Eternity With Them: I Love to See the Temple, I'm Going There Some Day!

Chapter 1: Young Adulthood and Pathways to Eternal Marriage
Throughout this course, I have been studying from the textbook titled, "Successful Marriages and Families. Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives" edited by Alan J. Hawkins, David C. Dollahite, and Thomas W. Draper. It has been a great textbook to study from, and it really works hand in hand with The Proclamation itself. There is PLENTY of useful information and advice inside for raising a faithful family. Throughout my blog journey, I will be sharing some of my findings from the text and relaying them here!

This particular post is about the very first chapter in the text titled, "Young Adulthood and Pathways to Eternal Marriage."

Now, I am a newly wed, and just recently have joined hands with my eternal companion to continue on our path together! I feel like I can relate to this chapter because I am a fairly young adult (22!) and I was just married in the temple! Perfect, right?! So that being said, I'd like to share some of my favorite quotes from this chapter with all of you!

The chapter begins with a quote directly from The Family, A Proclamation to the World,

"Marriage...is ordained of God... God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife... Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan." This was a great precursor to the chapter and really helped me have the necessary principles fresh in my mind before going on to read.

The chapter explains the changes in adulthood and marriage, stating that many of the traditional practices have drastically changed, including dating and courtship, average ages of marriage and so on. I really thought that the paragraph titled "Getting Ahead Before Getting Wed" was dead on for the generation we are living in right now. "Coupled with a sense of pessimism about their chances for marital success, many young people now see their young adult years as a time to pursue their personal interests and become independent financially. Simply put, the emerging adult culture today encourages young people to "get ahead before getting wed" and to be careful not to let marriage alter or interrupt one's educational and career plans." (Text pg. 4)

I think that this idea is more and more prevalent, even among some active young members of the church. Marriage may be a dying art in some opinions, but that's where the Proclamation comes in. We know and understand that "marriage is ordained of God" and that it also a commandment. Parent's have a responsibility to be a representative of marriage to their children and to teach them that it is an essential part of the plan of happiness.

While researching this topic, I was able to find a wonderful general conference talk by President Ezra Taft Benson in 1984. The talk is titled "What I Hope You Will Teach Your Children About the Temple".

One of my favorite quotes from President Benson, "The temple is an ever-present reminder that God intends the family to be eternal. How fitting it is for mothers and fathers to point to the temple and say to their children, “That is the place where we were married for eternity.” By so doing, the ideal of temple marriage can be instilled within the minds and hearts of your children while they are very young."

I know that my parent's definitely helped me harbor and grow a love for the temple, even at a very early age, and because of their example and demonstration of the role an eternal marriage can play in the life of a family, I was able to enter the temple with my eternal companion and continue the legacy.

Last year, on September 21, 2013 My husband, Pedro and I had the opportunity to be sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles Temple. Although we are young, (I was 21 and he was 22 when we were married) we were lucky enough to have wonderful influences around us, supporting the temple and its teachings. We knew that it was the only place that we wanted to be married. Even as a convert, Pedro had set his goals to have an ever-lasting marriage and family, I am a thankful to be apart of that with him.