My First Article

Hello loyal followers! Today I am going to re-post my first article in the upcoming magazine LDSgirls.org. I hope you enjoy!

Every girl has a story; a story of triumph, defeat, struggles, and blessings. Each story aims for the happily ever after. The gospel of Jesus Christ provides that storybook ending with the sealing of families here on earth. Love truly is a fairy tale, especially within the temple. The temple marriage would be nothing without love as a foundation. God made a plan for all of us to fall in love. He had a plan when he created the woman. He had this idea for two strangers to fall deeply in love, and care for each other so much they would take part of themselves and create another human being. How amazing is that? On top of all those blessings, He has paved a way for them to be together forever.

 In today’s society, the world portrays marriage as a burden and a weak decision to make in life, especially for women. Society makes marriage appear like a death sentence towards our independence. Little do they know, it is the opposite. It strengthens women and gives us power to overcome all obstacles. I was married at the age of 18. I had no idea that was how things were going to play out in my life. I trusted God's plan. I am now 20 years old, and a sophomore in college, sealed to the man of my dreams; my eternal soul mate. God’s path for us is not always easy. 

I grew up in what the church calls a “part member family”. As a child, my father was not a member of the church but taught me in ways of high moral standards and how a woman should be treated. At the age of 5, my father’s interest in the church grew and he soon developed a testimony of the restored Gospel. It took many years for him to fully convert, body and soul, to the church. Because he believed in the power of the Priesthood, he had the strong desire to be an eternal family and set that goal for all of us to work towards. Through his experience and his example, I feel I am blessed with the ability to see the light of Christ in others. This amazing blessing paved the path to my own love story. 

Although my husband, Kyle, was not a member of the church at the time of our courtship, I saw the light of Christ in his eyes and knew he was the one. I was seventeen years old when I introduced the Gospel to Kyle. I was scared that it would have a negative impact on our relationship, but I continued to hold onto the light I saw in him and trusted God’s plan. To my surprise, Kyle accepted the Gospel and all its fullness and was baptized four months later. The Gospel is the foundation of our relationship. I knew if we held on to the Gospel and the blessings promised by our faithfulness, our goal of being sealed for time and all eternity would be obtained. He proposed, shortly after his acceptance of the Gospel, at the Dallas, TX Temple. We were both excited for our new journey. 

We desired to be married in the temple, but I felt prompted by the Holy Ghost to be married as quickly as possible. Due to the one –year rule for converts, we could not get married in the temple immediately. I was scared about the consequences of this decision, but I trusted God’s plan for me. We made the temple our number one priority after getting married, and here we are now, sealed for time and all eternity. In our journey towards our sealing, we matured spiritually in the Gospel. The promises the Gospel teaches us, the blessings I held when I gave Kyle his first Book of Mormon, the blessings of marriage, and the blessings my father shared, have blossomed and continue to bless our lives. I have been blessed with my own love story. It is different from others but the result is still the same. We will all have a fairy tale if we remain faithful to our covenants and trust God’s plan. God has a happily ever after story for each of His daughters. His only requirement is to endure to the end with faithfulness.