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If you haven't already done so, please report January's visiting teaching to your district supervisors. You still have two days to do it, if you haven't already!
Here are the links to the visiting teaching message and handout for February:
VT Message: http://lds.org/liahona/series/
VT Handout: http://www.theideadoor.com/
Also, if you have not received a slip of paper informing you of your visiting teaching route for February, please let me know. The new changes we've made take effect February 1st. If you already visited your new route, no worries. This month was kind of hectic trying to inform everyone of the changes. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
What a wonderful Ward Conference we had today! I love how God knows exactly what I need to hear! Even though the themes seemed to be on home and visiting teaching and family history, the overall themes I noticed were love and following the promptings of the Spirit. Why do we do home and visiting teaching and even family history? Because of love. How do we know what we need to do with regards to these responsibilities? Through the Spirit. I loved the story in Sunday School about the sister who was praying about how to handle difficulties in her life. God's answer to her was do her family history. She then gave up her one precious free hour a day to do family history, something she really didn't know anything about.That reminded me of my own life. I was having a hard time in high school. During the summer before my Sophomore year, I started studying the scriptures 30 mins a day. Really studying, not just reading. I'd open with a prayer and write in a journal any impressions or questions or comments I had about what I was reading. Unfortunately, I stopped being that diligent sometime in college. I'd read, but that was really it. Even though I was happy, I could see myself getting more and more emotionally drained and unable to handle going through the day. I prayed for years about what to do and the thought always came into my mind to study my scriptures again. I didn't, and my life kept going. Finally, I got to the point where I finally started studying again. Over night, it made a HUGE difference. I can't tell you how nice it was to feel the Spirit that close again. I'm glad I finally listened to the Spirit, but I do wish I had listened earlier.
I tell you this story to illustrate a point: everyone has at least one thing that they were called in life to do; something that will change their lives if they will just do it. For the sister in the Sunday School story, it was family history. For me, it was studying the scriptures. As much as it would be nice, we can't do everything. All God asks us to do is try our best, but our best in what? We need to try our best to follow the promptings of the Spirit. We need to live our lives worthy to feel the Spirit, first of all. If we don't feel the Spirit, how can we know what we need to do? If you're not sure what it means to "feel the Spirit", ask someone who knows, or at least seems to know. If they don't know, then you can find out together. You've heard that it's a feeling or thoughts that come into your head, etc, but it is hard to know without practice, faith, diligence, and patience. My biggest question for a long time was, "how do I know the difference between my thoughts and the promptings of the Spirit?" Practice, faith, diligence, and patience. You learn to recognize a certain feeling that accompanies the thoughts in your mind. For the record, I am by no means perfect, but I know that the Spirit is real because I have felt it. God does talk to us. We just have to learn how to listen, like tuning a radio to hear a channel clearly. He is always transmitting; we just need to tune in.
One other important thing is we need to make sure not to judge others if they are not doing things according to our standards. Some people are better at teaching than others. Some are naturally better mothers or homemakers. Some are better listeners, some better readers, some better athletes, and the list goes on. Find what you are supposed to do. Rather than judging each other for not living up to our standards, let us help each other in areas where we are strong that others need help with. Let us lift, not look down on.
Thank you again, sisters, for being amazing! You are amazing because you are daughters of God. Never forget that He loves you. Never forget that it is never too late to ask for forgiveness and come closer to Him. He will welcome you with open arms. I know this is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Dansell
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