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Home/Visiting Teaching to be discontinued


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Same difference...I like visiting friends myself. Just don't come to visit unless you really want to..and if you want to be a friend..and not a checkmark in a box.

Edited by Jeanne
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7 minutes ago, BillyandJane said:

That's exactly what I thought too.

Other name options if you shift the focus from teaching to service? (Realistic ones)

Edited by Calm
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52 minutes ago, Calm said:

Other name options if you shift the focus from teaching to service? (Realistic ones)

Oh, I wasn't saying Ministering Brothers and Sisters is bad, it's not, but it does have an evangelical feel to it, probably because of the word 'minister' is in there.  But now that you've asked what other names could be used that convey what they are trying to do, lets think of some:  (taking a quick peak at a thesaurus...)  how about  the "Succoring Sisters" and "Brotherly Balm" ministering groups. :) 

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3 hours ago, BillyandJane said:

Oh, I wasn't saying Ministering Brothers and Sisters is bad, it's not, but it does have an evangelical feel to it, probably because of the word 'minister' is in there.  But now that you've asked what other names could be used that convey what they are trying to do, lets think of some:  (taking a quick peak at a thesaurus...)  how about  the "Succoring Sisters" and "Brotherly Balm" ministering groups. :) 

Haha, love it.

I don't think it is Evangelical at all though, ministering is a universally understood word and it is dropping the Mormonspeak outsiders need translated. It also doesn't make a distinction between the men and the women's roles. 

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4 minutes ago, cinepro said:

and-there-was-much-rejoicing.jpg

I highly doubt the essence of the programs will be gutted given they have been considered essential to the health of the Church and the families:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1997/10/home-teaching-a-divine-service?lang=eng

Quote

President David O. McKay admonished: “Home teaching is one of our most urgent and most rewarding opportunities to nurture and inspire, to counsel and direct our Father’s children. … It is a divine service, a divine call. It is our duty as home teachers to carry the divine spirit into every home and heart. To love the work and do our best will bring unbounded peace, joy, and satisfaction to a noble, dedicated teacher of God’s children.”3

Monthly contacts seem likely to remain in the program.

Edited by Calm
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On 3/16/2018 at 5:15 PM, strappinglad said:

And here I just got used to the change from " Ward Teacher " to " Home Teacher " !!! :wacko:

Quote

Ward teaching is so important that it should take precedence in the selection of ward officers. Unless this is done, the results obtained will fail to meet the Lord's requirements. Indeed, the success or failure of ward teaching depends upon the intelligent, competent, devoted activity of the teachers. Therefore, every endeavor must be made to secure the best men for the service. Otherwise, it will not prosper.

Just an observation from the 1944 Handbook of Instructions.

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11 hours ago, Calm said:

Other name options if you shift the focus from teaching to service? (Realistic ones)

Well, we went from teachers to ward teachers to home teachers. Used up the teacher possibilities.

Bishop's Envoys.

Family Mentors.

Ward Shepherds or Sheepdogs.

Sacred Agents.

Bishopreps.

 

 

Edited by Bernard Gui
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2 minutes ago, Calm said:

I like Sheep Dogs.

Perfectly encapsulates the office.

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3 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

Just an observation from the 1944 Handbook of Instructions.

I think the "it" is referring to the Ward Teaching program.  And based on what I've seen in my ward, maybe it's a mercy kill.

Edited by cinepro
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3 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

Well, we went from teachers to ward teachers to home teachers. Used up the teacher possibilities.

Bishop's Envoys.

Family Mentors.

Ward Shepherds or Sheepdogs.

Sacred Agents.

Bishopreps.

Guilt Trippers

28th, 30th, and 31st Visitation Specialists

Kolobian Envoys

Bishop’s Ninja Spies

God’s Goons

Compassionate Danites

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31 minutes ago, cinepro said:

I think the "it" is referring to the Ward Teaching program.  And based on what I've seen in my ward, maybe it's a mercy kill.

Perhaps. On the other hand, if we were to take it more seriously, it just might prosper.

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12 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Guilt Trippers

28th, 30th, and 31st Visitation Specialists

Kolobian Envoys

Bishop’s Ninja Spies

God’s Goons

Compassionate Danites

If you go at 11:55 pm on the last day of the month and stay until a little after midnight, you only have to go 6 times a year.

On the other hand, our home teachers have been prompt, regular, and faithful since the birth of our youngest son Escribino, and he is now 24 years old. In our son Abogadissimo’s ward, VT has been 100% and HT over 90% for a while. It can be done. If we want to.

I’m not a very good home teacher,  but my companion and I send monthly letters to 40 members of our ward who refuse to have visits but will accept correspondence. Been doing that for 4 years.

Edited by Bernard Gui
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5 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

In our son Abogadissimo’s ward, VT has been 100% and HT over 90% for a while. It can be done. If we want to.

When I served as elders quorum president in America, our performance varied between 87% and 93% the entire time. It really is just a matter of desire. The result is that we ended up with so many active elders that we had to split into a first and second quorum.

I've tracked the stats in my current ward over many years. Sacrament meeting attendance absolutely tracks home teaching performance, with a lag of about two to three months.

Personally ministering in people's home is the very essence of Christian discipleship.

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13 hours ago, JAHS said:

Don't know about such a change but they are doing away with the first presidency messages in the Ensign.

http://byuiscroll.org/first-presidency-message-discontinued/

Yes, it states in the April 2018 First Presidency Message 

This message will be the last First Presidency Message published in the "Ensign" on a monthly basis. In the future, the First Presidency will share important messages as needed through the Church’s various channels, including Church magazines and LDS.org.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2018/04/as-we-go-forward-together?lang=eng

So, I think this change does give credence to the 'rumor.'  I think ldsliving is probably right with this statement: http://www.ldsliving.com/First-Presidency-Message-to-Be-Discountinued-in-Ensign-Liahona-Magazines-Beginning-in-April/s/88015/

The change also follows Elder Jeffery R. Holland's October 2016 general conference talk "Emissaries to the Church" in which he urged home teachers to be "emissaries of the Lord to His children" through "genuine, gospel-oriented concern for the members."

Brethren, the appeal I am making tonight is for you to lift your vision of home teaching. Please, in newer, better ways see yourselves as emissaries of the Lord to His children. That means leaving behind the tradition of a frantic, law of Moses–like, end-of-the-month calendar in which you rush to give a scripted message from the Church magazines that the family has already read. We would hope, rather, that you will establish an era of genuine, gospel-oriented concern for the members, watching over and caring for each other, addressing spiritual and temporal needs in any way that helps.
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As Elder Holland pointed out, we need to get rid of the idea, "Oh, I'm a home teacher [or a visiting teacher], so I make a monthly visit."  (And as my sister, Jeanne, so aptly pointed out, she doesn't exist simply so people can "check her off of their To-Do List.")  No, you're a home or a visiting teacher, so you minister.

"I'm a bishop, so I bish."  No, you minister.

"I'm a stake president, so I prez."  No, you minister.

"I'm a teacher, so I teach."  No, you minister.

[Back to [LURK] mode.  Don't get used to seeing me.  I wouldn't want to disappoint you.  (As though anybody cares.  I'm sure nobody's given a second thought to my quasi-absence.  For me, actually posting is the exception, not the rule.]

Edited by Kenngo1969
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1 hour ago, Kenngo1969 said:

As Elder Holland pointed out, we need to get rid of the idea, "Oh, I'm a home teacher [or a visiting teacher], so I make a monthly visit."  (And as my sister, Jeanne, so aptly pointed out, she doesn't exist simply so people can "check her off of their To-Do List.")  No, you're a home or a visiting teacher, so you minister.

"I'm a bishop, so I bish."  No, you minister.

"I'm a stake president, so I prez."  No, you minister.

"I'm a teacher, so I teach."  No, you minister.

[Back to [LURK] mode.  Don't get used to seeing me.  I wouldn't want to disappoint you.  (As though anybody cares.  I'm sure nobody's given a second thought to my quasi-absence.  For me, actually posting is the exception, not the rule.]

Who are you again? ;) 

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46 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Who are you again? ;) 

"No one of consequence."

--Westley, as The Dread Pirate "Roberts," to Inigo Montoya as the two prepare to duel

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14 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Guilt Trippers

28th, 30th, and 31st Visitation Specialists

Kolobian Envoys

Bishop’s Ninja Spies

God’s Goons

Compassionate Danites

Latter-day Danites

 

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