Visiting teaching is a top priority for Lynette McDowell and Barbara McDougall, partners for five years in the Fair Oaks (Calif.) 5th Ward.

Both women are busy with family, community and other Church responsibilities, yet during the time they have been partners they have maintained a 100-percent visiting teaching record.Sister McDowell and her husband, Ronald, are parents of seven children, the eldest of whom is 23 and the youngest, 3. Sister McDougall and her husband, Dean, are parents of a son and three daughters, two of whom still live at home. She often tends a grandson.

Sister McDowell is her ward's Relief Society secretary; Sister McDougall is ward Primary president.

One of the keys to their success as visiting teachers is planning and scheduling. "We both are incredibly busy," said Sister McDowell.

"Sometimes we are assigned to visit six sisters. In order to meet their schedules and ours, we have to plan ahead. We always try to visit our sisters during the first or second week of each month. By going early in the month, we can give more attention to the sisters. If one needs an extra visit, or to be taken somewhere, or to receive telephone calls from us, we have the time to do these extra things.

"We have had some wonderful experiences. We have had some sisters who were in their late 70s and on into their 80s. They usually were not able to get out of their homes very much, and if they did, it was maybe to attend sacrament meeting or some special event. Some of them weren't physically able to sit through all their Church meetings, so our visits became very important to them."

The visiting teachers quickly develop a love and attachment to the sisters they visit. When one was transferred from her home to a nursing home, they continued visiting her.

"We had to drive a few extra miles to see her, but we loved her so much we didn't mind," said Sister McDowell. "She was such a refined lady. She always looked so nice in her home. It was very hard for her to come to the point where she could no longer care for herself. She allowed us to do personal things for her, although I'm sure she felt a loss of dignity."

The elderly sister died last spring. At her funeral, her grandson said he had to share his grandmother with her visiting teachers.

"It was a marvelous experience to be with her, to be included with the family," said Sister McDowell.

Sister McDougall said they have had some situations in which the sisters they visited were not immediately open and receptive, but all the sisters now greet them warmly. "One sister said our visits just make her day; she looks forward to the next visit as soon as we leave."

"We feel the same way," related Sister McDougall. "Lynette and I are excited about our visits. To me, visiting teaching is as important as any other calling in the Church. It's an automatic thing for me to do. It has never entered my mind that it should be any other way, that I should say I am too busy to go visiting teaching."

Sister McDowell and Sister McDougall usually take a small item to each sister to remind them of the visiting teaching message each month. Although the reminders are small, much thought goes into them. Sister McDougall said, "Making or collecting things to leave with the sisters helps me focus on my visiting teaching, and helps me think of each sister. We look for something that will remind each sister of the message we deliver each month. It might be a pencil, an eraser, a bookmark, a light bulb, some seeds or some handcrafted item. Having something more than the spoken word motivates me to return to a sister's home if, for some reason, the appointment can't be kept."

"I think it helps if visiting teachers anticipate the visits they will be making, to think about each sister and the time they will spend together. This is a very positive relationship. Visiting teaching is not a duty; it is a privilege."