NO MORE HOME/VISITING TEACHING!

[John_Pack_Lambert]

Lots of times on my mission when going house to house we had people answer the door under clother, a few times nakes. However usually the door prevented having to see very much.

[Sunday21]

On 2018-04-03 at 11:01 AM, NightSG said:

Yup.  Even if you're naked.

Tested this out?

[zil]

5 hours ago, John_Pack_Lambert said:

I interpreted "receptive" as those who are OK with being visited, so if you have someone who proactievly says they do not want visits, you do not prioritize them. I've actually been in a branch where those who did not come to Church were made low priority home teaching contacts. If this was wise I cannot say.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the question.  (Given the lack of responses, I'm thinking everyone is as unsure as I am.  So we'll do as the bishop instructs. )

[omegaseamaster75]

6 hours ago, John_Pack_Lambert said:

My Dad at one point had a woman's lawyer call him up and threaten prosecution if he continued to try to contact her to do hometeaching. 

I love it when people threaten to sic their lawyers on me. Yes please give your money away so I can keep doing what I'm doing. Now if they call the cops that is another story.

[NightSG]

7 hours ago, John_Pack_Lambert said:

Lots of times on my mission when going house to house we had people answer the door under clother, a few times nakes. However usually the door prevented having to see very much.

Neighbor said I opened the door all the way, and invited her in.  She made some excuse about not being able to stay long, though.

Murle, on the other hand, likely walked right out the door, closing it behind him to keep the cat from getting out, and stood on the porch with the JWs the whole time.

[Grunt]

I w my on LDS Tools last night and noticed I had 4 people assigned to me under “ministering”.  One is active in the Church, but I’m not familiar with the other three ladies.   Nobody has said anything to me about ministering and everyone I’ve asked in my ward seems to have no information.  I’ll talk to the Bishop, but does anyone have any info?

I just start knocking?   If I don’t come back, assume I’ve been kidnapped. 

[zil]

Your EQP should have informed you of your companion and assignments. Sometimes they leave it to one companion to inform the other and that doesn't happen. 

As to how - minister as Christ would. Get to know them and their needs. Then figure out what you can do to help them.  After GC, your ward will presumably have some training.

Note: don't go alone to visit single sisters - take another adult with you.

[Sunday21]

26 minutes ago, Grunt said:

I w my on LDS Tools last night and noticed I had 4 people assigned to me under “ministering”.  One is active in the Church, but I’m not familiar with the other three ladies.   Nobody has said anything to me about ministering and everyone I’ve asked in my ward seems to have no information.  I’ll talk to the Bishop, but does anyone have any info?

I just start knocking?   If I don’t come back, assume I’ve been kidnapped. 

Dear @Grunt,

Good for you with respect to enthusiasm!

If I were you, I would hold off until this ‘ministering’ thing is introduced in Priesthood. Also, I would only go with your assigned companion. 

Edited April 8, 2018 by Sunday21

[Jane_Doe]

2 hours ago, Grunt said:

I w my on LDS Tools last night and noticed I had 4 people assigned to me under “ministering”.  One is active in the Church, but I’m not familiar with the other three ladies.   Nobody has said anything to me about ministering and everyone I’ve asked in my ward seems to have no information.  I’ll talk to the Bishop, but does anyone have any info?

I just start knocking?   If I don’t come back, assume I’ve been kidnapped. 

I'm guessing that's a left over thing / or your ward/stake trying to figure things out.  There seems to be a lot of local independence in this new program to do what works best in your area.

I know for my ward, today's announcement was: "Ok, so HT/VT programs are retired.  We are figuring out this new ministering thing.  Since this is something that need to be figured out jointly between the RS and EQ, we need to first wait until the new EQ get's itself sorted out, and then we'll figure out the ministering program."   Our ward conference is in 3 weeks, so they're probably official reorganize things then.  

[Grunt]

Thanks!   Oddly, it wasn’t there before.  I guess I’ll be told when they’re ready.  

[zil]

4 minutes ago, Grunt said:

Thanks!   Oddly, it wasn’t there before.  I guess I’ll be told when they’re ready.  

Yeah, normal members don't see this - either they've changed rights or the software believes you have a calling which requires you to see HTing (now Ministering) assignments.

[Grunt]

2 minutes ago, zil said:

Yeah, normal members don't see this - either they've changed rights or the software believes you have a calling which requires you to see HTing (now Ministering) assignments.

Did you just call me abnormal?

[zil]

2 minutes ago, Grunt said:

Did you just call me abnormal?

Worse!  I called you someone with a leadership calling.   At least, that's how LDSTools has been for a long time - only leadership see HT/VT assignments.  Can you also see who your HTers are?

[Grunt]

5 minutes ago, zil said:

Worse!  I called you someone with a leadership calling.   At least, that's how LDSTools has been for a long time - only leadership see HT/VT assignments.  Can you also see who your HTers are?

I wouldn’t even know where to look.  Nothing pops out at me.  

[zil]

Just now, Grunt said:

I wouldn’t even know where to look.  Nothing pops out at me.  

So, scroll through the directory and find your name and tap on it.  Everything I describe hereafter will be what I see as someone with a leadership calling, so you may or may not see it (obviously, I'm not looking at your record, but someone else's).

1) First is the "Household" tab.  This has phone, address, family members and their ages.  (People can set privacy settings, so you may or may not see these things; ages, I think, are only visible to leaders.)

2) At the bottom of the blue band to the right of "HOUSEHOLD" should be "CALLINGS AND CLASSES".  Tap that and it shifts to that page and shows, well, callings and classes for the family members.

3) Next is "MINISTERING", on this page, you have the following (they will only show up if there's both a husband and a wife as members, so adjust accordingly):

• Ministering Brothers (the priesthood holders assigned to minister to the family)
• Ministering Sisters - [Adult Female's Name] (the sisters assigned to minister to adult females in the home)
• Ministering Assignment - [Grunt's Name] (this is followed by the name of your companion and the names of those to whom you are assigned to minister)
• Ministering Assignment - [Adult Female's Name] (this is followed by the name of her companion and the names of the sisters to whom she is assigned to minister)

Variations:

* There's also a CONTACT tab when you're on an individual's page rather than a HOUSEHOLD's

* When you're on your own record, HOUSEHOLD is followed by MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION (you probably have to be on the individual's page rather than the household's)

I'd do a YouTube video like I did for the Gospel Library app (now outdated), except there's no mock login with mock data, so it would have been a royal pain to blur all the data; there's also no way to toggle between what a leader sees and what a normal user sees - and some leaders see even more.  So, I gave up before I started.

[Grunt]

8 minutes ago, zil said:

So, scroll through the directory and find your name and tap on it.  Everything I describe hereafter will be what I see as someone with a leadership calling, so you may or may not see it (obviously, I'm not looking at your record, but someone else's).

1) First is the "Household" tab.  This has phone, address, family members and their ages.  (People can set privacy settings, so you may or may not see these things; ages, I think, are only visible to leaders.)

2) At the bottom of the blue band to the right of "HOUSEHOLD" should be "CALLINGS AND CLASSES".  Tap that and it shifts to that page and shows, well, callings and classes for the family members.

3) Next is "MINISTERING", on this page, you have the following (they will only show up if there's both a husband and a wife as members, so adjust accordingly):

• Ministering Brothers (the priesthood holders assigned to minister to the family)
• Ministering Sisters - [Adult Female's Name] (the sisters assigned to minister to adult females in the home)
• Ministering Assignment - [Grunt's Name] (this is followed by the name of your companion and the names of those to whom you are assigned to minister)
• Ministering Assignment - [Adult Female's Name] (this is followed by the name of her companion and the names of the sisters to whom she is assigned to minister)

Variations:

* There's also a CONTACT tab when you're on an individual's page rather than a HOUSEHOLD's

* When you're on your own record, HOUSEHOLD is followed by MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION (you probably have to be on the individual's page rather than the household's)

I'd do a YouTube video like I did for the Gospel Library app (now outdated), except there's no mock login with mock data, so it would have been a royal pain to blur all the data; there's also no way to toggle between what a leader sees and what a normal user sees - and some leaders see even more.  So, I gave up before I started.

No, I can’t see assigned teachers.  Only callings.  

[zil]

1 minute ago, Grunt said:

No, I can’t see assigned teachers.  Only callings.  

Then what does this mean:

7 hours ago, Grunt said:

I w my on LDS Tools last night and noticed I had 4 people assigned to me under “ministering”.  One is active in the Church, but I’m not familiar with the other three ladies.   Nobody has said anything to me about ministering and everyone I’ve asked in my ward seems to have no information.  I’ll talk to the Bishop, but does anyone have any info?

I just start knocking?   If I don’t come back, assume I’ve been kidnapped. 

...?  Or by "Callings" did you mean "Ministering Assignment"?  (If the latter, then.... Interesting.  Very interesting.)

[Grunt]

3 minutes ago, zil said:

Then what does this mean:

...?  Or by "Callings" did you mean "Ministering Assignment"?  (If the latter, then.... Interesting.  Very interesting.)

Under the tab “ministering” there are 4 names, which I assumed I was assigned to minister to.  

[zil]

42 minutes ago, Grunt said:

Under the tab “ministering” there are 4 names, which I assumed I was assigned to minister to.  

Sounds like it.

"Ministering Assignment" is who you minister to (those you home teach).  Your companion should also be listed here (if you have one).

"Ministering Brothers" is who ministers to you (your home teachers).

[jewels8]

On 4/1/2018 at 2:39 PM, Grunt said:

I'm interested in what "ministering" will look like.  I was really looking forward to being a Home Teacher.  Interestingly, only council members can currently see the details.  Will it be a calling?  Is it a request to everyone?  It looks like there is reporting involved quarterly, but who does it?

are you sure we don't report monthly?

[jewels8]

will there be a monthly lesson still in the Ensign?

[zil]

13 minutes ago, jewels8 said:

are you sure we don't report monthly?

100%.  It is quarterly, in an interview with a member of the presidency - preferably in person and with your companion.

13 minutes ago, jewels8 said:

will there be a monthly lesson still in the Ensign?

The last lesson for VTing was in Dec 2017.  From Jan 2018 to Mar 2018 they were principles to help you minister to your assigned sisters.  As of April's Ensign, there was no First Presidency message (or that message said there wouldn't be any more) and no VT principle article.  The Ensign messages are gone.

[seashmore]

8 hours ago, Jane_Doe said:

10 hours ago, Grunt said:

I w my on LDS Tools last night and noticed I had 4 people assigned to me under “ministering”.  One is active in the Church, but I’m not familiar with the other three ladies.   Nobody has said anything to me about ministering and everyone I’ve asked in my ward seems to have no information.  I’ll talk to the Bishop, but does anyone have any info?

I just start knocking?   If I don’t come back, assume I’ve been kidnapped. 

I'm guessing that's a left over thing / or your ward/stake trying to figure things out.  There seems to be a lot of local independence in this new program to do what works best in your area.

I know for my ward, today's announcement was: "Ok, so HT/VT programs are retired.  We are figuring out this new ministering thing.  Since this is something that need to be figured out jointly between the RS and EQ, we need to first wait until the new EQ get's itself sorted out, and then we'll figure out the ministering program."   Our ward conference is in 3 weeks, so they're probably official reorganize things then.  

We have branch conference next week, and I'm all but expecting that our adult lesson/class will be on ministering and the new program.  We have so few M. Priesthood holders that we've essentially had a combined quorum already for the last....ever.  It seems that there's always been a high priest called to be in the EQ Presidency for that reason, and they've called one within the last six months, so we aren't expecting to call or reorganize an existing presidency....side note: is it still called the EQ, or are we calling it Melchezidek Priesthood Quorum/Presidency? 

@Grunt as far as your seeing your ministering lists, I'm guessing that's an experimental thing.  On my iPad, I can still see who my "home teachers" are when looking at my own profile.  (Even after syncing and checking for updates.)  Interestingly, the path to this information on my Android phone is different, so individual experiences may vary in that respect.  But they both still use previous terminology.

Our branch mission leader mentioned in our discussion that if he felt impressed to go and visit a member that he would not hesitate to go (and grab a companion along the way if necessary) regardless of whether or not he was their assigned home teacher.  Our branch clerk/executive secretary said that some people had developed the mentality that "I can't go and visit that family because I'm not their home/visiting teacher" and is hoping that ministering will change that. 

[zil]

8 hours ago, seashmore said:

side note: is it still called the EQ, or are we calling it Melchezidek Priesthood Quorum/Presidency? 

It's still called Elder's Quorum.  I thought this post by @Vort was an excellent explanation of why both the name and the single quorum are good and right:

8 hours ago, seashmore said:

On my iPad, I can still see who my "home teachers" are when looking at my own profile.  (Even after syncing and checking for updates.)  Interestingly, the path to this information on my Android phone is different, so individual experiences may vary in that respect.  But they both still use previous terminology.

I had to go to the app store and install an update to LDSTools before the terminology changed.

Edited April 9, 2018 by zil

[jewels8]

11 hours ago, zil said:

100%.  It is quarterly, in an interview with a member of the presidency - preferably in person and with your companion.

The last lesson for VTing was in Dec 2017.  From Jan 2018 to Mar 2018 they were principles to help you minister to your assigned sisters.  As of April's Ensign, there was no First Presidency message (or that message said there wouldn't be any more) and no VT principle article.  The Ensign messages are gone.

Yes, I know that had changed.  I guess I needed to use different terminology.  What I meant is , will there still be some sort of monthly guidance in the Ensign for ministering?  I think their might be