Relief Society/Visiting Teaching

My Beautiful Mother-in-law was asked to talk in Church this coming Sunday. She emailed me & asked me to help share any experiences I have had with Visiting Teaching. I thought I should share what I came up with so i can reflect back on these sacred experiences.

I have always had a strong testimony of VT. When I first joined the church I adored my R.s. she teamed me up with a lady Karen Clark. We became really close friends over the next couple years. We both worked & it was challenging at times to find a time when we could go visit our three ladies. We had plenty of opportunities to serve the ladies we went visiting to. I always knew that if I needed anything I could rely on the ladies in my ward as well. It was hard being a new member & Karen was always a great example to me. We are still great friends after all these years. I loved living in Shelley. The people that lived in our ward were mostly farmers. The ladies taught me so much about being a example of Christ & I admired them so much. I knew when I had children I would try to implement the qualities I saw in them that were wonderful into my life.

We moved from Shelley to Ammon & I was nervous about not having those women to lean on. There is something amazing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ...no matter where you live the R.S. is there & it is the same. I soon fell in love with my R.S. president Brenda Johnson. She gave me the most incredible blessing...she gave me Nancy Lords as my V.T. Nancy was so faithful in this calling. She NEVER missed a month. Our son Jaxon became very ill & Nancy was there through the entire Journey. When we found had to take Jaxon to SLC to Primary Children's Nancy came over the night before & prayed with us. She knew how much Jaxon Loved Barney & she let us borrow all of her families barney movies. She made Jaxon a barney pillow & blanket. We were in SLC a lot over the next 10 months. Whenever I would be home for a short time she would run over & check on me. She kept in touch via phone calls & would keep everyone posted on us. She made it so I could focus on taking care of Jax & not have to worry on returning everyone phone calls. She went above & beyond the call of a V.T. She became part of our family. Her & her daughter did a fundraiser to help us with the enormous cost of Jaxon's medical care. They made quilts & auctioned them off...they sold soda & hot dogs in front of Westmark credit union where her husband worked. When Jaxon completed his care after 10 months we were able to bring him home. She brought him over a Barney shirt & coloring book. She was always thinking about us. When we found out his cancer came back she came over & was as heartbroken as we were. Nancy was always the strongest lady I knew. She had a testimony that made me want to be better & to do better. When our sweet little boy Jax passed away..Nancy did something for us that No one else could have. She wrote the most incredible poem. When she gave it to me, she told me she had help from the other side & was inspired to write it. She said she felt like Jaxon was there with her as she wrote it. I will forever remember the time I had Nancy as my V.T. She helped our family through the most difficult time.

When we moved to the Westside I again was blessed with amazing women who came visiting teaching to me. They helped me get to church when Ryan was gone for 6 months for his job. I had Jakey that was 1 & a new baby girl Marli. It would have been very easy for me to become inactive. These incredible ladies made me feel like I was needed & made me feel accountable for coming to church each week. Our ward was split 4 times in 5 years. I had a hard time with getting to know the ladies & loving them & then them being in the other wards. I was blessed with the most incredible V.T. partner Kristi Bialas. She knew I was struggling she knew how hard it was for me to go on living after loosing my whole world (Jaxon). She lent me her testimony & strength to bear my burdens. Every month we went V.T. to three ladies. She would not let us miss one month. She would ask me really hard questions in front of the ladies we would go visit. She helped heal my broken heart. She was inspired so many times to reach out. She would show up on days when I barely could get out of bed because I was so depressed. She became my sister. She brought us treats & meals. Kristi was the Nursery leader & helped Marli feel comfortable. Marli would take her favorite blanket to church & go in Nursery ready for a nap. Kristi would make her a safe place in the other room to take her nap. Later on we served as our ward compassionate leaders together. I learned so much from her. It was an honor serving with her. I know our Heavenly Father has given us R.S. & V.T. to bless us in multiple ways. We are asked to serve our fellow man,but in return the blessing we are given by doing so are far greater than our efforts. Our R.S. president can't do it all alone. Nor can she be everywhere. She needs us sisters. The V.T. program is critical to making R.S. work at its best. I am so grateful for the women I have met through the Church. I feel I am a better Wife/Mother because of these amazing women!

I Love you Lyn (My Amazing M-I-L)& am so grateful I have ALWAYS had you to look to for inspiration. I hope this will help you with your talk. I know it's going to be great! I only wish I could be there to listen to it & be inspired.

I love how much a group of ladies can help so many in need. Every humanitarian project, Every quilt, Every meal is made with LOVE! We are so blessed to be part of such an amazing organization!