In my limited experience, home teaching is a lot like voting. 

The people I know never do it. 

There is a two-fold mission among those of us who are LDS and Democrats. Advocating for the inclusion of mormons in the Democratic Party, and advocating for the Party among members of the Church. 

The problem is, there is nothing quite as hard as getting Mormons to do things. 

Forgive the sweeping declaration. I don’t mean to be accusatory. But I do mean to start a discussion. There are great home teachers in the world, and very dedicated voters. But there is a link between what makes each of these factions so effective. They simply care about people. 

Caring about people can be used as a fuel to make a huge difference. Putting other people’s needs before your wants is not a uniquely Christian tradition. Its not even unique to human beings. But it is rarely practiced to the degree of becoming habitual. Caring can do wonders for peeling people off of couches and out of bed. It can educate and inspire. But as ward boundaries grow and voting districts change, caring is essential to keeping up with the changing times. 

In a time where you can’t go to church or your local Sierra Club meeting without hearing doomsday prophecy and warnings about “these latter days,” keep something in mind. Amid the widespread increase in literacy, life expectancy,  global vaccination, access to the internet, and general happiness, there is actually one meaningful downturn that we should all focus our next end-of-days lecture on- how easy it has become to be lazy enough to stop caring about people.