Marriage

"Let us not live a life...that would bring regret. ...It is not going to matter very much how much money you made, what kind of a house you lived in, what kind of a car you drove, the size of your bank account-any of those things. What is going to matter is that dear woman who has walked with you side by side as your companion through all of the years of life and those children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and their faithfulness and their looking to you...with respect and love and deference and kindness." Gordon B. Hinckley Inspirational Thoughts

"I urge husbands and fathers of this Church to be the kind of men your wives would not want to be without. I urge the sisters of this Church to be patient, loving, and understanding with their husbands. Those who enter into marriage should be fully prepared to establish their marriage as the first priority in their lives." James E. Faust Fathers, Mothers, Marriage 

"How we use our time and keep our lives in balance is fundamental to how we will perform our family duties and our Church service. Discipline yourself to follow the prophet's counsel on how you prioritize the use of your time. Begin by discussing with your eternal companion how much time you need together to strengthen your marriage, to demonstrate the love you have for each other. That is your first priority." L. Tom Perry A Solemn Responsibility to Love and Care for Each Other

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children... The family is ordained of God. Marriage between a man and woman is essential to His eternal plan...Happiness is family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." The Family: A Proclamation to the World

"Meanwhile, mortal misunderstandings can make mischief in a marriage. In fact, each marriage starts with two built-in handicaps. It involves two imperfect people. Happiness can come to them only through their earnest effort. Just as harmony comes from an orchestra only when its members make a concerted effort, so harmony in marriage also requires a concerted effort. That effort will succeed if each partner will minimize personal demands and maximize actions of loving selflessness." Russell M. Nelson Celestial Marriage

"I remind you again that compromising and lowering standards and ideals never have been and never will be tools of happiness. While we are striving for quality conduct in our lives, we must ever realize that being single will never be as painful as being married to the wrong person with wrong and selfish standards. A mate must be willing to share tender and loving associations in an eternal quest for life at its best. Avoid getting married just to be married. Feeling sorry for people or desiring to help them get their lives in roder are poor reasons for marriage. Marriage should be based on love and shared values." Marvin J. Ashton Be a Quality Person

"I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion's joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion." Henry B. Eyring Our Perfect Example

"Two individuals approaching the marriage altar must realize that to attain the happy marriage which they hope for they must know that marriage...means sacrifice, sharing, and even a reduction of some personal liberties. It means long, hard economizing. It means children who bring with them financial burdens, service burdens, care and worry burdens; but it also means the deepest and sweetest emotions of all." Spencer W. Kimball Teachings of the Presidents of the Church (pg 194)

"To you who are able to to attend the temple, I would counsel you to go often. Doing so will help to strengthen marriages and families." Thomas S. Monson Abundantly Blessed

"Latter-day Saint spouses should do all within their power to preserve their marriages. ...To avoid so-called 'incompatibility,' they should be best friends, kind and considerate, sensitive to each other's needs, always seeking to make each other happy. They should be partners in family finances, working together to regulate their desires for temporal things." Dallin H. Oaks Divorce

"There are many qualities you will want to look for in a friend or a serious date-to say nothing of a spouse and eternal companion-but surely among the very first and most basic of those qualities will be those of care and sensitivity toward others, a minimum of self-centeredness that allows compassion and courtesy to be evident. 'That best portion of a good man's life [is] his...kindness' said Mr. William Wordsworth. There are lots of limitations in all of us that we hope our sweethearts will overlook. I suppose no one is as handsome or as beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like, but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can't always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command-such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word, and true delight in the accomplishment of another. These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them." Jeffrey R. Holland Qualities of an Eternal Companion

"One good yardstick as to whether a person might be the right one for you is this: in her presence, do you think your noblest thoughts, do you aspire to your finest deeds, do you wish you were better than you are?" Ezra Taft Benson To The Single Adult Brethren of the Church

"The most important single thing that any Latter-day Saint ever does in this world is to marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority." Bruce R. McConkie Agency or Inspiration?

I know that marriage is incredibly important to our Heavenly Father's plan for His children. He wants us all to strive to find an eternal companion to spend eternities with. Being a part of a family is one of the noblest callings we have been given and this calling includes being a spouse. With a husband or wife, we can strive to bring our families to the gospel and work together towards perfection. I know that blessings come when we get married in the temple to someone who is worthy to go there with us. I know that Heavenly Father wants all of His children to receive the blessings that come through marriage. Our Heavenly Father isn't alone and has our Heavenly Mother and He wants us to receive the same blessings of having someone to spend our entire life with. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see the marriages of others helping to strengthen their lives and the lives of their families. I know that marriage will bring blessings into my life and help bring me and my family closer to the Lord and to becoming like Him.

My parents! Happily married for 26 years!