Purpose of Home Teaching

[_Buffalo]

Home Teachers are so that there can always be someone to call in the middle of the night to help you give your child a blessing to heal them.





Of course, if they would lift the priesthood ban on women Home Teachers would not be called in the middle of the night.





Then again, if people would seek medical attention if it is that bad in the middle of the night rather than calling the neighbor man to rub oil on the kids head then it would probably be even better!

Each paragraph here is better than the previous one. Good work!

[_Wisdom Seeker]

Church, President Ezra Taft Benson taught:

"Tonight I am not teaching new doctrine, but I am reaffirming old doctrine. Quoting from section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants, revealed to the Prophet Joseph in April of 1830, the Lord declared to the priesthood:

" 'Watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them;

" 'And see that there is no iniquity in the church.

" 'And see that the church meet together often, and also see that all the members do their duty' (D&C 20:53–55).

" 'And visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties' (D&C 20:51).

"Brethren, that is priesthood home teaching"

It does sound more like police work and not really a teaching job. Is this not the actual defined role for typical 14-15 year old "Teachers" in the Aaronic Priesthood?

I moved on from being a "Teacher" many years ago, I am an Elder, I don't want to be an unwelcome guest telling others what to do. I believe the father of the home has every right to run his home the way he wants it to be ran. And if this means no home teachers then I should have the very right to refuse the assignment.

[_Rambo]

I hated home teaching. It was always something on my mind that I had to do and I would get told after if I didn't do it.

I would goof around with the people I home taught and told them that I should home teach them at 11:55 pm at the end of the month. That way we could do two months with one visit.

Sadly no one agreed to this.

[_Jonah]

I remember years ago moving into a ward in Reno, NV. The Bishop made a practice of meeting with everyone who moved into the ward to get to know them a little and find out if they had any needs to be met. One of the questions he asked me was if I wanted to have home teachers. I was kind of stunned and said, "I didn't know I had an option." He explained that with Reno being a "24 hour town", some people worked odd hours and would be difficult to schedule, and....some people just didn't want to be bothered. Why waste time and energy on those who didn't wish to be home taught? Wow, I could barely contain the smile on my face. I told him, "How about we start off with no home teachers and should I feel the need for them I'll get back to ya." He was fine with that.

As I left the meeting and walked to my car I believe I actually jumped for joy and clicked my heels together. This Bishop would make several other decisions over time that made me wonder if I was still a member of the "One True Church". The decisions actually were sound and made sense. Not what I was used to.

[Guest]

When was the last time you did home teaching?

1990. But I do have home teachers. Now I must confess that for many years I wasn't visited. But now, one of them sees me every so often as a home teacher. And I do see him at church for a chat. My home teachers don't quite see eye to eye on things and so with me, I see one of them who is a friend of mine. We usually go out to eat.

I think that it is rather comforting to have home teachers. In case of need, one can call them for help.

[_why me]

I hated home teaching. It was always something on my mind that I had to do and I would get told after if I didn't do it.

It is a state of mind. We need to remember that the purpose of home teaching to strenghten the LDS church and do service. The home teachers make sure that all is well in the family and if they are in need to take care of them. No problem with that at all.

I remember that many years ago I said in priesthood that one should have the desire to home teach and if one doesn't they shouldn't do it. My comment brought up some discussion.

[_why me]

As I left the meeting and walked to my car I believe I actually jumped for joy and clicked my heels together. This Bishop would make several other decisions over time that made me wonder if I was still a member of the "One True Church". The decisions actually were sound and made sense. Not what I was used to.

Did you call him when you needed help?

[_Wisdom Seeker]

I remember that many years ago I said in priesthood that one should have the desire to home teach and if one doesn't they shouldn't do it. My comment brought up some discussion.

I agree with you!! I don't have a desire to home teach and not only should I not do it, but the EQ president should not assign me families to home teach. And, yes the EQ president knows that I don't want to be a home teacher.

[_why me]

I agree with you!! I don't have a desire to home teach and not only should I not do it, but the EQ president should not assign me families to home teach. And, yes the EQ president knows that I don't want to be a home teacher.

Of course, today because people are busy trying to survive, home teaching can be far from peoples minds. But in the past, when people had more free time, and less survival worries, it worked quite well. People had more time to open their doors and be more welcoming.

The purpose of home teaching was to care for the families who were assigned to the persons. It was a good principle and it did strengthen the church from within. Now when one looks at home teaching not as a chore but as an act of service for others, it is really not so bad. But...men have a lot of problems servicing their own families today...never mind being service to others.

[_jon]

I agree with you!! I don't have a desire to home teach and not only should I not do it, but the EQ president should not assign me families to home teach. And, yes the EQ president knows that I don't want to be a home teacher.

Of course, today because people are busy trying to survive, home teaching can be far from peoples minds. But in the past, when people had more free time, and less survival worries, it worked quite well. People had more time to open their doors and be more welcoming.

The purpose of home teaching was to care for the families who were assigned to the persons. It was a good principle and it did strengthen the church from within. Now when one looks at home teaching not as a chore but as an act of service for others, it is really not so bad. But...men have a lot of problems servicing their own families today...never mind being service to others.

This is an interesting post.
Because in theory, at a time when it is needed the most (to care and support families and to spiritually lift them), Home Teaching assignments are becoming less likely to be fulfilled.
This is a flaw in the way Home Teaching is set up. During times of need people focus first on helping their own family members, their own extended family members, their own friends and their own neighbours and their own colleagues - leaving little time for the additional burden of someone else's family, friend, neighbour or colleague.
If your Home Teaching assignments were, instead of being based on geography, your family members, your friends, your neighbours and your colleagues, chances are you'd be a lot closer to 100% completion. So, if my Father lived in a different Ward to me, if he was on my assignment list I'd be 100% with him. If I had a non member son but he was on my assignment list, I'd be 100% with him. And so on.

Your list would look something like this:
Family 1; Your Mum and Dad
Family 2; Your Children
Family 3; Your neighbours
Family 4; Your colleagues at work
Family 5; A family in the ward that weren't already covered by Family or Friends.

If your Priesthood assignment was on this basis then the Elders and High Priests wouldn't need beating every week to get their visits done.