Visiting teaching is much more than a visit or sharing a thought with a sister. It is how we connect with one another. We share hearts and souls and extend charity, which is "the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love" (Bible Dictionary, "Charity," 632). Visiting teaching brings the love of the Lord to every home and to every sister. It is a sacred trust we have been given.

Why do sisters do visiting teaching? Mosiah describes it this way: "To bear one another's burdens, . . . to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:8–9).

Visiting teaching is the heart and soul of Relief Society. The purposes of visiting teaching are to build caring relationships with each sister and to offer support, comfort, and friendship. In visiting teaching, both the giver and the receiver are blessed and strengthened in their Church activity by their caring concern for one another.

This caring concern is described in Moroni 6:4: “And after they had been received unto baptism, . . . they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way.”

To be named and numbered has special significance for those in need. Elder Henry B. Eyring describes it beautifully:

“You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands. . . . Your calling is to bless lives. That will be true even in the most ordinary tasks you are assigned. . . . You see, there are no small callings to represent the Lord” (“Rise to Your Call,” Ensign, Nov. 2002, 76).