.” 2
Additional Scriptures
Luke 22:41–46; Doctrine and Covenants 82:10; 93:28From the Scriptures
“Can the spiritual strength that results from consistent obedience to the commandments be given to another person?” asked Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “The clear answer … is no.”3The parable of the ten virgins is an example of this principle. While all of the virgins took their lamps to “meet the bridegroom,” only five were wise and took oil in their lamps. The other five were foolish because they “took no oil with them.”
Then the cry came at midnight: “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” All the virgins trimmed their lamps, but the foolish virgins had no oil. They said to the wise virgins, “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.”
The wise virgins answered, “Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go … and buy for yourselves.” And while the foolish virgins were gone, the bridegroom came and the wise virgins went with him and “the door was shut”
(Matthew 25:1–13).
Consider This
What are some examples of obedience in the scriptures?Hide References
Notes
1. Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Will of the Father in All Things” (Brigham Young University devotional, Jan. 17, 1989), 4, speeches.byu.edu.2. D. Todd Christofferson, “The Power of Covenants,” Liahona, May 2009, 21.
3. David A. Bednar, “Converted unto the Lord,” Liahona, Nov. 2012, 109.
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Sunday, 23 November 2014
December 2014
Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How
will understanding the life and mission of the Savior increase your
faith in Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?
For more
information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.
Suggested handout (download)
The file will download automatically and is 6x4 suitable for a photo print if you wish
Some other sites to check
Sugardoodle
The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe
Still looking for ideas? Google 'Visiting Teaching Message December 2014'
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.
The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Prince of Peace
Download message
“The Savior is the source of true peace,” said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Even with the trials of life, because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace.”1 Understanding that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace can help us find inner peace and increase our faith in Him.
“The Savior is the source of true peace,” said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Even with the trials of life, because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace.”1 Understanding that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace can help us find inner peace and increase our faith in Him.
Jesus Christ
said: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world
ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Bearing testimony of that truth,
Linda S. Reeves, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, said: “The
Lord has been merciful to me and has helped make my burdens light. He has helped me to
feel great peace.”2
Elder
Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “The ideal place for …
peace is within the walls of our own homes, where we have done all we can to make the
Lord Jesus Christ the centerpiece.”3
Additional Scriptures
Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:14; John 14:27; 1 Nephi 13:37; Doctrine and Covenants
59:23
From the Scriptures
Isaiah
prophesied of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6). In the Americas, Samuel the
Lamanite told of signs that would accompany Christ’s birth five years later (see Helaman 14:3, 5). As the prophesied
day approached, unbelievers threatened to execute all the Christians if these signs
did not occur. The prophet Nephi “cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and
behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying: … On the morrow come I into the
world” (3 Nephi 1:12–13). The signs
appeared, and with the birth of Christ, “the people began again to have peace in the
land” (verse 23).
In
Bethlehem, Mary “brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a manger” (Luke
2:7).
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Tuesday, 28 October 2014
November 2014
The message for November is taken from a conference talk. As you carefully
consider the needs of those under your care select a talk/talks that
would uplift them.
These quotes are all from the conference and can be downloaded by clicking on 'Download'. They are 6x4 format ready to print.Or if you prefer resize and print smaller.
These quotes are all from the conference and can be downloaded by clicking on 'Download'. They are 6x4 format ready to print.Or if you prefer resize and print smaller.
Some other sites to check
Sugardoodle
The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe
Still looking for ideas? Google 'Visiting Teaching Message November 2014'
The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe
Still looking for ideas? Google 'Visiting Teaching Message November 2014'
Thursday, 25 September 2014
October 2014
Prayerfully study this material and seek to know what to share. How
will understanding the life and mission of the Savior increase your
faith in Him and bless those you watch over through visiting teaching?
For more
information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.
Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever” (John 6:51). “Jesus teaches us, His disciples, that we should look to God each day for the bread—the help and sustenance—we require in that particular day,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “The Lord’s invitation … speaks of a loving God, aware of even the small, daily needs of His children and eager to assist them, one by one. He is saying that we can ask in faith of that Being ‘that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given’ (James 1:5).”1 As we understand that Jesus Christ will provide for our needs, we will turn to Him for our spiritual sustenance.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles invites us “to join in the adventure of the earliest disciples of Christ who also yearned for the bread of life—those who did not go back but who came to Him, stayed with Him, and who recognized that for safety and salvation there was no other to whom they could ever go.”2
“And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way. …
“And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?
“And [Jesus] asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.”
Then Christ “took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; …
“And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.
“So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.” (See Mark 8:1–9.)
2. Jeffrey R. Holland, “He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things,” Liahona, Jan. 1998, 76.
Suggested handout (download)
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Some other sites to check
Sugardoodle
The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe
Still looking for ideas? Google 'Visiting Teaching Message October 2014'
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring aspects of the mission of the Savior.
The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Bread of Life
Download messageJesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever” (John 6:51). “Jesus teaches us, His disciples, that we should look to God each day for the bread—the help and sustenance—we require in that particular day,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “The Lord’s invitation … speaks of a loving God, aware of even the small, daily needs of His children and eager to assist them, one by one. He is saying that we can ask in faith of that Being ‘that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given’ (James 1:5).”1 As we understand that Jesus Christ will provide for our needs, we will turn to Him for our spiritual sustenance.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles invites us “to join in the adventure of the earliest disciples of Christ who also yearned for the bread of life—those who did not go back but who came to Him, stayed with Him, and who recognized that for safety and salvation there was no other to whom they could ever go.”2
Additional Scriptures
John 6:32–35; Alma 5:34; 3 Nephi 20:3–8From the Scriptures
Jesus Christ was teaching a multitude of more than 4,000 people. After three days, He said to His disciples: “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have … nothing to eat:“And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way. …
“And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?
“And [Jesus] asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.”
Then Christ “took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; …
“And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.
“So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.” (See Mark 8:1–9.)
Consider This
When we come unto Christ, how does He nourish us?Notes
1. D. Todd Christofferson, “Recognizing God’s Hand in Our Daily Blessings,” Liahona, Jan. 2012, 25.2. Jeffrey R. Holland, “He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things,” Liahona, Jan. 1998, 76.
Suggested handout (download)
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Sugardoodle
The Idea Door
Inkablinka
My Happy Tribe
Still looking for ideas? Google 'Visiting Teaching Message October 2014'
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