From Handbook 2: Administering the Church - 2010:
9.5.1 Responsibilities of Visiting Teachers
“Visiting teachers sincerely come to know and love each sister, help her strengthen her faith, and give service. They seek personal inspiration to know how to respond to the spiritual and temporal needs of each sister they are assigned to visit.
Taking into account each sister’s individual needs and circumstances, visiting teachers have regular contact (monthly if possible) with those they are assigned. When a personal visit is not possible, visiting teachers may use phone calls, letters, e-mail, or other means to watch over and strengthen sisters.
When appropriate, visiting teachers share a gospel message. These messages may be from the monthly visiting teaching message printed in the Ensign or Liahona magazine and the scriptures.
Visiting teachers give compassionate service during times of illness, death, and other special circumstances. They assist the Relief Society president in coordinating short-term and long-term assistance when invited.”
Some Suggestions to Watch Over and Strengthen
your assigned Sisters in our Ward (do add your own - and share them with us too!)
Find an inspired way to accomplish your Visiting Teaching assignment.
Find your companion. Counsel together. Seek personal inspiration. Pray for yourselves. Pray for the sisters you are privileged to get to know a little more personally as you Visit and Teach (verbally and non-verbally). Sincerely come to know, love, help, strengthen, and serve each other.
Make appointments with your sisters when you are going to visit them in person. Remember to dress appropriately. While you are visiting, schedule your next visit.
Visit face-to-face monthly at home, chapel or elsewhere - or at least once in three months – if at all possible. Be sensitive regarding their time as well as your own – you or your sisters may need a shorter/longer visit occasionally, or all the time.
You can also ‘watch over’ meaningfully by phone, sms, email, post a letter or card, or hand them a note.
In addition to these you can “visit” and “teach” informally on facebook, blogs, Skype etc, say hello in the shops, chapel or passages, appropriately smile and wave across the people between you, sit next to your sister in Church or Relief Society.
Visit your sisters on your own if - or when - necessary. The regular contact with each sister is important.
Report your visits - by sms, email or on paper.
Send/hand to the Visiting Teaching co-ordinator, or one of the presidency. (Talk to us by all means - we value that... however the best of us still has a fickle memory for remembering nearly one hundred visits assigned to be made each month! Your report by sms, email or on paper reminds us again of what you told us!)
Please also report changes of status, address etc.
Report VT spiritual and temporal needs and concerns (as well as your own) confidentially to your Relief Society President as soon as possible.
Finally… Please be reasonably available for your Visiting Teachers to visit and teach you!
