Latter-day Saint Life

When the Person You Marry Is Not an RM: Counsel from a Bishop That Changed My Life

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People are more than their experiences or a checklist of things they've accomplished and qualities they have. We all take different paths. Some even come to know the atonement very intimately (as we all should). But those past experiences don't matter. What matters is what you make of them and how you use them to shape the person you are now and who you will become.

 You'll also like: Why I Didn’t Marry an RM After All

Call this a disclaimer if you will- I have the highest respect for returned missionaries. I myself served a full-time mission. I was 19. I loved it. It became one of the most defining periods of my life. My mission meant everything to me. It shook me awake and stripped me of selfishness and naivete (Well somewhat. I still have those things) I could write volumes on how much I loved my mission but you get the idea I hope.  

My husband and I met at a church dance. I know, it’s pretty cliche. We were married exactly 90 days after we met. I know, even more cliche. I never expected that to happen, I’m a slow mover and somewhat of a skeptic, but I got ‘swept off my feet’ (I’ll try and cool it with the cliches here.) I knew I had met the man I was going to marry, but I had one itching concern. He wasn’t a returned missionary.

On our first date I asked him if he served. He said no, and explained himself in a short story that I knew he must have recited many times in response to that frequently asked question. He had all the qualities I could have hoped for but no missionary plaque to show for it.

Lead image from LDS Smile.
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