A young, married woman shared a story with me yesterday about Visiting Teaching. She told me that it was her very first time ever being a Visiting Teacher, as she and her husband were in the process of being reactivated in the church. She had been given some faithful visiting teachers over the past couple of years, and their example made it very easy for her to accept becoming a visiting teacher. She worried how she would be received into homes of women who didn't know her, for you see, her whole life, she had been judged by others, because she was born with a handicapping condition. She had been stared at her whole life time, made the brunt of jokes, and pointed at, and commented about because of her physical differences. She wondered whether or not, she would be welcomed and received into homes of sisters in her ward, to give them a lesson, form friendships and be able to be the kind of Visiting Teacher, that she knew she wanted to be. Would they even want her, or let her in? She also wondered if her new partner, a newly married woman without children, would want to go with her. Her whole life, she had never had friends who wanted to do things with her, or invited her to go places with them. They were embarrassed to be seen with her, though in private times, they would talk to her, and have phone conversations, they would never be seen in public with her. She knew it was because she was different physically, and somehow she had been able to reconcile not having friends, and clung to her family relationships as her friendships. Her best friend was and still is her Mother, who loved her and she knew it. Her brothers were the ones who stood up for her, when she was being teased or made fun of, and their friends joined in and were kind to her.
How would this experience be, going visiting teaching the first time? 
She told her Visiting Teaching partner that she would give the lesson, which would be for this month, one of the Conference talks. She prepared, prayed and readied herself for her very first appointment, and when the day came, she woke with nervousness, and apprehension. Sill, she knew that since she has had great experiences with her own Visiting Teachers, she drew courage deal within, and remembered what she had been taught from her parents to look up, that she was a beloved daughter of God, who loved her very much too. With this said, she and her partner met at the home of the woman in their ward, whom they had an appointment with. Things went well, in fact, so well, that that they were there for an hour and 15 minutes. She felt the lesson went well, because things in her life related to the Conference talk, almost as if the talk were written for her alone, which let her share her feelings about certain parts of the talk. The sister they taught joined in and shared her thoughts and feelings. Together they began an emerging friendship.
This young woman related to me this experience, because she knew I loved and understood the value of Visiting Teaching. I explained to her that through Visiting Teaching, her own needs will be met right along with meeting the needs of the sisters she teaches, and who knows, maybe those she teaches yearn for friendships as much as she does. She will form friendships, and a sisterhood with ward members, and sometimes those friendships last for a lifetime. Her yearning for a friend, or friendships, have been met through her own Visiting Teachers, and what a blessing she has been given to make more friendships because she chose to accept this very important assignment. I was so proud of her, that she let her very difficult memories and challenges stay behind her, that she did not dwell on her past, but choose to move on, and let the Lord guide her paths. I know that blessings and friendships await her, as she serves the Lord, by loving one another.
Visiting teaching is important. People need other people, and when we serve them, we are serving the Lord. One of the most important things we can do in this life is to love one another. When this commandment was given to us, there were no qualifiers like to only love those who are church members, those who don't sin, those who never make mistakes. We are to love everyone, no matter their differences or circumstances, and that is one of the very most important things that we have been asked to do in this life. I wonder when we meet our Heavenly Father and our Savior one day, and when they remind us of the things we did in this life, which things they will value most about our earthly deeds and life. Will it be the trophy's we have won in our growing years from dancing, sports, and gymnastics. Will it be the fact that we were successful in life and had made lots of money to buy huge homes on the hill, and provide your family with name brand attire, cars, and anything that they could imagine. OR... would They simply ask, How much have you loved? Did you love your neighbor? I have a feeling that the only things that will matter at that moment will be the things that we did that showed love.
I recently heard of a woman who did not accept a Visiting Teaching assignment, because a particular sister they were assigned to, was too needy. Another time, an assignment to Visit teach an inactive sister was turned down because she lived too close to her, and had never taken the opportunity to meet her all those years, and she was embarrassed. Another was when she was assigned to a woman who could only be Visit taught on a certain day and was deemed inflexible, so that assignment was turned down. Still another... "They live too far away." I could go on and on I am sure that there are many excuses we could come up with, to not accept a Visiting Teaching assignment, but I would like to venture a bet, that if all those assignments that were turned down for whatever reason, were accepted, that a great experience awaited all the sisters, and because they were turned down, they missed a great opportunity to love one another.
As I have loved you,
Love one another,
This new commandment,
Love one another.
By this shall men know,
Ye are my disciples,
If ye have love one to another
Happy Visiting Teaching as you go about "Loving One Another!"
How to not dwell int he past @momgaug http://t.co/dC42zc4Y5g
— Kathleen Gauger (@Momgaug) May 20, 2014
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