Why we Home Teach and Visit Teach

Why do we visit the homes of other members, active or not in the church? It is a great thing to be involved in. It is a blessing for me, the home teacher. I get to know great people better than I otherwise would. For example, this week my wife made me a book with anecdotes and thoughts about me from those I've associated with. One of those was from a couple I home taught who became great friends. It was my pleasure to get to know them. In LA I was friends with a single sister who I really love and admire and an inactive member who was having some hard times and thinking about returning to church. I loved being around them and learning about their lives. I was the one who was blessed by associating with them. I learned a lot, including to care more about others. It is my blessing to home teach.

Here's a story from Barbara Thompson about visiting teaching. It illustrates this point well.

I have experienced some of the most humbling, joyful, and spiritual experiences of my life as I have sat in the homes of women in my own ward and around the world. We have taught one another the gospel. We have cried together, laughed together, solved problems together, and I have been lifted and blessed.

One evening near the end of the month, I was preparing to leave town and still hadn’t visited one of my sisters. It was later in the evening. I had no appointment. I didn’t call. I had no partner. But I decided it was important to visit my friend Julie. Julie’s daughter Ashley was born with a brittle-bone disease. Although Ashley was almost six years old, she was very small and unable to do much of anything besides move her arms and speak. She lay on a sheepskin rug all day, every day. Ashley was a happy, cheerful child, and I loved being around her.

On this particular night when I got to the home, Julie invited me in and Ashley called out that she wanted to show me something. I went in and knelt down on the floor on one side of Ashley, and her mother was on the other side. Ashley said, “Look what I can do!” Then with a little assistance from her mother, Ashley was able to turn on her side and back again. It had taken her almost six years to accomplish this wonderful goal. As we clapped and cheered and laughed and cried together on this special occasion, I thanked Heavenly Father that I had gone visiting teaching and had not missed this great event. Even though that visit was many years ago and sweet Ashley has since passed away, I will be forever grateful that I had that special experience with her.