I have been probably about a 90-95% hometeacher for the past 10 years. I have served as a ward missionary as well as in various Elders quorum presidencies. I am currently the Elders quorum president in my ward.

I think that both of you, Kim and Smiles, have brought up valid points, of which we as an Elders Quorum Presidency and Ward Counsel struggle with on a monthly basis.

As we have tried different options over the years, it seems that the most effective solutions “for us” have been as follows.

First of all, you have to have leaders that are willing to do the work and set the example. Just as, and in many cases more, important to having a good EQ Presidency, the ward mission leader/missionaries can play a critical role in helping to take care of the extremely important visits to new and less active members.

Our Bishop called 10 ward missionaries, of which 5 were extremely active members. He informed them that he has invested more in the ward missionary program than any other organization.

Ward missionaries committed to two days each month in which they could go and help visit new members and families that hometeachers were having a hard time visiting. This information was reported each week to the bishop during ward counsel and in most cases could count as a home/visiting teaching visit.

As an EQ Presidency, we have focused on consistenly starting to do PPI’s monthly,(a program that has, until recently, been non-existent). Of course we don’t try to make it seem like a sit down interview each month. It is more of just a friendly conversation in which we try to get a commitment out of each of the hometeachers to visit their families. During these interviews, we also try to get a feeling for which families would be a little easier for them to visit. It is always easier to make the initial HT visit with someone that you already know, or wouldn’t mind visiting. The handfull, (or less) that faithfully HT each month, and that generally don’t have a difficult time putting themselves in front of new faces, are assigned some of the more difficult families. (In many cases even if the hometeacher can’t get a hold of these, the ward missionaries may have been able to catch them.)

Although this definitely isn’t a perfect solution, our numbers have consistenly gone up. And although many of you say it’s not about the numbers. To me it is. I love looking into an Elders Quorum meeting that has almost doubled in size over the past couple years, in large part due to less-active elders that have recently started coming because of the continuous efforts of the ward.

Home teaching is part of your priesthood repsonsibilities and stewardship. Why couldn’t they get their office of their respective priesthood be put on probabtion if they didn’t get their HT done?

My visiting teacher up till last summer had been mime for over 4 years. She never missed a single month. There were months she had no companion cause she bagged out. But this sister also had a full and a part time job and came to my home at least once a month at many times twice. Each and every week she called me and most months I would get a card in my snail mail from her.

Changing the perspecitve of quality instead of quantity isn’t going to get the numbers up any higher. Our bishop doesn’t even do his HT. The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.

I have heard SO MANY times from the priesthood in different wands that I have been in, that women can get out to doo their visiting teaching as they aren’t as busy as men are.

Uh huh… sure…

Actually, there is at least one. Some people don’t want home or visiting teachers. Most wards have them and as long as they exist, 100% home teaching isn’t attainable.

“Changing the perspecitve of quality instead of quantity isn’t going to get the numbers up any higher.”

That’s not the point. It’s not about the numbers. It’s about making sure those who need the visits most are receiving them.

It wasn’t a matter of being too busy. There simply weren’t enough men in the ward to visit everyone on a regular basis.

No. My faith is solid. How’s yours?

What an odd thing in which to place one’s faith. Personally, I have placed my faith in Jesus being my Saviour.

yes I understand that you can never have 100% as there are those, although very very few, members who do NOT want any contact. But I am talking about 100% of those that are not in that category.

“That’s not the point. It’s not about the numbers. It’s about making sure those who need the visits most are receiving them”

and who gets to decide who needs the visits the most? EQ President? the Bishop? the members themselves? Just because a family or individual is very active does not mean they do not “need” a visit.

For example, there is a family in our ward, have callings. members for long time, very active etc.. she was just put in hospital this week for severe case of anorexia/bulemia and severe depression. It was through a “normal” home teaching visit that one of the home teachers, who happens to work in the medical field, noticed very red lines in her eyes when he went to shake her hand. Combined with a very noticeable weight loss in a short period of time he approached the subject of anorexia. She broke down and admitted what she had been doing to lose 85 pounds in 3 months.

Now if this “choosing” who needs visits the most such as inactives etc was in place, this family would have been left to fend for themselves because to the outside eye this was an active family and they didn’t need a visit. Now would this information about this sister have come out on its own at a later date? Who knows.

But what I do know is if the home teaching program is changed to one of visiting only the needy well all I can say is that would be a very sad day for me.