The movie Worthy to Stand will be remembered by LDS church members, who saw it in the 1980s, as the movie that starred Mike Farrell from the hit TV series MASH. Mike Farrell, despite popular rumors within the LDS faith, is not a member of the LDS church. Mike Farrell played an elders quorum president who is trying to help a well-meaning home teacher in his district see the value of home teaching for him. This home teacher is a lawyer and has very little time for anything other than his work. He feels that his efforts to visit families are worthless and that is why he decides to request a release as a home teacher.
On his last visit to one of the families, he is assigned as a home teacher, the daughter of the family reveals to him that the family is breaking up. Still wanting to give up, he asks for a release until he realizes the error of his ways. He receives a letter from one of the family’s sons who is serving a full-time mission telling him that he could have made a difference in the family’s life. With renewed energy, the home teacher decides to try again to help the family. He goes camping with his bishop and the elders quorum president. They decide it’s time to help the family in need. They save the marriage and the family is active again.
Although very dated, I used this film in one of my own elders quorum meetings. The class seemed to like it a lot. This movie was a change of pace from the normal LDS movies that are shown. However, this film is really hard to find, only available in videotape format and can no longer be purchased directly from the LDS church. You can probably pick it up at Deseret Industries or the LDS church library. This film can help inspire home teachers to do better in their calling.
Most counselors mean well, but counseling can be challenging because you wonder if your efforts are really worth it, if they are worth it. This film shows the fruits of being a good home teacher and how to do it effectively. Another home teaching film called The Home Teachers was made in recent years, which takes a comedic approach to fulfilling one’s duty in this special calling.
