Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers

Imagine moving to a new city where you don’t know anyone and discovering four people have been asked to look after you-showing you how to find things, making sure you’re invited to the important and fun things that are happening, checking to see if you need any help with anything.

This is how it is for Mormons. Each member of the church is assigned a pair of home teachers, and each woman also receives two visiting teachers as well. This special program makes sure everyone is looked after, even if their congregation is very large. The bishop (similar to a pastor) is a volunteer, and so can’t get to everyone. This program is designed to help.

Home teachers are always men, since they are members of the priesthood. A young man is first invited to become a home teacher at the age of fourteen, paired with an adult, usually his father. In ideal situations, each family is assigned two home teachers, who visit the home together, meeting with the entire family. They teach a brief spiritual lesson on an assigned topic unless the family has a special request for a particular topic. They also spend time getting to know the family, particularly the husband, building a relationship of trust so the family will feel safe turning to them in times of need.

When a Mormon faces a crisis or need, he turns first to his home teachers, whether it’s for help moving, or something more serious, such as unemployment. The home teachers do what they can for the family, and refer the problem to their leaders when it is more than they can or should take on themselves. Being a father is an overwhelming experience and it is comforting to know where you can turn for help.

Women receive additional connections through their two visiting teachers. All visiting teachers are at least eighteen years old, since they must be members of the Relief Society, the adult women’s auxiliary. Like the men, they visit the home monthly, but only visit the adult women in the home. They work to build a true friendship with the women they visit, and stay alert to signs the woman may need a meal brought in during illness, a plate of cookies on a bad day, or even a babysitter for a doctor’s appointment. It’s considered an honor to be able to serve those women the visiting teachers visit.

This program actually creates a network of relationships, since the home and visiting teachers usually have two to four families they see, including those who are not active, and therefore not participating as home or visiting teachers. As a result, a women will develop a friendship with her own two visiting teachers, and as many as four other women she herself visits, and in addition, builds a friendship with her visiting teaching companion-the person she visits with. For a person who is new, this is an instantly large network of friends.

The program also benefits the elderly or disabled who can’t leave their homes and may not have family nearby. It creates a safety net, as home and visiting teachers often check on these people daily to be sure they are okay. In addition to safety, they have friends who come to see them often, which helps to stem the loneliness of being unable to leave home.

Home and visiting teaching is an inspired program which brings comfort, safety and connectability to a congregation with many members.