I don't know if it's a widespread thing, but when I was a Mia Maid, I made a wedding time capsule.
It was full of funny things, like a picture of the dress I would wear, the colors I would have at my wedding, my dream engagement ring, what my husband would look like—just harmless stuff like that most girls think about when they are 16.
My leaders talked about the importance of marrying in the temple and how important the family was.
I went home, put the capsule in my closet, and thought that it would be really funny to compare to reality when I opened it up on my wedding day. I actually looked forward to it, thinking it would be fun to show my husband what I thought he would be.
As the years went on, the capsule gathered dust in my closet. I went on my first date, met my first boyfriend, had my first kissed, and all the while the time capsule stayed in my closet unopened.
Then, it happened. I had a ring on my finger and a temple date set for my wedding day. I started thinking about when I was younger, all the plans I had for my future and what I thought it would be, and I just couldn't do it. I couldn't open up the capsule.
It was who I was when I was 16, and that person didn't have a clue. I didn't know at 16 what getting married really meant. It was more than the colors I chose, the dress I wore, or whether or not my husband's hair color was blonde or brown.
Marriage was what my leaders were trying to teach me about in that lesson so long ago—it was the most important decision I could ever make in my life, and, because I was getting married in the temple, it would last for eternity.
Not opening my time capsule was, for me, a way of focusing on the spiritual side of the decision I was about to make. I had had my fun choosing my dress, looking at my ring, and picking out wedding colors—it was time to make my 16-year-old dreams even better by focusing on the spiritual importance of the day.
I've had a few people ask if I ever opened up my wedding capsule, and I haven't yet. Maybe I'll do it when I'm older to show my kids how dorky their mom was at 16. But for now, I'm going to keep it as a reminder that there are greater things in store for me in the future than I could ever have imagined.
