Our ward Relief Society is planning its Visiting Teaching conference for the Saturday after Valentine's Day. My idea is to plan the conference around a Valentine theme. Deliver invitations to each sister with the words: Be My Valentine...I'd love to see you at the Visiting Teaching Conference. Decorate tables with white tablecloths and varied Valentine decor. Place a framed picture of the Savior at the center of each display. Sprinkle confetti hearts on the tables. And, finally, lay out several new and unused Valentines on each table. Ask a speaker to center his or her talk around the love of the Savior for each of us and for the sisters in our ward. A special musical number could be "As I Have Loved You." There are several others that would work as well. Then ask the sisters to use the Valentines on the table to acknowledge service done for them by their Visiting Teachers or a sister they visit. An example would be: "I'd like to present Sister Joan Smith with this Valentine. She showed up at my house for a visit just after my two-year-old had painted the kitchen with cooking oil. She spent two hours helping me clean it up." Invite some sisters to be prepared to do this before the conference. As the previously invited sisters are sharing, other sisters will join in. Close the conference with the hymn, "As Sisters in Zion."
Plan on serving the meal first, so that sisters have had a chance to arrive, visit and settle down before the program. Our ward is doing the conference on a Saturday morning with a brunch. I think croissants with cream cheese and raspberry jam filling would be perfect. Serve with cold apple juice and warm ham.
Send each sister home with a magnet or bookmark with the scripture, John 13:34:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
