Monday, December 29, 2008
Some "New Year Resolves" for a Visiting Teacher.....
1. Resolve to not let anything stand in the way of getting your visiting teaching done.
2. Resolve to get your Visiting Teaching done either in the 2nd or 3rd week of each month, and be consistent.
3. Resolve to take the initiative to schedule visits with your sisters even if your partner doesn't like to take turns with this task.
4. Resolve to really get to know each sister you teach. Make her your friend and nurture her as your friend instead of just someone you are assigned to Visit Teach.
5. Resolve to study and prepare the monthly lesson before you go out with your partner Visiting Teaching. This way, you really think about the message you will be giving and share your knowledge and insites, but you can also contribute to the discussion and help support your Visiting Teaching partner if she is the one sharing the message with your sisters.
6. Resolve to make visiting teaching easier for yourself, your partner and those you teach by opening up your schedule for this very important calling. Be flexible with your time availability.
7. Resolve to call your Visiting teaching supervisor as soon as you complete your visiting teaching just to make her job of accounting for the visits in her district, a little easier.
8. Resolve to look forward to and learn to love the opportunity of Visiting Teaching.
The story that I just heard was told by Glen Rossin, and I would love to be able to link you to that story, but I cannot find a link to him on the radio. This will have to do... "A sweet woman was sitting down writing out all these ambitious resolutions including losing 20 lbs, keeping up the laundry, being the sweetest wife to her husband and so forth. She was determined to do all that she had written. The next week and after getting some comments by her husband and son, daughters and such, and gaining 5 lbs., basically destroyed all her resolutions that she had just made. She had a change of heart and just wrote another list that gave herself some slack and made resolves that she would gain under 20 lbs., she would take time to teach her husband and children how to do their own laundry, and on and on. Then the song played by Michael McClain.."Gentle" which talks about being a little less hard on ourselves, and being more gentle. I laughed and immediately thought about the resolutions that I suggested we all as Visiting Teachers make for this coming year. I am going to be more gentle on you and on myself so here is the.....
NEW and IMPROVED Visiting Teaching list for 2008
1. Feel really good about getting your Visiting teaching done for the month, whenever you can fit it into your own busy schedule, as well as into the schedules of those you teach.
2. Enjoy the visit you make with your sister and the time away from your kids and housework.
3.Appreciate the fact that because of you and your partner's efforts, your sisters are smiling and happy that you visited them.
4. Feel happy that you positively contributed to the ward Visiting teaching statistics!
5. Knowing how busy you are and don't have too much prep time, be sure to visit my website and if some of my ideas for the monthly lessons help you, then make it easy on yourself and just copy them off and go from there.
6. If you forgot to call your V.T. supervisor this month to report your visits, and she had to call you, it's OK... you can try to remember for the next month.
Some of these are alittle tongue in cheek, but my point is that your efforts made, however large or small with Visiting teaching are appreciated. The fact that you got out in spite of all the obstacles that were in your way trying to prevent you from doing it, are noted and you gave the service that you were called to give. Feel good about this visit and know that you will get the opportunity to go again every month to create a bond of love, friendship and sisterhood with those you teach. Remember that what you are doing for others, others are also doing for you and that is what Visiting Teaching is all about. Enjoy, feel good, and look foreword to doing it again, and again. You are loved!!!!
General Conference Talks
General Conference Reports
Proceedings of Recent General Conferences
What shall we give?
An Apostles Easter Thoughts on Christ
This short video is an Important message from the mouths of our Prophets!
My broken wagon wheel, hath bit the dust!
July 6 - Pioneer Cooking
Click on this link to take you to the Pioneer Recipes:
http://visitingteachingsurprisedocuments.blogspot.com/2009/07/pioneer-recipes.html
I was also thinking that if you were to copy some of these recipes and print them off, that might be a fun handout for the Sisters you Visit Teach!
July 2nd - Diana Lucina Spicer Block
Visiting Teaching Tips, handouts and Ideas
For many years, I have been creating very cute and fun things to take to the ladies I Visit Teach. I have shared from time to time, my ideas with others and they have really appreciated them. I decided that since I do these anyway, I would start doing one every month and then post it on this blog to share with anyone for their Visiting Teaching. I do need to make a disclaimer.... the ideas, thoughts, stories, graphics etc. used are created by me and they are not in any way official LDS Church quotes, handouts or ideas. They are my creations or others as noted, except for the quotes that will come directly from the Monthly Visiting Teaching message found in the Ensign. Also, many thanks to the talented designers of the digital paper and elements that I use to create the beautiful artwork, and handouts you see on my blog.
You can go to http://www.lds.org/ and look up and even print the monthly message if you do not have your own Ensign magazine subscription in English or to choose to read the Liahona or Ensign in a different language go to http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=03103c7ff44f2010VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD&locale=0.
For Spanish you can go to http://www.sud.org.es/
I highly recommend you get your own subscription because you will find a wealth of really good & wholesome, moral reading, that you can't find anywhere else. If you go to http://www.lds.org/ and click on "Gospel Library" then click on "Magazines" you can order your own Ensign, Liahona, New Era, or Friend magazines.
Posted by Katie Gauger at 10:41 AM 0 comments
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"Returning to the Past" A Relief Society Activity Idea
Dear Katie,
I just found your blog. It is so great. I love the idea of the Hearts of Angels. I am trying to figure out how we can use it for our VT conference and incorporate some of the things for our VT interviews. I am a new R/S president and all these things we have to do throughout the year are a little overwhelming. I love all of you ideas. So much work involved, thank you for being willing to share with all of us! I would love anything else you could pass my way.
WE had the thought earlier to use a theme of "Returning to the past" for our activities this year. So all of your old-fashioned pictures will be great to use as invites and handouts.
You might be interested in the idea we had for our B-Day dinner. We always have a progressive dinner in December to the homes of different sisters. We divide them up into about 5 smaller groups and go around to the different sisters homes in the ward. Because of the weather we cancelled it and had it at the church. We decided to do it for our B-Day dinner instead when the weather would be better. We are having the women bring a sack lunch with them and to wear something old, like a grandmothers broach or shawl, or to dress up in the time of the 1800's, and to bring a pint jar with a lid. We will have the sisters make lemonade at the first house and take with them in the jar that they brought, and then go to the next house. At the last house we will have and old fashioned cake to serve like apple walnut cake or something like that.
We still have some details to work out but at the end each member of the presidency will be at a different home and will share a prepared script. It will be written as if they were at the very first R/S meeting when the prophet Joseph Smith organized the R/S with just a handful of women.
Anyway, thank you for sharing what you have! You have a great talent!
Stacey McClellan - Blackfoot, Idaho
SELF RELIANT SISTERS BLOG HAS A GREAT ACTIVITY ABOUT GARDENING WITH KIDS - go to http://selfreliantsisters.blogspot.com/ It is well worth the time and a terriffic idea as Spring is just around the corner! Here is a tiny bit of information that you will see at the site.....
Gardening with Kids has great tips on getting kids started with gardening. Give your child some space; literally! Kids loving having spaces that are all their own, whether it`s their own desk area in the house, or the tent they've created with chairs and blankets in the family room. The same is true for gardening. Dedicate a small plot of the garden just for them. Put a fancy border around it, perhaps purchase one of the stepping stone making kits found at crafts stores in which they can mold their name and make their hand print.
Let them join you at the nursery. Let your kids know you value their opinion. Ask them which kinds of plants, flowers, and vegetables they like. Explain what will work well in your garden and what won't.
Give them (limited) choices. While you're at the nursery, ask them if they'd like pansies or petunias, marigolds or zinnias. This will give them the feeling of power without letting it get out of control.
Remind them money doesn't grow on trees. With older children discuss the budget. Let them help select seeds and blossoming plants at the nursery - and turn it into a math lesson. Let your child do the money calculations; they can tell you when the money runs out.
Let your child do what he will (especially if you have a preschooler). Let him dig, explore, play with bugs. You may be tempted to steer your child in another direction (like actually watering or weeding his garden), but this is a great way for your child to explore this exciting new universe.
Plan, plan, plan. If you have older children, say 8 or 9 or older, let them plot out their own garden on paper. Provide him or her with graph paper, pencils and seed catalogs. Give them a group of flowers and vegetables from which to choose, and then let them draw out their garden.
Get them their own gardening tools. Nothing will motivate your little gardener more than having her own little shovel, her own gardening gloves, and her own watering pail. And don't forget those bright colored rubber boots. You need to go to the site and explore all the rest of the links and ideas.
7 comments:
Hey Hun...love your site. Thanks for the awesome info on VT. Just a little note about your links to lds.org the links should be written like this or they won't work:
http://www.lds.org not www.http//:lds.org (Just wanted to let you know in case anyone has any troubles, we all know where to go though, right?) Thanks again for all of your efforts, I can't imagine how much time you dedicate on behalf of all of us.
Thanks fidjiti for making me aware of a typo. Sometimes I wish I had a full time editor so that I didn't miss any typos or errors or spellings even when I use spell check . I appreciate your response. Keep visiting my blog! Thanks, Katie
I came across you blog while searching for a New Year's gift for Visiting Teaching. These are beautiful! Thank you for your effort and time that you took to creat these!
You are very welcome Teresa! I am glad that you dropped by and I hope they can assist you in getting your Visiting teaching done. I like to have something in my hands when I visit those I teach and they seem to enjoy any little thoughtful thing. Best wishes and thanks for stopping by.
Katie G.
I ran accross your site today while looking for something to share with the sisters I visit teach. I am so grateful that there are people like you who have such a wonderful gift to create, and are willing to share with those of us who don't! Thank you for all the time you have put into this, and for being willing to share.
I ran accross your page today, and I love it! You are so very talented! I am grateful you are willing to share you talent to create with the rest of us who need a little help! Thank you for all the time I'm sure you put in. I'm sure the sisters I visit teach will benefit from this!
You are certainly welcome Wendy, and I am glad that you dropped by. Each month there are different things so come back again and again and tell your friends about this blog too. Happy Blogging! Katie G.
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