Why the Temple?

I love Neil. I really do. Every morning, I wake up excited to see him and to find out what he's going to say and do - how he's going to surprise me with his kindness, how he'll make me laugh. In fact, I love Neil so much that I want him to be my family. Forever.

Mine and Neil's relationship has been based in spirituality from the start. When we decided to get married, it was because of answered prayers. We were sitting in church together, and I suddenly thought, "I'm going to marry Neil, and our life is going to be so good." I told Neil that I was just feeling really happy, and that it seemed like God was looking at us and going, "I like this. This is good." That afternoon, Neil told me that during church he'd been praying that I would know, like he did, that we were supposed to be together, and that he felt assured that I was fine and would figure it out.

We decided to get married because we love each other madly, but also because we felt that getting married was God's plan for us.

Ceremony is an important part of our faith. It is an outward expression of our inward commitment to follow God and Jesus Christ. In the temple, Neil and I will promise to dedicate our marriage and our lives to God. To consecrate our love to Him. As we put our relationship in His hands, He will promise us that through the Atonement, every imperfect part of our marriage will eventually be made perfect in Christ. If we promise to give our marriage to Him, we can live every day with the assurance of His grace to help make our marriage beautiful.

HOW AMAZING IS THAT.

By being sealed in the temple, Neil and I are also promised that we will continue to be married after this life. Better yet, we can live with absolute certainty that the children we have together will be ours for always. After this life, we will continue to be a family. We get to keep creating, serving, and playing together as husband, wife, and children, not just as long as we both shall live.

We are getting sealed in the temple because we love each other and we love God even more. We want our marriage to be His. Even though we haven't tried it yet, we know that marriage is hard, and that it would be even harder without the promise of God's grace every day.

I love Neil. I really do. In fact, I love him so much that I never want to be separated from him. I am so thankful that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and because of the temple, we will never run out of time to be together. Our forever is about to begin!