Uplift Airlines Visiting Teaching Relief Society Meeting

So a few months ago, I Instagrammed a pic of what I was working on for my calling at church. (We all volunteer and accept to do jobs for free at church) I got a lot of feedback in wanting to have some ideas for Relief Society Meetings, so I thought I would share what we have done! Before I begin, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Within the church, I am part of the Relief Society which is the world’s largest women’s organization in the world where we meet together weekly to study, serve, uplift and share with one another. One time a month, we have an activity together that is meant to strengthen our relationships with Christ, but also with each other. I am the head of the Meetings Committee…which is the monthly meeting. If you have any questions at the end of the post, ask away. I shared all of this in case you don’t know how the church I belong to runs!

So in June, we had a Visiting Teaching Conference. First of all, let me explain visiting teaching. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are in a congregation where we are asked to go and visit certain ladies each month to really get to know them, share a quick message and find out if they have any needs that need to be met. It’s one of the ways we build friendships and help our leaders know any needs that families have. (There would be too many for them to visit them all!)So this activity was all about how we could uplift one another through visiting teaching. As I was searching for ideas on what to do, I came across this amazing activity over at flibberygibbit and changed around a few things, but REALLY loved the idea of this activity….so definitely all of the credit goes to her!

And with that, we invited everyone to come to get on board VT2015, Uplift Airlines.

I cannot find the pictures I took of the decor we did…boo! But I will tell you all about it. We had the Relief Society room set up as an airplane with two rows of chairs with lights going down the aisle. In the front we decorated with paper airplane garlands and a chalkboard that read “Welcome to flight VT 2015!” It was super simple, but we wanted to make it special so we made simple clouds out of foam core and hung them from the ceiling as well. The whole committee was dressed in black pants and white shirts and I made name tags for everyone to wear and be all official!

Next we had a script so that everyone on the committee could take part. A lot of this came from flibbertygibbit, but I did change it around to fit our sisters. You can check hers out HERE. Feel free to use this or come up with your own changes according to what your ward needs! I added the video links in that we used.

UPLIFT AIRLINES VT2015

ONE:

Hello and welcome aboard UPLIFT airlines flight #VT 2015 .Our captain has informed me that this flight will be approximately 60 minutes from take-off to wheels down. Serving you tonight are these lovely flight attendants, If you need anything during the flight, please press your call buttons and one of these wonderful attendants will be there to assist you. Destination: Visiting Teaching.

TWO:

In preparation for taking off as amazing visiting teachers, please make sure your attitude and blessings are secure and locked in an upright position. All self-destructive devices should be turned off at this time. All negativity, hurt and discouragement should be put away in the overhead bins. There are no guilty feelings allowed. There are 2 exits aboard this flight. One up front and one behind you. Please remember that all information shared during this flight can be found in your seat back pocket along with a note card and complimentary pen. If you feel inspired during this flight, please feel free to write it down.

THREE:

Should we lose altitude during this flight, reach up and pull down a prayer. Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith. Once your faith is activated, you can assist other passengers. There will be no baggage allowed on this flight! The captain has informed us that we are clear for takeoff. In a few moments our flight attendants will be walking around the cabin to offer you cold drinks as well as a snack. At this time we will also be showing our video presentation. So please, sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight.

(Play movie clip #1: What is a Visiting Teacher)

{drink/snack cart: all of us}

FOUR:

I think we all have experienced one or more of the visiting teaching efforts we just saw. Having been on both ends of these visits, tonight we hope to share some of the basics about visiting teaching to help us all become better. This aircraft is equipped with aisle path lighting as well as overhead lighting. Should visibility or motivation to visit teach, be impaired, the path will be illuminated for you. In the seat pocket in front of you, you will find your illumination bookmark. Please retrieve your bookmark and follow along with us.

*Be prayerful – Say a prayer (preferably with your companion) before you leave to visit teach. You may not know this sister well, but the Lord does. He will help you know what to say. Say a prayer at the end of the visit, leaving the Lord’s blessing on her home and specifically praying for any help she may need (if she has expressed any concern during the visit). During the month, pray for your sisters.

*Be personal –Find out about her. Let her talk (for some women, this is a once a day (or month) time for them to share. Share things that you are involved/interested in and ask what she is involved/interested in. If you write letters, write about what you learned in Church the previous week, write about the weather (it can be personal – what are doing in the season that you are in?), write about something that made you smile recently.

*Find common ground – What can you find out about your sister that you have in common with her? Is she on facebook? Do you know where she lives? Perhaps a quick drive-by can tell you if she is a gardener, has children (toys in the yard?), or loves birdhouses!

FIVE:

*Offer help – Always share your contact info, and suggest things you could help with. For those you visit, leave your number/address for them.

*Always touch on something of the Spirit – Prepare before you visit teach. By praying and asking Heavenly Father what your sisters need, your message can be individualized to them. What did you think of the visiting teaching message this month? Anything you are inspired to work on? What did you learn in personal scripture study, or at church?

*Always invite – What is the ward activity for the month? What is happening in Relief Society – quilting, humanitarian aid, playgroup, book club, enrichment nights, building cleanup, choir, ward social events – there is a lot happening. Invite your sisters to be involved.

*Be prepared to act – So you’ve written, shared personal thoughts, offered help and invited, and you get a phone call asking for help or a ride! Be prepared to drop everything, because this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

ONE:

The captain has turned on the fasten seat belt light as we are experiencing some slight turbulence. Nothing to be alarmed about. Turbulence is pretty normal and can come in many forms. Sometimes turbulence happens when the captain is too busy or tired, or when it’s the end of the month and it’s just too late to make any changes to the flight plan. In any case. Make sure your seat belts are securely fastened, and please enjoy another in flight presentation.

(How to be a better visiting teacher..list and talk about)

SIX:

As we start our descent, it is important that you know how to return and report your visits. In the seat pocket in front of you, you will find a card, detailing this procedure. (Show card)

Email, call, or text your visiting teaching supervisor with the following type of information:

Specifically, how did you watch over/care for/visit with your sister?

Does your sister have any needs that need to be reported?

Is there anything your Relief Society presidency can do to assist you in caring for the needs of this sister and her family?

(This is Visiting Teaching video-2:14)

(Invite someone to bear testimony)

ONE:

Ladies and ladies, welcome to our final destination, visiting teaching land. We know you have a choice in airlines, and we want to thank you for choosing UP airlines. On behalf of myself, our captain, and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this journey and look forward to visit teaching with you in the near future. Please make sure to gather all belongings, and valuables. You won’t want to leave the visiting teaching fridge magnet behind! Make sure to fill this out with you and your companions name and number, and give to the sisters you visit. (Show) Once you exit the flight, please take a moment to locate your visiting teaching companions, or those you visit, and get to know each other. Have a wonderful evening.

…..

In the seat back bags we had this cute bookmark so they could remember what we talked about:

We printed out the printable and then just added some decorative tape to the top to give it a little color! We also had another card with how to report their visiting teaching (part of the printable pack). Lastly we had their visiting teaching routes for them so that they could leave feeling energized for their callings as a visiting teacher.

For the in flight snack we provided a assortment of nuts, crackers, cookies, etc and small bottles of water that were wrapped with the cute bottle wraps that are in the pack already.

Lastly, we got together and made little fridge magnets that had our names and phone numbers in case our ladies ever needed to get a hold of us. We laminated it, put a magnet on the back and called it good! The next time we visit taught, we handed them out to our sisters.

It really was a super fun night and hope you can use some of the ideas we came up with for our Visiting Teaching Relief Society Meeting!

To make things easier on you, I have made up a Printable pack that you can purchase and download immediately for just $3. You will get the invites, the nametags, the bottle wraps, the book mark, the card on how to report visiting teaching and the magnet card. I made them all in black and white for the low cost of printing and it really looked fun all together!