“Keep in Touch with Her Anytime, Anywhere, Any Way,” Ensign, January 2018
Visiting Teaching Principles
Keep in Touch with Her Anytime, Anywhere, Any Way
Visiting teaching is about ministering. Jesus ministered anytime and anywhere. We can do the same.
To “minister” is to give service, care, or aid that contributes to the comfort or happiness of another. Visiting teaching is about discovering ways to minister to those we visit. Jesus Christ ministered to all—anytime and anywhere. He fed the 5,000, comforted Mary and Martha at the death of their brother, and taught His gospel to the woman at the well. He did it because of His sincere love.
Following His example, as visiting teachers we can come to know and love each sister we visit, remembering that love is the foundation of all we do. When we pray for inspiration to know how to serve her and help her strengthen her faith, “the angels cannot be restrained from being [our] associates.”1
From the organization of Relief Society in 1842 to today, the ministering of women has blessed lives. For example, Joan Johnson, an 82-year-old widow, and her visiting teaching companion visit their neighbor who is 89 and has pneumonia. They could see that their neighbor didn’t just need them once a month, so they began checking in on her every week in person or by phone.
For other visiting teachers, sending a text or email giving encouragement might be the best thing to do for a sister that month. Making personal connections and listening with an attitude of love is the essence of visiting teaching. Modern technology and time-honored face-to-face visits help us do it anytime, anywhere, and in many ways.2 That is ministering as Jesus did.
Faith, Family, Relief