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I debated which gratitude story to share today, but being it Sunday, I felt this one was perfect! It has been one of the greatest blessings in my life, especially the last couple of years.

Here is my story:

In the Mormon church we have what we call  “Visiting Teachers” or “VT” {I could probably come up with a better name, but oh well}

Visiting teaching goes like this: Each women 18 and over is given another women to partner in visiting 1 to 3 other women in our ward. You can keep the same partner/ladies for several months or even years. Changes are made occasionally as we gain and lose people and to meet certain needs. When you are a VT, you and your partner go and visit your assigned women once a month and share a message for their spiritual growth, and or just visit to meet their needs. You are also there for them if they have any special needs they might experience  through illness, having a child, family trial etc… Many VT will take in meals, run errands, clean a house etc. during these times. It is a great opportunity to serve and bless the lives of others!

I must admit, while I have enjoyed being a VT,  I  have not always embraced having VT because I am a very independent and spontaneous person. Over the years I have grown to appreciate it so much more. I have had the same VT for over two years and they are wonderful! I can always expect kind texts, a fun lil gift and thought dropped off, and chocolate when it is needed most!! I LOVE my VT Maria & Trish to pieces! I love when they come over because we can kick back and be ourselves, we relate well and we always have so much to share with each other. This last week they came to visit me and I was uplifted beyond measure! Usually They let me do most of the talking–hahah but this time I talked very little. I didn’t want to because they shared something very special with me and it was far greater than anything I had to say. Because I’d like to keep that part personal, I will just say it was the best visit I have EVER received in my 30 years of visiting teaching! 

for this {i am grateful}

I can’t stop here though because I also have the opportunity to visit some amazing women also that have blessed my my life. I love diversity and that is one of the reasons why VT can be so wonderful because it gives us an opportunity to connect with others that may be at different stages in their life. My partner is a DARLING girl who is around my daughters age. I love fashion/style and she exudes this. 🙂 She also has a cute 1yr old son. I could probably be her mother, but we connect very well and enjoy our monthly visits with two FABULOUS ladies. I have had the same partner and visited one of my sisters also for over two years. I was just given the a new sister to visit three months ago. She is a young single girl who is so so CUTE and seems to have it all together. She has wisdom beyond her years. Seriously, I could learn from this girl. What a sweetheart! I look forward to getting to know her better. The other lady I have visited  for over 2 years now. I don’t think I have ever been more impressed by someone than her! I have grown to love her and her sweet family! She is super organized,  has a lovely home, 4 darling children, a husband she supports in med school, and she is deaf. Yes. You would never know it, other than communicating with her although she reads lips quite well. She won a marathon last year, teaches sign language classes 3 nights a week, and her children always look wonderful and are so fun and well mannered. That and so much more. She has it more together than anyone I know. All of that and she has a challenge far greater than anything I can imagine. You see why this is such a great blessing to me? I am convinced that these women bless my life, much more that I theirs!

Wow. Right?!!

for this {iam grateful}

{Sorry that wasn’t so short and sweet but felt the need to express my gratitude and share it today.}

I also decided to share some fun Thanksgiving printables. These can be used for several purposes such as gift tags, write your blessings on, label food at Thanksgiving table, or use as Thanksgiving name tags for table settings. Hope you are able to enjoy them!!There are 6 different tags that will fit on 8.5 x 11 paper.

{Thanksgiving Printables}

{CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOAD}

Enjoy!

Jillene