Strengthening Marriage

Today, Jess and I acted on a prompting my counselors and I had in last week's bishopric meeting: to speak to the adult ward members about what the prophets have taught about how to have a successful marriage.

Luckily she and I weren't left only to our own memory or experience. We drew most of our material from the Strengthening Marriage manual produced by LDS Family Services.

Other talks and quotes were drawn from the Eternal Marriage course text from the CES Religion 234 and 235 courses.

Another great resource provided by the Church is the Marriage and Family Relations Sunday school manual.

Our intent was to provide some practical suggestions from these manuals, supplemented with examples from our peers, to be implemented and habituated by the many newly-married couples in our ward while their marriages are just beginning. We also knew the content would potentially revitalize and redirect some of the less new marriages in the ward. Our hope is that the recommendations are taken a bite at a time, step by step, even though they were poured out pretty quickly.

What I didn't expect before the moment of speaking, was the insight that this discussion would lend to understanding the nature of God. I thought that was really cool. It helped me envision the true attributes of our perfected prototypes.

Joseph Smith revealed that, in heaven, the "same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy."

We will all be "gloriously" married in the eternities if we come unto Christ and keep our covenants. None of "enjoy" that now. Knowing that is our end, whether we're currently married or single, should direct our efforts of preparing for eternity.