September 2007 Visiting
Teaching Message |
Prayerfully select and read from this message the scriptures and teachings that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Share your experiences and testimony. Invite those you teach to do the same. What Does It Mean to Be of One Heart and One Mind? 1 Corinthians 12:20, 27: “Now are they many members, yet but one body. … Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” President Gordon B. Hinckley: “The Lord said that except ye are one, ye are not mine. (See D&C 38:27.) This great unity is the hallmark of the true church of Christ. It is felt among our people throughout the world. As we are one, we are his. … We pray for one another that we may go on in unity and strength. If we do so, no power beneath the heavens can stop the onward progress of this great kingdom” (“Except Ye Are One,” Ensign, Nov. 1983, 5). President Marion G. Romney (1897–1988), First Counselor in the First Presidency: “It is the mission of the Church of this last dispensation to develop another people who shall live the gospel in its fulness. This people are to become ‘pure in heart,’ and they shall … be the Lord’s people. They shall walk with God because they shall be of one heart and one mind, and they shall dwell in righteousness, and there shall be no poor among them” (“Living Welfare Principles,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 93). How Will Striving to Be of One Heart and One Mind Help Me Be a Better Instrument in the Hands of God? Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy: “We must begin by becoming one within ourselves. We are dual beings of flesh and spirit, and we sometimes feel out of harmony or in conflict. … 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. There is greater and greater harmony between the spiritual and the physical until our physical bodies are transformed … to ‘instruments of righteousness unto God’ (see Romans 6:13)” (“That They May Be One in Us,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2002, 71–72). Kathleen H. Hughes, former first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency: “[The Lord] requires ‘the heart and a willing mind’ (D&C 64:34; emphasis added). … The Lord asks us to open ourselves to Him, holding nothing back. He says to us, seek not ‘thine own life’; seek ‘my will, and to keep my commandments’ (Helaman 10:4). The newness of heart comes when we do and give all we can, then offer our heart and will to the Father” (“Out of Small Things,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2004, 111). Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Spiritual submissiveness means … community and communion as the mind and the heart become settled. We then spend much less time deciding, and much more time serving. … Yielding one’s heart to God signals the last stage in our spiritual development. Only then are we beginning to be fully useful to God! How can we sincerely pray to be an instrument in His hands if the instrument seeks to do the instructing?” (“Willing to Submit,” Ensign, May 1985, 71). |
July 2007 Visiting
Teaching Message |
Serving and Supporting Each Sister
Ensign, September 2006
LDS.org link to this artical
Prayerfully select and read from this message the scriptures and teachings that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Share your experiences and testimony. Invite those you teach to do the same
Blessings of Belonging to Relief Society: Relief Society helps sisters feel needed, included, valued, and loved regardless of their personal circumstances. Sisters in Relief Society support each other as they share their faith, friendship, and love.
How Can Relief Society Help Us Feel Valued and Loved?
Mosiah 18:21: "He commanded them that . . . they should look forward with one eye, . . . having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."
Bonnie D. Parkin, Relief Society general president: "Every time we watch over one another, godlike qualities of love, patience, kindness, generosity, and spiritual commitment fill the souls of those we visit and enlarge our souls as well. In the process, we honor our covenants. I see legions of faithful sisters around the world going forward on the Lord's errands, performing simple yet significant service" ("Visiting Teaching: The Heart and Soul of Relief Society" [address given at the fall 2003 open house]).
Kathleen H. Hughes, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency: "We sometimes hear women say that they don't feel the love of the Lord. But perhaps they would feel more of His love if they looked for His hand in the actions of those who care for them. It may be a member of their branch or ward, a neighbor, or even a stranger who blesses them and manifests Christ's love" ("What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends," Liahona and Ensign, May 2005, 75).
How Do We Serve and Support One Another through Relief Society?
1 Thessalonians 5:11: "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another."
President Gordon B. Hinckley: "Who can measure the joy that has come into the lives of . . . women as they have mingled together? . . .
"Who . . . can fathom the uncountable acts of charity that have been performed, the food that has been put on barren tables, the faith that has been nurtured in desperate hours of illness, the wounds that have been bound up, the pains that have been ameliorated by loving hands and quiet and reassuring words, the comfort that has been extended in times of death and consequent loneliness?
"Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet, in speaking to the sisters in Nauvoo, said, 'We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.' . . . Women of the Church have not had to wait to sit together in heaven to taste the sweet fruit of the kind of activities she described. They have experienced much of heaven on earth as in life they have cherished one another, comforted one another, and instructed one another" ("Ambitious to Do Good," Ensign, Mar. 1992, 4–5).
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "The Church is not a place where perfect people gather to say perfect things, or have perfect thoughts, or have perfect feelings. The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support, and service to each other. . . . We are here with the same purpose: to learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves" ("The Virtue of Kindness," Liahona and Ensign, May 2005, 28).
