Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching

Brothers and Sisters,

Home teaching and Visiting teaching are vital to the spiritual welfare of families and wards.

 With this in mind I would ask for your help. Too many times we have had home-teachers who attempt to visit an active family and are told they are too busy, or are simply put off. 

Out of common courtesy, if a time proposed by your Home/Visiting teacher is inconvenient for you, please suggest another time in which they can come by. You may not feel your family is in need of the visit, but regular contact is necessary, if for no other reason than to establish that pattern in the minds and hearts of your children. 

Remember, those visitors are acting as God's messengers and as such are bringing an added measure of the spirit into your home. There is no telling what specific fruits of the spirit will be yielded by such visits, what message your spouse or child or you need to hear, or what knowledge the spirit may bring to your mind as you welcome God's servants into your home. 

I urge you to be accommodating in allowing home-teachers to come into your house. I do realize there are times when the proposed visit will not work, but please never just decline the invitation without offering up an alternative date/time. These are messengers of the Lord, acting under his direction to come unto you. Both you and they will be blessed as you act with flexibility to allow His prescribed methods of fellowshipping to be fulfilled.

 

Ward Regards, 

Bishop Alan Andrus

Bishop's Office

A Precious Testimony
by Bishop Alana Andrus

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, the most important knowledge you can obtain in this life is a testimony of the Saviour Jesus Christ and of His restored Gospel. All other truths necessary for your earthy and eternal happiness are contained therein. It is vital that one have a clear understanding of what a testimony is, and what it is not. To that end, I have compiled some thoughts on testimony that I wish we all might understand and discuss with our children.

Brigham Young stated, “Your testimony will grow gradually through your experiences. No one receives a complete testimony all at once. Your testimony will grow stronger through your experiences. It will expand as you show your willingness to serve in the Church, wherever you are called. It will increase as you make decisions to keep the commandments. As you lift and strengthen others, you will see that your testimony continues to develop. As you pray and fast, study the scriptures, attend Church meetings, and hear others share their testimonies, you will be blessed with moments of inspiration that will bolster your testimony. Such moments will come throughout your life as you strive to live the gospel.”

A valid testimony of the gospel is based on the following three factors:

1. A spiritual conviction. The individual must have a true spiritual confirmation and revelation that the Church is true…one knows that the gospel is true through the power of the Holy Ghost.

2. A practical conviction. The gospel must work in the life of the individual so that he actually enjoys the gifts and fruits of the Spirit. In other words, one knows the gospel is true because it works when he lives it.

3. An intellectual conviction. There must be a rational consistency between the theology, religion, scriptures, and prophets, both living and dead. In other words, one knows the gospel is true because it’s reasonable and makes sense.

“A testimony is a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost. The foundation of a testimony is the knowledge that Heavenly Father lives and loves us; that Jesus Christ lives, that He is the Son of God, and that He carried out the infinite Atonement; that Joseph Smith is the prophet of God who was called to restore the gospel; that we are led by a living prophet today; and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior’s true Church on the earth. With this foundation, a testimony grows to include all principles of the gospel” (True to the Faith, Testimony, 178–79).

“Testimony comes through the quiet influence of the Holy Ghost. The results of a testimony can be miraculous and life changing, but the gift of testimony usually comes as a quiet assurance, without spectacular displays of God’s power. Even Alma, who had been visited by an angel and had seen God sitting on His throne, needed to fast and pray so he could receive a testimony through the power of the Holy Ghost (see Alma 5:45–46; Alma 36:8, Alma 36:22). - Brigham Young

“Remember these saying, for many of you will live to see them fulfilled. The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. If you do not have it, how can you stand?” (Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp.446, 449-450)” (Harold B. Lee in CR, 1965, p.128).

A valid testimony includes belief in the following truths:

1. God is a glorified and exalted man who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient with a body of flesh and bones and who lives in the family unit and we are literally His spirit children.

2. Jesus Christ is the literal Son of God in the flesh and therefore had the capacity to perform the atonement and, through His literal resurrection all who pass through mortality will likewise be resurrected, soon or late, with literal, perfect, physical bodies. A testimony of Christ hinges on the resurrection: “I believe that a testimony of Jesus Christ hinges on a belief in the resurrection. If Jesus rose from the dead, he is the Son of God! If he is the Son of God, his gospel is true! If his gospel is true, men must believe or disobey at their peril!” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Gaining a Testimony of Jesus Christ, Ensign 10 (December 1980): 11).

3. Joseph Smith’s First Vision was a real historical event during which he literally saw the Father and the Son.

4. The Book of Mormon chronicles historical reality and is true as are the other Standard Works of the Church and was translated by the gift and power of God by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

5. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God through whom the modern gospel dispensation was restored and over which he presides today.

6. Because of the baneful effects of the Great Apostasy, the priesthood and its keys have been restored by heavenly messengers and are operative in the Church today.

7. The plan of salvation or the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and contains the principles, ordinances, and covenants which give access to the full blessings and graces of the Atonement.

8. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased” (see D&C 1:30) and as the earthly Kingdom of God it will triumph in all nations in preparing a people for the millennial reign of Christ.

9. The keys of the kingdom were transferred by Joseph Smith to the Quorum of the Twelve in March, 1844 and have been held by every man who has presided over the Church to the present day.

10. President Monson is a living prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Do not exhort each other; that is not a testimony. Do not tell others how to live. Just tell how you feel inside. That is the testimony. The moment you begin preaching to others, your testimony ended. Just tell us how you feel, what your mind and heart and every fiber of your body tells you” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 158).

“Oh, if I could teach you this one principle. A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it! Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that ‘leap of faith,’ as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and stepped into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two. (President Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Jan. 1983, 54–55).

“Testimony meetings are some of the best meetings in the ward in the whole month, if you have the spirit. If you are bored at a testimony meeting, there is something the matter with you, and not the other people. You can get up and bear your testimony and you think it is the best meeting in the month; but if you sit there and count the grammatical errors and laugh at the man who can’t speak very well, you’ll be bored, and on that board you’ll slip right out of the Kingdom. Don’t forget it! You have to fight for a testimony. You have to keep fighting! Every month the First Presidency and the Twelve meet with all the General Authorities in the temple. They bear testimony... Why do the General Authorities need a testimony meeting? The same reason that you need a testimony meeting. Do you think that you can go three, and six, and nine, and twelve months without bearing your testimony and still keep its full value? Some of our good people get so terrified at triteness that they try to steer around and away from their testimonies by getting out on the fringes. Don’t you ever worry about triteness in your testimony? When the President of the Church bears his testimony, he says, “I know that Joseph Smith was called of God, a divine representative. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” You see, the same thing every one of you says. That is a testimony. It never gets old, never gets old! Tell the Lord frequently how much you love him. A testimony is not an exhortation; a testimony is not a sermon; it is not a travelogue. You are there to bear your own witness. It is amazing what you can say in 60 seconds by way of testimony, or 120, or 240, or whatever time you are given, if you confine yourselves to testimony. We’d like to know how you feel… Do you love the Lord?” (Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Testimony,” New Era, Aug. 1981, 4)

Finally, men captained by Christ will be consumed in Christ. To paraphrase President Harold B. Lee, they set fire in others because they are on fire. (Stand Ye in Holy Places, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, p. 192.)

Bishop's Office

He is Risen
by Adam B. Jones

I love to watch my little girls hunt for colorful eggs on Easter morning. But for me, personally, Easter has real meaning when I picture what it will be like to see my father once again in the Resurrection. I last saw him when I was three, and like anyone who has lost a loved one knows, there is nothing in this world that could complete us more than seeing our loved ones again. There IS no greater message than the message that One has overcome death, and there IS no greater promise than the promise that we will be in the flesh with those we love once again. This is the message of joy we can share as we celebrate Easter-- the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and what it means to us personally.


The Prophet Joseph Smith helps us understand some of the blessings we will enjoy when we are resurrected. He said:

“Those who have died in Jesus Christ may expect to enter into all that fruition of joy when they come forth, which they possessed or anticipated here.
So plain was [my] vision [of the resurrection], that I actually saw men, before they had ascended from the tomb, as though they were getting up slowly. They took each other by the hand and said to each other, “My father, my son, my mother, my daughter, my brother, my sister.” And when the voice calls for the dead to arise, suppose I am laid by the side of my father, what would be the first joy of my heart? To meet my father, my mother, my brother, my sister; and when they are by my side, I embrace them and they me.
All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it.
The expectation of seeing my friends in the morning of the resurrection cheers my soul and makes me bear up against the evils of life. ”(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938), pp. 295–296).

We truly have reason to rejoice over the Resurrection that is to come. It will affect every one of us. It is more than we can comprehend that all who have lived will live again and yet we know it’s true. We have record of the One who overcame death and made this possible. We have a whole day to celebrate, marvel, and worship Him who overcame death. President Spencer W. Kimball says this about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

“Only a God could bring about this miracle of resurrection. As a teacher of righteousness, Jesus could inspire souls to goodness; as a prophet, he could foreshadow the future; as an intelligent leader of men, he could organize a church; and as a possessor and magnifier of the priesthood, he could heal the sick, give sight to the blind, even raise other dead; but only as a God could he raise himself from the tomb, overcome death permanently, and bring incorruption in place of corruption, and replace mortality with immortality. …
“No human hands had been at work to remove the sealed door nor to resuscitate nor restore. No magician nor sorcerer had invaded the precincts to work his cures; not even the priesthood, exercised by another, had been brought in use to heal, but the God who had purposefully and intentionally laid down his life had, by the power of his godhead, taken up his life again. … The spirit which had been by him commended to his Father in Heaven from the cross, and which, according to his later reports, had been to the spirit world, had returned and, ignoring the impenetrable walls of the sepulcher, had entered the place, re-entered the body, had caused the stone door to be rolled away, and walked in life again, with his body changed to immortality, incorruptible—his every faculty keen and alert.
“Unexplainable? Yes! And not understandable—but incontestable. More than 500 unimpeachable witnesses had contact with him. They walked with him, talked with him, ate with him, felt the flesh of his body and saw the wounds in his side and feet and hands; discussed with him the program which had been common to them, and him; and, by many infallible proofs knew and testified that he was risen, and that last and most dreaded enemy, death, had been overcome. …
“And so we bear testimony that the being who created the earth and its contents, who made numerous appearances upon the earth prior to his birth in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is resurrected and immortal, and that this great boon of resurrection and immortality becomes now, through our Redeemer, the heritage of mankind” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 17–18).

I echo these words, that He Lives! Christ has overcome death and promised us that we, too, will live again.

I’m sure that on Easter morning I will enjoy watching my little girls hunt for colorful eggs. But the real joy and peace will be deep as I get to explain to them what happened years ago on Easter Morning that will allow them to live with Candice and I forever and even be there as I reunite with my own father once again.

Bishop's Office

Celebrating Peace Through Testimony
by Alan Andrus

As Christmas approaches we have much to celebrate. As we mark the beginning of our Savior's sojourn on earth we are mindful of how His life has shaped ours. Unfortunately, for many this year the spirit of the season will be dampened by worry and despair, by sadness, over present pain, and anxiety over what the future may hold. With so many caught in the grip of an economic crisis, unseen in our lifetimes, it can be difficult to find joy in the season.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said "It is not easy to be honest when all about you there are those who are interested only in making 'a fast buck.' It is not always easy to be temperate when all about you there are those who scoff at sobriety. It is not easy to be industrious when all about you there are those who do not believe in the value of work. It is not easy to be a man of integrity when all about you there are those who will forsake principles for expediency.

". . . but a man . . . has to live with his conscience. A man has to live with his principles. A man has to live with his convictions. A man has to live with his testimony. Unless he does so, he is miserable—dreadfully miserable. And while there may be thorns, while there may be disappointment, while there may be trouble and travail, heartache and heartbreak, and desperate loneliness, there will be peace and comfort and strength" (The Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 265-266).

I like the perspective President Hinckley’s comments bring: without testimony a man is miserable, with a testimony there will be peace and comfort and strength.

Let us find joy as we increase our faith, let us increase our faith by feeding His sheep, let us be grateful for our testimonies of our Savior, whose birth and life we celebrate.

March - May 2008 Edition

Volume 4, Issue 2

Bishop's Office: Exercising Faith

By Todd Dudley

Why is it that whenever I turn around, the family room or kitchen is a mess? Why do I constantly lose the battle with weight unless I'm diligent about exercise and eating right? Why can't the room just stay clean—or better yet, clean itself? Why can't I just snap my fingers and watch the weight drip off? Unfortunately, the tendency toward disorder, toward the less desirable, is the default in life, a condition called entropy. The idea is that it takes constant effort not only to move things forward, but even just to keep things as they are.

The principle of entropy holds true in our spiritual lives, also. If we are not constantly striving to progress, the natural tendency is to regress, to shrink. In Helaman 3:36 we read about the Nephites and the "great pride which had gotten into the hearts of the people; and it was because of their exceedingly great riches and their prosperity in the land; and it did grow upon them from day to day." The natural course for the pride that they had allowed to enter their hearts, if left unchecked, was to grow. Just as weeds that naturally spring forth and need very little encouragement or nourishment to flourish, and have done so since Adam and Eve left the presence of God in the Garden, natural inclinations such as pride seem to grow all too naturally, eventually taking over our garden--unless we intervene. In Helaman 3:35 we read about some of the Nephites who did just that:

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

It takes constant effort, such as the example of fasting and praying oft, in order for us to reach the spiritual heights that our Father desires for us. Unless we are willing to exercise our faith in such a way, we will shrink until we become, as described by Elder Maxwell, spiritual ciphers.

Let us constantly work against the natural tendencies in all of us by exercising our faith unto repentance, working out our salvation, never resting in this constant struggle for our souls. And then we will be able, "having done all, to stand" (Eph 6:13).

January - February 2008 Edition

Volume 4, Issue 1

Bishop's Office: Taking Stock

By Todd Dudley

We just enjoyed a wonderful ward conference during which we heard President Norman talk about the stake theme, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it" (Psalms 127:1). I felt prompted to reevaluate my own life and home. There are so many areas to look at: media, family time, sacred time. For example, how often do I immerse myself in the scriptures? Not as often as I immerse myself in music, movies, or TV, unfortunately.

Perhaps I should scrutinize the media that I enjoy, using this standard given by Elder Bednar: "The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing. If that which is intended to entertain, for example, alienates us from the Holy Spirit, then certainly that type of entertainment is not for us." ("That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us," Ensign May 2006.)

Even if my music, movies, internet, and TV do measure up to that standard, there is another principle that I must keep in mind, one that is well articulated by Elder Oaks: "Just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives." ("Good, Better, Best," Ensign Nov 2007.) Perhaps some of the time I ordinarily spend surfing, listening, or watching would be better spent with my family and my God.

I pray that we can all "be a little better," as President Hinckley encourages. As we sincerely take inventory of our lives and homes, the Spirit will help us to know where we can make changes to be more in line with the Lord and His will. As we make those changes, our faith will increase and our character will be strengthened. We will become more like our Father.