Marriage

Marriage is essential to Heavenly Father's plan. It always has been and it always will be. And that means marriage between a man and a woman, no other way. When a marriage is between a man and a woman, they can start a family. For the most part that family can happen in a natural way. Of course some families struggle to have children, but that's okay because if they can't have them in this life, Heavenly Father has promised that they can in the next life. They will have an increase without end, if they are faithful. This applies to all families that are sealed in the temple and live righteously.
"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children" (The Family: Proclamation to the World, paragraph 6). This is what is expected of us from our Heavenly Father. It's super important that we heed this council. This week in my New Testament class we were reading in 1 Corinthians and I read chapter 7. I had never read this chapter before but a verse stuck out to me. That was verse 3: "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband." Now, I had a general idea of what benevolence meant, but I wanted to know for sure. It means the quality of being well-meaning or kindness. Pretty simple. This verse means that a husband and wife should be kind to each other. I thought it was very sweet that Paul felt that people should be reminded to be kind to each other.
One of the main things that my father-in-law encourages my husband and I to do is to be kind to each other. It's like the only thing he encourages us to do. I think kindness is so important in marriage. We promised to be with each other for forever. Would you want to be sealed to someone who wasn't nice to you? When you're deciding who to marry, always ask yourself if the person you're dating respects you and if they're kind to you. This applies to men and women, cuz I know there are some women out there who aren't very nice.
I remember when I was single and had roommates and my roommates would come home from a date. We'd always ask them how it went and what he was like and they would say he was a very kind person. That's it. But they said it in a way that gave it a negative connotation and we knew that she wouldn't be going on a date with him again. It made me think that when they were using the word kind to describe him, that was synonymous with boring. Kind doesn't mean boring! Kind means kind and kind is a great thing to be. Marriages should involve kindness and love and caring.

Motherhood

The main thing I learned this week wasn't from the reading or class or anything but it's even more important. I learned it from Sacrament meeting today from a talk by one of my friends. She talked about being a mother to her two little girls and she said that her favorite scripture story to read is about Mother Eve. Eve was in a beautiful spot, the Garden of Eden, with her husband. Their lives were simple and easy there and without trials. But was she truly happy? No, because she wasn't complete. She didn't have any children and she knew she needed them. Motherhood was her calling. She didn't experience true joy until she became a mother, even if it wasn't in the most ideal place.

Thinking about this, I can relate a lot to Eve. My life has been relatively easy I would say. I've had trials but I've overcome them and learned a lot from them. Being currently pregnant again after a miscarriage, I understand what Eve went through. I used to be in a beautiful, easy place as well. Yes, there were some trials but nothing like what's coming for me. And yet, there will be true joy down the road as well because our family will grow. I have never experienced the joys of motherhood, and I'm so excited to get to have them. Like Eve, it takes sacrifices to experience true joy. I am willing to sacrifice everything for my little one and I know that because of that, I will be guided by my Savior as I welcome this little one into the world at the end of this year. I'm grateful for all the women in my life who have sacrificed for me and for the love they have shown me.

Courage

As members of the Church we need to be courageous. All the time. In my New Testament class this week we learned about Saul. I had read Saul's story before, but this time his courage really stood out to me. I like to compare his story to that of Alma the Younger. They were both pretty bad guys. They went around trying to destroy the Church. There are always people out there who try that it seems.
Saul even advertised to everyone he talked to that he was going to destroy the church and arrest the Apostles. And then he has this huge spiritual experience and loses his sight for a little bit. He gets it back with a blessing and is baptized. He then becomes one of the most devout servants of the Savior ever. Acts 9:21-22 says
"But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ."
Saul completely turned his life around and took back everything that he had said before. That's what the gospel does to people. When we are truly converted, we become changed. We change into what the Savior needs us to be. We forget ourselves and we become more like Him. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for our beliefs and we need that courage every single day of our lives.