Hey everyone!
All is well for me here. I`ve been working a lot more here on the business side of things...talking to landlords, dealing with hospitals and whatever other type of business, and learning how to work with contracts. It`s all pretty dang neat to me. It opens up a whole new understanding of the world and how things work. And, on another hand, I DROVE FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY!! :D It felt SOOOOOO nice. Haha It`s been forever, but I felt real good behind the wheel. Kinda makes me miss driving down the backroads there in Arkansas. To make things even better, it was a truck. lol
So my trainer, Bradford Peck, after being home for two weeks is engaged. Since then, there have been several other friends of mine from the mission that have gotten engaged. That has triggered several other conversations both with young missionaries and with senior missionaries about the "do`s and don`ts of marriage/dating" That being said, I`ve decided to reflect personally on my understanding of the subject.
I feel it such a blessing that we have the scriptures, prophets, leaders, and the Holy Ghost to help guide us in these often difficult aspects of life. Though they are difficult, if we approach them with a humble prayerful heart, we can`t go wrong.
Why it`s important: As a latter-day saint, I know that the purpose of dating is to find yourself a spouse that will help you to 1) be happy 2) create a family 3) achieve salvation and life eternal in the Celestial Kingdom through living the gospel of Jesus Christ here on the earth. As children of Heavenly Father, our purpose on this earth is to make wise decisions that allow us and our families to return to His presence. Though many in the world view marriage as a limiting burden, I understand it to be an uplifting gift intended to help us attain this difficult aspiration. As many people have witnessed and experienced, it is impossible to achieve a fullness of happiness without another person helping you. This was one of the reasons that Christ made Eve. The purpose of having another with us eternally is so that they can help us to push ourselves spiritually to be the best saints that we can. After all, it was Eve that helped Adam to see the need to sin. Through this beautiful moment, it was made possible to both Adam and Eve to obtain a higher level of happiness. Look at all of the miracles that have come through their willingness to help each other.
What should we do:
1) Be prayerful-When we think about beginning a relationship with someone, whether it be dating or marriage, we must make this all important decision only through a divine confirmation by the Holy Ghost that this is truly Heavenly Father`s plan for us. If we do this, we will be able to whole-heartedly say to our spouse when things get hard, and don`t kid yourself...they will, "Don`t worry. I know that Heavenly Father has given us each other so that we can make it through this trial and draw closer to Him. We can do this together"
2) Realize that it`s much greater than just ourselves-Marriage is the gateway to many other experiences in life. I like the quote from President Eyring, "Both the happiest and most painful experiences in life happen within the family" We have to realize that when we get married or date, we are setting the future for ourselves, our future children, our family, our friends...everyone that has a part of our lives. If we marry for selfish reasons, it will always end up negatively affecting our relations with others. We would literally trade these happy experiences for painful ones. We need to have a spouse that will help us create an optimal environment for experiencing more of the happiness there is to life and less of the pain.
3) A heart and mind set on the future-Dating and marriage are investments. We are investing our time, energy, money, feelings, and parts of our spirits in other people. We don`t marry expecting our spouses to be perfect. If you do, you will feel upset and "let down" the rest of your life. We marry with an eternal prospective. As I`ve many times been told, "We don`t marry to have the perfect spouse, we marry the spouse with the most potential." We marry because of what we and our spouses can become. We marry because we know that they will help us through every step of the way, until we get to the end when the Lord tells us "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. "
I testify that though it is many times difficult, if we will do these three things, we will have successful marriages. Not only that, but the future generations of our families will be set in stone. Heavenly Father WILL bless us. We will achieve all that He has in store for us and we will achieve, a perfect state of eternal happiness. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Con Amor,
Elder Jackson
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