E-mail Home Teaching

Hi Gramps,

Each month (for the past 10, maybe 20 years) I get a short email asking if I completed my Home Teaching. Nothing else, no inquiries about the families just “Did you do it?” I find that troublesome. Have the Priesthood guidelines relaxed that much where only the numbers are important and no one cares about the welfare of members being home taught. Maybe we can do our Home Teaching by just making email contact instead of a personal visit. I probably know your answer already. What could I do to reverse this trend without offending any of the Priesthood leaders?

Peter

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Peter,

The responsibility of reporting our home teaching is placed upon the Home Teacher and not the Elder’s Quorum President, Counselors, or Home Teaching Supervisors.

I would be less concerned regarding how the email is received or the wording of the email. I would be more concerned with how I report my home teaching. In the email I would respond by mentioning each family by name, informing the leaders of any circumstances they need to be aware of, how the family appears to be, etc…

If I wasn’t able to visit any families the prior month, then I would let them know by explaining how I wasn’t able to visit each of my families and mention each family by name. Example: Brother and Sister Blake — I was not able to visit. They appear to be fine from last months visit. The family is currently stable financially….

The key is in how we personally report our responsibility as home teachers, not necessarily how our leaders ask.

The responsibility to train and educate a supervisor or the quorum presidency is to be accomplished by those who issued the call.

I personally, in accordance with your comment regarding emailing your home teaching families, wouldn’t feel as if I was magnifying my responsibility before the Lord if I just emailed the family. We are counseled to enter the “home” of the family and give a lesson — teach the doctrines of the gospel, pray, and serve.

Sincerely,

Gramps