Cathy Larson, Visiting Teacher

Cathy Larson is in her early twenties, has two little girls, and is married to a very busy husband. Her calling in the Church is to be a Relief Society visiting teacher, and she is assigned to visit my mother.

Mother is in a nursing home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and I live in California. Last Christmas Cathy Larson gave me the priceless gift of knowing my mother had a family to be with and people to care for her, even though she was so far away at this special time.

Mother wrote of a delicious Rocky Mountain trout Christmas dinner, and, including her in family gift giving, Cathy had sewn her a pair of warm slacks to wear on frequent trips from the nursing home to the hospital.

As Mother’s visiting teacher, Cathy has often given me the gift of knowing there was someone near her. Although visiting teachers normally visit once a month, Cathy drives many miles to see Mother nearly every week, taking her homemade bread or some other treat she is allowed to eat. Often she washes and sets Mother’s hair while she is there, and lately Cathy has also assisted in bathing Mother. When Mother has required hospitalization, Cathy has visited her there, too.

When time permits, Cathy writes me of Mother’s progress. She writes as one who gives love unselfishly, telling me that she has learned things through this experience that have enriched her own soul. And Mother tells me that she has found another daughter in this benevolent sister’s service.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit of Relief Society in action.—Nancy M. Hoch, mother of five boys, teaches Primary in Lake Natoma Ward, Fair Oaks California Stake.