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Dating and Marriage Series
So now that you’re deep in the dating game, how do you decide WHO to marry? As mentioned again and again by prophets, this is likely the most important decision you will make in your life! So how do you decide? Leave your thoughts in the comments, or email us at popcornandpodcasting@gmail.com
Thomas S. Monson, “Whom Shall I Marry?,” New Era, Oct 2004, 4
Spencer W. Kimball:
“Soul mates” are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.
In selecting a companion for life and for eternity, certainly the most careful planning and thinking and praying and fasting should be done to be sure that of all the decisions, this one must not be wrong. In true marriage there must be a union of minds as well as of hearts. Emotions must not wholly determine decisions, but the mind and the heart, strengthened by fasting and prayer and serious consideration, will give one a maximum chance of marital happiness. It brings with it sacrifice, sharing, and a demand for great selflessness.
Many of the TV screen shows and stories of fiction end with marriage: “They lived happily ever after.” We have come to realize that the mere performance of a ceremony does not bring happiness and a successful marriage. Happiness does not come by pressing a button, as does the electric light; happiness is a state of mind and comes from within. It must be earned. It cannot be purchased with money; it cannot be taken for nothing.
Some think of happiness as a glamorous life of ease, luxury, and constant thrills; but true marriage is based on a happiness which is more than that, one which comes from giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing, and selflessness.
First Presidency Message, Oneness in Marriage, By President Spencer W. Kimball
Ezra Taft Benson:
Remember, young men, the importance of proper dating. President Kimball gave some wise counsel on this subject:
“Clearly, right marriage begins with right dating. … Therefore, this warning comes with great emphasis. Do not take the chance of dating nonmembers, or members who are untrained and faithless. [You] may say, ‘Oh I do not intend to marry this person. It is just a “fun” date.’ But one cannot afford to take a chance on falling in love with someone who may never accept the gospel.” (Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 241–42.)
Our Heavenly Father wants you to date young women who are faithful members of the Church, who encourage you to serve a full-time mission and to magnify your priesthood.
Ezra Taft Benson, “To the ‘Youth of the Noble Birthright’,” Ensign, May 1986, 43
