Visiting Teaching Tips, Handouts and Ideas

THESE BOOKMARK HANDOUTS CAN BE FOUND FULL SIZE AT http://visitingteachingsurprise.blogspot.com

I guess none of us are perfect and most of all me. I just have to tell you about my Visiting Teaching visit and message for this month. It started off when I designed my graphics to share with you on both blogs, put them up and then put up the message which I thought I was doing the March message. Turns out, I actually prepared and wrote up the message and handout for February and gave it to my sisters today, thinking it was March Message. Talk about funny when my partner told me that what I was giving was last months message. Last month, the very day I was scheduled to go out with my partner for visits, I got sick and didn't go with her. I guess that put me a whole month behind because today I realized that I gave the wrong message and even posted it on this site as the March instead of February. I must have lost my marbles but.... I have been picking up my marbles all day long today and now that I have my marbles back, I have the right message. Sorry for the trouble I caused you if you have alreay gone out to do your Visiting Teaching, but here is the REAL MARCH 2009 Message.....

Uphold, Nourish, and Protect the Family
Ensign, March 2009
Teach the scriptures and quotations that will bless the sisters you visit. Bear testimony of the doctrine. Invite those you visit to share what they have felt and learned.

Why Must I Defend the Doctrine of the Family?
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity" ("The Family: A Proclamation to the World," Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president: "As a disciple of Jesus Christ, every woman in this Church is given the responsibility for upholding, nurturing, and protecting families. Women have distinct assignments given to them from before the foundation of the world. And as a covenant-keeping Latter-day Saint woman, you know that raising your voice in defense of the doctrine of the family is critical to the strength of families the world over" ("What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable," Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2007, 110).


How Can I Defend the Family?D&C 88:119: "Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985): "Home is a haven against the storms and struggles of life. Spirituality is born and nurtured by daily prayer, scripture study, home gospel discussions and related activities, home evenings, family councils, working and playing together, serving each other, and sharing the gospel with those around us. Spirituality is also nurtured in our actions of patience, kindness, and forgiveness toward each other and in our applying gospel principles in the family circle" ("Therefore I Was Taught," Tambuli, Aug. 1982, 2; Ensign, Jan. 1982, 3).

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "I call upon members of the Church and on committed parents, grandparents, and extended family members everywhere to hold fast to [the family] proclamation, to make it a banner not unlike General Moroni's 'title of liberty,' and to commit ourselves to live by its precepts. . . .

"In today's world, where Satan's aggression against the family is so prevalent, parents must do all they can to fortify and defend their families. But their efforts may not be enough. Our most basic institution of family desperately needs help and support from the extended family and the public institutions that surround us" ("What Matters Most Is What Lasts Longest," Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2005, 42–43).

Elder Robert S. Wood of the Seventy: "For too many, responsibility seems to end with hand-wringing and exclamations of dismay. Yet talk without action accomplishes little. We need to be vigorously engaged in the world. If our schools are inadequate or destructive of moral values, we must work with fellow members of the community to bring about change. If our neighborhoods are unsafe or unhealthy, we must join with the civic-minded to devise solutions. If our cities and towns are polluted, not only with noxious gases but soul-destroying addictions and smut, we must labor to find legitimate ways to eliminate such filth. . . . We have the responsibility to be a blessing to others, to our nation, to the world" ("On the Responsible Self," Ensign, Mar. 2002, 30–31).

SPANISH MESSAGE CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.lds.org.ar/SocSoc/Maevisit/200903mensajemarzo.htm