I Love Visiting Teaching

I got my VT assignments today and two things:

1. The sisters we will visit are great!
2. I have the same companion!

I love the visiting teaching program. I love how each sister is watched over by another sister. I love how we visit our sisters and tell them how much we love them. I'm excited to VT our sisters and hope we can do it this month.

Seeing the Big Picture

My ward split and formed a new ward last month; I'm in the new ward. Many of my friends continued to attend their ward (that no longer includes me) and my new ward contains some people I don't know. The day I learned about my new ward, I sat at a crossroad: First road) Be sad and mourn my loss, or Second road) Be happy and look forward to one day calling the new people "friends".

I chose the second road although my heart ached for what I had once known. My mind told me, "Give it a chance" and it felt like the right thing to do. I can tell myself logical things like the church is growing, and change brings new opportunities, but despite the logic (and sorrow) I must choose how to be. The good thing is that even if I choose sadness I can change my mind and choose happiness. I'm not a house that forever and always is the same, I can change.

I don't know what the future will be but I do know that I can handle whatever it brings. I believe that the future will be bright. I also believe what Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right". My attitude determines how I see something. If I have an attitude of sadness, I'll see the worst. Likewise, if I have an attitude of happiness, I'll see the best. Either way, my attitude is up to me; and I can always change.

I love how Jesus Christ taught that people can change. I love how I might think a certain way but then when I learn something I might think a different way. For me this is true, "When you know better you do better". 

Stepping back seems to give me perspective when I see the big picture. The perspective I see is this: 1) No matter my ward, it's the same church, 2) My goal is to have eternal life and I can work toward that goal no matter my ward, 3) Strangers are just people who are not yet my friends. It seems like when change happens, the best thing to do is to remember the big picture.

Looking on the Bright Side

My VT companion reminded me that since she made the appointments to visit our sisters I needed to share the message - I forgot!

I read the VT message in the Ensign but nothing came to me and I wasn't "feelin' it." (Click here to read the December VT message.) I started to write and it turns out that my message had nothing to do with the one I read.

December can be a hard month for people; a lot of them feel depressed amid the cheerfulness. I wanted to say that when we look on the bright side of situations we feel hope.

Here's my letter to my sisters:

December 2012

Dear Sister,

This has nothing to do with this month’s lesson, but I felt impressed to tell you it.

I love this quote by Marjorie Hinckley, "The only way to get through life is to laugh. You either have to laugh or cry. I'd prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

It's better to look on the bright side of life rather than on the dark side. I love these truths: The cup is half full, not half empty. Things are never hopeless because there's always hope. Happiness rather than sadness. Good trumps bad. Right not wrong.

Nevertheless, everyone has agency and can choose. Why not choose the good; the right; happiness; hope? Things don't always go our way but we can choose whether or not to allow ourselves to get down in the dumps. Sometimes we need a reminder to be grateful, or to count our blessings, or to think positively because the world tends to be negative (and take the path of least resistance) including being selfish, depressed, anxious, rude, unkind, lustful, and greedy. We have to choose to serve, to be kind, to love, to be happy, to have faith, to wait, and to give, because the natural man naturally does the opposite. When we attempt to be godly we combat the natural man. 

A mom will do anything for her kids - the best thing she can do is teach by example. All she can do is encourage, inspire, teach, and pray. Sometimes all she can do is pray and put the thing she prays for in Heavenly Father's hands. Maybe to her it seems like her encouragement, inspiration, and teaching isn't working. A mom never gives up hoping her kids will choose the right, but it might also increase her faith to remember that her child is also Heavenly Father's child and He wants that person to succeed too.

I'd rather say something nice than something derogatory about myself. I like, "I had to have a handicap because I'm too cool; my handicap makes it fair for everyone else!" Why not instill hope rather than fear? I am reminded of the poem "Our Greatest Fear" by Marianne Williamson. 

Our Greatest Fear

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

We truly love you and are your friends.

Covenants

We visited our sisters in October and reminded them that honoring the covenants we've made is important.

We mostly chatted but then I shared my message with them just before we left. Taleen has always read my message for me, but I gave a talk in church in August and she said, "You sounded fine! I think you can read your own message from now on." October was the first month since we've been companions (starting in February) that I've read my own message. Taleen is a great blessing in my life and encourages me to do things I didn't think I could.

Click here to read the October VT message.

Here's my letter to my sisters:

Oct 2012

Dear Sister,

The first thing I did after reading the Visiting Teaching message about covenants was to look up what covenants I’ve made. As far as I can tell, there are two: 1) baptismal covenant and 2) temple covenants. These covenants pertain to eternal life. I want to have eternal life; therefore, I will honor my covenants. That means taking the sacrament every week and doing the promises I’ve made in the temple.

Have you ever thought of the sacrament as having to do with eternal life? In the sacrament prayer it says that if we do the things we pray for, the Lord will pour out his spirit upon us. I’m glad the Lord will bless me right now, but think about this too: if we’re obedient to taking the sacrament every week, we’re one step closer to gaining eternal life.

We encourage you to read what the Lord has promised to those who keep their covenants. Read the scriptures and talks listed in the VT message and realize what the Lord wants to give you.

My covenants with the Lord strengthen me because without them I couldn’t have eternal life. Realizing this makes me feel grateful to the Lord that He promised eternal life to me based on my faithfulness. I don’t mean being saved (we all get that because Jesus rose from the dead,) I mean being exalted and living in the celestial kingdom (we get that based on our faithfulness not just because we’re members of the church.)

We encourage you to take the sacrament, attend the temple, and do your best to faithfully honor your covenants. Take a step back from your life and think about what you ultimately want, then do what you can to get it.

We love you and hope you get your dreams.

The Feeling of Belonging

I searched the words "relief society" in Pintrest, and as I looked at the results I felt a definite sense of gratitude. I felt happy to know I belonged to a group of women and to a church that cares about me. People in my ward know who I am and functions in the church (like home teaching and visiting teaching) mean that someone will visit me. As a member of my church, my name is on a list somewhere.

It gives me comfort to know that no matter where I go in the world, when I tell the church I live there, they'll become my family. What a great blessing it is to know that I'm not forgotten.

Helping Those Who Have Needs

My VT companion and I visited our sisters in August; I really enjoy going to their homes! Each of our sisters are different in their personalities. We talk about different things with them and I love to hear about them and their families and what is going on in their lives. We chat for a while and then, before we leave, we give each of our sisters a spiritual message.

The August message talked about helping our sisters when they have needs. At first I thought about how we take meals to people when they're sick or babysit their kids when they need it. But then it occurred to me that our sisters have more than just physical needs.

I think our sisters will never tell us when they have other needs because they don't want to appear weak or "needy." Our church teaches people to be self-reliant (which is good,) but when people are self-reliant they say they don't need anything because they believe in taking care of themselves. We're taught to rely on the Holy Ghost's promptings to tell us what our sisters need. It's good to rely on Him but, I wish our sisters would tell us, too.

I think differently than most LDS women because since I've been sick I've had to say what I need because I can't do it myself. I believe the people who serve me are glad that I say what I need because they want to show me, through their actions, that they care. Unless I say what I need, they won't help me because they won't want to impose.

I'm glad the people in my church have opportunities to serve each other. (They may think they are just doing their duty, but they are also doing two other things. First, they are showing how much they care. Second, they are being Christlike. They may think, I don't want to do this, but when they serve they get the chance to do something for someone other than themselves.)

Click here to read the August VT message.
Here's the handout we gave to our sisters.

Here's my letter to my sisters:

August 2012

Dear Sister,

The August VT message is about helping sisters when they have a need. The Church Handbook says: “In order to serve, we have a responsibility to be conscious of the needs of the sisters we visit. When we seek inspiration, we will know how to respond to the spiritual and temporal needs of each sister we are assigned to visit. Then, using our time, skills, talents, prayers of faith, and spiritual and emotional support, we can help give compassionate service during times of illness, death, and other special circumstances.”

Helping someone doesn't just mean babysitting their kids or bringing them dinner, but being in tune with the spirit to know the best kind of help a person needs. The best help comes through the spirit's prompting. The thing that helps a sister most is what she needs not what we want to give. (After all, how does it help her if it's not what she needs?)

In speaking for myself, obviously I don't have the ability to provide physical help, but I can provide things like emotional help, a listening ear, kind words, sympathy, and friendship. If my sister needs something that I can't do, either my companion can do it or we'll find a way to get it done.

It's hard to know what our sisters need because they act like they don't need anything. They appear to have it all together when we know they’re struggling. They may never tell us what their needs are, but the spirit will give us intuition to know what our sisters need when we put our trust in him.

The most important thing we can do is act on the promptings we receive. If we feel inspired to call her, send her a card, visit her, invite her to lunch, arrange to have dinner taken to her, or whatever, we need to do it. 

Let’s remember what we can do not what we can’t. When we do what we can, we will feel great love for our sisters and their families.

We love you.

Missionary Work

I have been called for a few months to be a Mission Prep Adviser. It has been my pleasure to hear the boys of my ward (who are mostly Andrew's age) teach me what they know about the gospel. The boys know the gospel, but it's one thing to know it and another thing to teach it. I have great faith in them that they will learn how to teach the gospel as well as how to relate to people. After all, they are teaching people not just lessons.

I think the church's missionary program is inspired. Missionaries are mostly young boys who have primarily thought of themselves. At 19 years old, just when they get freedom, they are expected to go somewhere in the world and serve others for two years. They grow up and become mature from the experience. They learn how to think of others. They learn how to live with a companion. Some of them learn another language. They learn how to teach people. They give of themselves. And they learn a great deal about the gospel, about missionary work, and about the scriptures. It seems to me that they get a lot from the experience.

I believe that being a missionary for two years saves lives. I think this because it gives people a purpose and a chance to think about someone besides themselves. If some people choose to never be missionaries, I believe some of their lives go down hill until, eventually, they hit rock bottom. By the time they reach the bottom, they probably have children who learn from them and who don't get taught what their parent learned on their mission. Those children might not stay members of the church, or, if they do, they might not be strong members and may become people who bring others down. Plus, the person at the bottom now has to work just to get themselves up to the surface: it's good that at least they are going upward, but look at how much time they lost by being selfish - what a waste of time and life!

Young people are the church's next generation. When a person chooses to be a missionary, they become a necessary member of the church because they know the gospel. Other people who don't serve missions become necessary members of the church too, but oft times it takes more than two years for them to really know the gospel.