Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

This month the message was about contemplating the sacrament.  It was about searching ourselves to see the things that we need to work on and remembering the coventants we made at baptism and recommit to every time we partake of the sacrament.  (Is it okay that I just jumped right into the meat of it?) (Were you hungry?)

I said "was" because today is almost the last day of June.  "By the skin of my teeth, " isn't that what they say?  (that's kinda gross.)  But I went to the church website and read the message at the beginning of the month.  It's something that I've thought about and taken seriously.  Seriously.  Every Sunday as I attempted to keep the children quiet and in the pew.  While I watched one of the babies choke on the water and the other grab an extra piece of bread as the tray went by.  Well, let's just say that I took it more seriously as I contemplated it later, while I was alone.  Alone is key.

After all, I alone am the one who is responsible for my actions, my re-actions, my words, my choices.  I have the responsabilty of stopping and checking if I feel the spirit.  I alone can feel His presence, or the lack of it.  I alone am either partaking in the Gift of the Holy Ghost or taking it for granted or not participating in that relationship at all.  I am repsonsible for me.

So there is a challenge for us:



Yours,

Brittany


For the June Visiting Teaching message go here.

For more about what Visiting Teaching and Relief Society are, go here.

Feel free to download the quote and email it to your girls or print it out.  It's for you and your own personal Visiting Teaching pleasure.

an easter post (with a visiting teaching message at the end)

You either believe it or you don’t. Jesus was the Christ. He was God’s Son. He rose from the dead. If you don’t believe it, then it doesn’t mean jack squat either way. But if you do believe it, then it impacts everything about your life. If you believe it, well then anything is possible. Because if Christ really is the son of God, then there was and is a plan. There was something and somewhere before here, and there is something and somewhere after here. There is hope for all that is good. There is hope that we can progress beyond what we can imagine. There is the possibility of eternity with a perfect resurrected body for each of us.


Today I woke with these words on my tongue:
He is risen! He is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice.
He has burst his three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered; man is free.
Christ has won the victory.
Cecil Frances Alexander

I, for one, believe it. And what a happy message it is!


Speaking of messages, people keep asking me if I’m going to keep doing the Visiting Teaching quotes. Well, I’ll do my best. Here’s one for April.


Feel free to print this off for your Visiting Teaching pleasure.  There is another version of this quote here.

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

This month the message is about seeking and receiving personal revelation. I love this subject! I LOVE that we were loved enough by our Father in Heaven that He would make sure that there was a way that we could receive revelation from Him on an individual basis. I have searched consistently for as long as I can remember for two way communication with God, and I can tell you from experience that it is there; that it works. We can receive individual revelation, all we have to do is ask and listen. It’s one of the greatest blessings we’ve been given. Life is good.

Love,

Brittany

For the April 2010 VT message, go here.

For more information about what Visiting Teaching is, go here.

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

First, I apologize for not posting a message last month. We were supposed to pick what we wanted out of the General Conference addresses and quite frankly, it was too hard!! I read almost every talk again, and there were so many messages that were inspiring that I did the thing that I do when I’m overwhelmed—shut down, walk away, turn it off, don’t look back and then feel guilty. (What do you do when you’re overwhelmed? Is it more productive? Do you make a list? Scrub the floor? Seriously, I want to know.)

However, this month they made it a little easier on me with my ADD brain and gave me a limited amount of information and let me run with it. It is a message of action. It is something I always see in those who I admire. Read this quote by Elder Uchtdorf:

"Disciples of Christ throughout all ages of the world have been distinguished by their compassion. . . . In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance.

Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts,

notice the loneliness and despair;

let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers."

To me, this is the foundation of what Christ teaches us; this is the example he was trying to set. This is what I hear: Brittany, get out of your own head. Stop worrying about yourself. Look at those around you and love them. Love them by helping them and strengthening them. Take action. Do it now.


Succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees. (D & C 81:5)

Have a great month and happy visiting!

Love,
Britt


Feel free to download the quote(s) and print it out for your personal visiting teaching pleasure.

For this month's message, click here:
www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,2044-1-5012-1,00.html


For more information on what Visiting Teaching is, click here. www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4691-1,00.html

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

lap full o potential

I was sitting at the computer, perusing the blog circuit and a putrid smell enveloped the entire room, snapping me back into my life: right here, right now. I took two stinkers to the changing table and congratulated them each for their good, hard work. They wiggled and squirmed and made a simple thing difficult.

Listen to this ridiculously awesome quote by the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley:

"Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these His little ones. . . . Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried."

ad•mo•ni•tion (ād'mə-nĭsh'ən)
n.
1. Mild, kind, yet earnest reproof.
2. Cautionary advice or warning.


I can’t even think of words after that quote. When I first heard that quote several years back, it was like a whack upside the head. I looked at my children and SAW them. Why didn’t I SEE them before? Who did I think they were? They are not really even mine; I’m just in charge of them for a while, and most likely they are superior to me in every quality, every aspect, and every way. It got my mind reeling with the truth that the potential of these souls is more than I can comprehend and I better do my best to not hold them back. Put those feet on the ground running and watch them go!

As I placed the fresh smelling people onto the ground and watched them crawl away, I thought about their knowing smiles, their playful giggles and the wisdom in their eyes. They’re not even a year old!

I thought about the love letter my 5 year old gave to me this morning when my eyes wouldn’t yet open to the new day. Filled with “X”s and “O”s and hearts to let me know that through our troubles together, there is an underlying love that overshadows everything.

I hope I don’t hold these unbelievable little people back!

Have a great visit with your sisters this month!

XO,

Britt

{Feel free to download the quote above for your personal Visiting Teaching pleasure.}

For this month's Visiting Teaching message, click here:
www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,2044-1-4973-1,00.html

For more information on what Visiting Teaching is, click here. www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4691-1,00.html

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

This month's Visiting Teaching message is one of encouragement. There are some wonderful quotes about how to live the gospel of Christ simply, and then how doing this will bless our lives.

I chose this quote because in my little world, having the opportunity for personal revelation is huge. When I am living in a way that invites the Holy Spirit into my daily life, it brings me peace, gives me direction, and helps me be a better wife, mother, friend and neighbor. I have been softened and made better because of this.

I want to focus more energy on nourishing my spririt this month.

Happy visiting.

With love,

Brittany



PS - here is a second design of the same quote. I couldn't decide if I wanted feminine or streamline. I'll let you decide:) Feel free to print and use for your own visiting teaching pleasure this month.

*For more information on Visiting Teaching, go here.

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

I apologize for not sending you a message last month. I didn’t have internet access for a couple weeks. But not to worry, the past is passed and today I have a message to share.


(feel free to print this off for your personal visiting teaching pleasure. just click on it and it will take you to my flickr account...)

Isn’t this quote the berries? I simply love it. I have not EVER been a good student in the normal school setting. I always felt like a failure because of that. But here’s the thing I’ve figured out: you don’t have to be going to school to continue learning and receiving an education. I love that the church is always encouraging us to continue our education and tends to give us nudges to seek out learning. Not only spiritual learning (which is necessary for a balanced life in my experience), but secular learning as well.

And at this point in my life, I can say I have come to crave education. Although I still have difficulty with deadlines and retaining facts to spit them back out at the appropriate moment, I have realized that I love to find truth. I love the search of knowledge. I have started to appreciate that I may learn in a different way than lots of people, but when I am learning, I feel joy.

I love that this message works whether you are a scientist or an artist; a chef or a doctor; a mother or a daughter. Who ever you are, continue to learn. It is important to you as a person with passions and hobbies and relationships. It will help you in every facet of life. If you feel that prick of curiosity, indulge! Figure out the answers. Find truth. You’ll be happy you did.

Happy visiting,

Brittany

more about this month's message here.

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

feel free to print this out for your visiting teaching pleasure;)

It’s true. I’ve seen it a million times in my life. Just when I think I’ve prayed one too many times, I can kneel and pray again and receive an answer and I understand that I am forgiven for being weak—that was part of the plan. How else would we come to rely on the Lord?

Last night my body was spent. I didn’t think I would make it to the end of the night. Jake had a meeting so I was on my own and I needed a miracle. (seriously, sister, I can’t tell you how sore and exhausted and miserable I was. And in so much pain, physically.) So after putting the babies to bed I practically fell onto the floor and prayed long and hard. I picked myself up and came downstairs to find that I had the energy I needed to be the mom for the rest of the little people. My own little miracle. It may be small, but it’s my small life, so it seemed big to me.

And that made me thankful.

And it improved my relationship with my Father.

And I am changed. For the millionth time.

Because the flesh is weak, sister. Thank the heavens for prayer.

Yours,
Brittany


The message for Visiting Teaching this month can be found here.

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

feel free to print this off for your personal visiting teaching pleasure.

Since last month was General Conference we are supposed to go over the report and choose our own quotes. That is a tough job—it’s hard to narrow it down!

What stuck out to me during conference was that I need to get myself to the temple more often. What stuck out for you? While I was going over the talks to choose a quote I was also taken by the messages from the Young Women broadcast. I hadn’t realized that they added in another value to the motto—Virtue. I love that.

So Elder Bednar’s quote seemed perfect to me. “Please seek after the things that are of eternal consequence.” So simple, but also very hard to remember to do daily. It is when I get wrapped up in temporal things that I get overwhelmed and stressed out. If I let the worldly things drop away and focus on things that matter in the eternal scheme of things, I find peace.

Did you know that you can download the music from general conference to your ipod now? So cool.

Happy visiting teaching,

Britt

Dear Fellow Visting Teachers,

Here's the April installment of our visiting teaching message. Feel free to print it out for your personal visiting teaching pleasure. I am planning to print it on some ivory card stock and bake something yummy to deliver to my girls. We'll see if it actually happens!

Hope you have a great Conference weekend!

yours truely,

Britt

Dear Fellow Visiting Teachers,

I have a goal to be a better Visting Teacher. Since part of that goal is to make sure to give my girls an actual piece of the lesson, I am going to make little quotes for them. (Hi, my girls—I bet a couple of you will read this…) I thought since there are fellow VTers who stop by here from time to time I would share with you, too. Feel free to print the quotes off (preferably on cardstock;) for your girls if you feel so inclined.

if there is a better way to do this, please someone fill me in. I bet there's some kind of file that is super easy to download and print...

I chose this quote because it hit me that I’m not involved enough in my community and that is a cryin’ shame. There’s still time for me yet! It’s like a little kick in the pants, so to speak, that good people DO something. They take action when there is something lacking in the world around them. Maybe I can take baby steps this year and work toward being “a blessing to others, to my nation, to the world.”

For those of us (me) who need some tips and inpiration, what are some of your favorite things to do for your sisters?

xo
B