This comes from the description of love or charity in 1 Corinthians 13:8. In some more modern translations of The Bible, Charity is translated as Love. How do we see this motto operating in our lives? I have seen it in so many ways this past year as I have been president of the organization in my ward at church.
We have had a few funerals and memorial services. That is to be expected in a congregation that includes a couple of nursing/retirement homes and with significant numbers of members well into their nineties. We pull together in these times to comfort and feed the living, and to remember the deceased. For each service, the women I work with have helped set up, provided food, and cleaned up when everything was done. Sometimes we were able to sit through the service, sometimes we were in the kitchen listening. In all cases, the service was done with love.
Visiting teachers in Relief Society are assigned to watch over every adult woman. In the best of cases, they become friends. A woman who encounters a challenge can call upon her visiting teacher to ask for assistance and knows that someone will help. If the need is greater than the visiting teacher can meet, she contacts me or one of my counselors to coordinate additional assistance. We have two women who coordinate a variety of compassionate services, from meals at the funerals, to meals or help in the home for those who are ill. I know we can call on almost anyone at church and, if they are able they will provide assistance.
In other cases, the women do not become friends, but even so, they still care for each other and meet the needs of the sisters they visit. We try to set it up so that everyone has two visiting teachers who visit together, but that is not always possible. In our congregation, there are over 160 women to visit, and there are about forty women who are available to visit. Some work so many hours, they can only visit one or two. Others have a little more flexibility. But, if they visit in pairs, that means twenty pairs to visit eight women each-that's a little overwhelming.
Many of the women we have stewardship to watch over no longer come to church. they have not disassociated themselves, but they no longer feel the need to attend. Some of them welcome visits, others do not. Those that do not have visiting teachers who send a note instead of visiting in person. Others have moved and are visited by friends or family through Facebook or by phone. My goal is that all of these women know that there is someone at church they could call upon if a need arose.
One aspect of my job as president is to try to search out the lost sheep-those who no longer join our fellowship but have not chosen to have their names removed from membership. I hope we can love them back into participating. We send birthday cards to everyone and when someone moves, they eventually are returned as unforwardable. then, I spend time online doing research to see if I can locate them. In the past year, I have been able to find new addresses for about twenty women. Since I use free resources, it takes about a year after they move before I can get an updated address. I am grateful for these various search engines that help me locate the lost sheep. If all of the visiting teachers could visit in person, this would be a lot easier. However, that is not always possible. I also ask our sister missionaries to visit some of the unknown each month. Sometimes they are welcomed, sometimes not. My goal is that everyone gets a live visit once or twice a year-even the half dozen who are not really receptive.
Charity is so much more than donating unwanted clothes or a few dollars to a good cause. Those new translations that call it love are correct. True charity is love as Christ loves us. As we grow closer to the Savior, we hope to grow more like him. Showing love as he does is one way to demonstrate that growth. I know this calling has helped me grow in love and service. I am grateful that we have an organization that tries to live the motto and looks to love. I am also grateful for a ward family in which to learn to better serve and love.
