Visiting Teaching November 2017 Handout

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I loved all the talks at General Conference. For a message that would best fit the needs of the sisters I serve and watch over I picked Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk titled "Three Sisters". This talk is a good reminder for all of us that life has its challenges - why make it more challenging by having a frame of mind that makes it more difficult? We all have our moments in each of these frames of mind - but the one we want to most of our time in is GLAD, including in times of hardship.

I made an accordion fold card with quotes I felt summed up each frame of mind - SAD, MAD, and GLAD.

I included my favourite quote from this talk - the ACTION quote. It reminded my of the Visiting Teaching message from March where I referred to us as ACTION HEROES when we ACTIVATE THE ENABLING POWER OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS ATONEMENT.

"There may be many things about life that are beyond your control. But in the end, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE both your destination and many of your experiences along the way. IT IS NOT SO MUCH YOUR ABILITIES BUT YOUR CHOICES THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN LIFE."

I love that! At my work recently there was a change in my schedule and I wanted it changed back to what it was before - and that particular day of the week at work seemed challenging. Then I thought to myself - the only thing that needs to change is my attitude. As soon as I made that decision that day of the week was great! That is easy for the small stuff. I know there are way bigger challenges than that.  It is so important that we develop this frame of mind for the small stuff so when the BIG challenges come we are trained in having the power to meet our challenges with the attitude or frame of mind that will be most helpful.

For the handout - I made a colour one, and a slightly coloured one - depending on how much colour ink you want to use.

Download the files HERE 

and follow the directions below for folding.

                                Thanks for stopping by!

May 2017 Visiting Teaching Message Handout Idea

Hello! Welcome to my blog! For the May visiting teaching message we get to select a message from talks given in the April General Conference to teach and uplift. I have a hard time selecting only one as they are all so inspiring. I decided to go with a growth mindset theme. I have been reading  Carol Dweck's studies about the psychology of success that she calls the growth mindset. She has done great work in studying the thought process of people who succeed and of those who don't. 

The original growth mindset is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation." Joseph Smith

"For as (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he..." Proverbs 23:7

"And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon..."2Nephi 2:26

The purpose of this life is to progress (or grow) and become like God. There are fixed mindsets that say I was born that way I can't help it - but the gospel of Jesus Christ says you are a child of God. There are things you need to learn and improve - and you are able to do it. Applying the teachings and principles of Jesus Christ is the way. 

If you have a fixed mindset you are acted upon. A person with a growth mindset is one who applies the power to act in enlightened ways- even if the circumstances seem challenging.

The General Conference messages remind us of the path of progress and the mind set we need to apply to achieve success. I researched the talks and chose quotes that I felt aligned with the six categories of the growth mindset. I printed them out and stapled them in a booklet. The booklet was 

then placed in a fork that I used for a plant poke.

 I love the saying "you grow girl"! I thought that was fitting and made a tag that you can glue to a potted plant, or maybe even a watering can.  As we study and apply the teachings of Christ in our lives we will grow and bloom. It is so interesting how our actions are aligned with our thoughts. Applying the growth mindset of the gospel is the path to find true success. 

Find the file HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

April 2017 Visiting Teaching Message Handout Idea

Hello! Welcome to my blog! April's Visiting Teaching message is on The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. For the full message 

CLICK HERE.

I created a printable that has most of the quotes that are in the message with a few additions.

For the pdf version click here:

I have these quotes in a sun because of an analogy Neil L. Anderson gave a few years ago in 

General Conference:

A man may open the drapes so the warm sunlight comes into the room, but the man does not own the sun or the light or the warmth it brings. The blessings of the priesthood are infinitely greater than the one who is asked to administer the gift.

I just love that analogy, and that talk - which teaches about the power of the priesthood. Click

here to be directed to the talk. 

I made a handout with that quote as the theme.

I saw a cute curtain card online and used that as my inspiration. Check it out HERE.

For the pdf file of the Visiting Teaching handout  CLICK HERE. Here is what it looks like:

I also love the quote:

If you want light to come into your life, 

you need to stand where it is shining.

I think this relates to this months message. Too often we stand in the shadows when it comes to the power of the priesthood because we don't fully understand it. As Neil L. Anderson said - "We sometimes overly associate the power of the priesthood with men in the Church. The priesthood is the power and authority of God given for the salvation and blessing of all - men, women and children."

We can invite sunshine into our lives as we "...expand (our) understanding of the priesthood..."

Linda K. Burton

because we will "come in possession of the privileges and blessings and gifts of the Priesthood." Joseph Smith

To make the card - after printing out the sheet you will need to fold the card into quarters, cut out the front window and make the curtains. I used double sided tape to adhere two pieces of 2" ribbon onto a thin strip of paper that I used for a curtain rod. Then I tied each ribbon at the bottom with 

some floss to give it a curtain look.

Thanks for stopping by!

March 2017 Visiting Teaching Handout

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I love all the visiting teaching messages - this month's message I have a passion for. The theme is: The Enabling Power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. For the full visiting teaching message on

 lds.org CLICK HERE.  

I love the word ACTION - so that is what I feel to focus on in this message. I am continually striving to learn how to activate the enabling power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement in my life because I know I don't even scratch the surface of what is offered in this incredible gift. 

I especially love the quote from David A. Bednar included in this month's message:

“Nephi’s brothers bound him with cords and planned his destruction. Please note Nephi’s prayer: ‘O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound’ (1 Nephi 7:17; emphasis added). “… Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his circumstances. And I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he KNEW, UNDERSTOOD, and had EXPERIENCED the enabling power of the Atonement. “I do not think the bands with which Nephi was bound just magically fell from his hands and wrists. Rather, I suspect he was blessed with both persistence and personal strength beyond his natural capacity, that he then ‘in the strength of the Lord’ (Mosiah 9:17) worked and twisted and tugged on the cords, and ultimately and literally was enabled to break the bands."

The message stops there but I looked up the talk that came from the talk"Strength Beyond My Own" and loved the words that followed... 

"The implication of this episode for each of us is straightforward. As you and I come to UNDERSTAND and EMPLOY the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become AGENTS WHO ACT rather than objects that are acted upon (2 Nephi 2:14).” David A. Bednar “Strength Beyond our Own”

We only learn and grow when we ACT. My employment is a Life Skills Specialist at a therapy centre for Autism. I help children with many skills they need for life. One of those skills is dressing. One child had a goal of putting on socks. When a task is not able to be achieved, I ask, WHY CAN'T THIS BE DONE? Possible answers to this situation were fine motor difficulties, eye hand coordination, etc., etc. We worked on strengthening those skills, but the goal to put socks on was still not being achieved. The only thing I could think of was that the child always relied on someone else to do it for him. In other words - he was acted upon. We had to work on changing the behavior for HIM TO ACT (the student put his own sock on) instead of being acted upon (having someone else do it for him). It took a little bit of time and a lot of patience - but the child is now putting on his own socks. YAY!

I believe it is the same in many aspects in our lives. Do we have a challenge? Are we hoping for the situation to take care of itself or maybe hoping someone else will fix it for us - or, are we ACTION HEROS personally doing something about our situation? When we add the enabling power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, then we have a super power to help us in any situation.

This reminds me of something President Monson once said :"Work will win, when 

wishy, washy, wishing won't!"

To go with this message I printed out the pictures above with the quote, and wrapped it around a package of ACT II popcorn.

Here is the PDF if you would like to make it:

CLICK HERE

 Thanks for stopping by!