All of this aside, I can also understand why, if you are single and don’t wish to be, Valentine’s Day can just feel like someone shoving in your face that you’re not good enough. This is a dangerous road to go down, but is also an understandable one. I would like to share a few thoughts about why you should not let yourself get discouraged.

The core of my self-worth comes from the sure knowledge that I am a child of God. I know that as His child, I have inherent value. This doesn’t mean that my life is always cheery and that I am always on cloud nine, but it does give me a great deal of comfort when things aren’t coming up roses, as it were. Knowing that I have value as a child of God is a constant reminder that, no matter how hard things may be, I still have something to offer the world.

There are people close to me who are struggling in this situation right now. They feel frustrated because they want to be married, and their best efforts are seemingly having no effect. This can produce thoughts of, “What’s wrong with me? Why can other people find love and I can’t? I must not have anything to offer, because no one wants me.” These thoughts have only one source: the adversary. There is no quicker way to attack someone than by hitting their self-esteem. Fortunately, the holy scriptures tell us that we are never alone and that we all have value.

“For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward” (Isaiah 52:12). God loves you and He is surrounding you. Rely on Him and He will not only protect you, but He will bear you up and ease your burdens.

God has told us that we exist with the purpose of having joy (2 Nephi 2:25). He wants us to be genuinely happy. If having a fulness of joy later means that you have to suffer a little loneliness now, isn’t it ultimately worth it? Things happen on the Lord’s timeline, not on ours. It is easy for us to get discouraged and to wish that we had things now that we just know would make us happy. Sometimes, though, the Lord knows that having what we think would make us happy now will actually not bring us as much joy as what He has planned for us later. It is never easy to say, “Thy will be done,” and to put our faith in the Lord that what He has planned for us will be even better than what we want now. However, I promise you that if you can truly humble yourself and say to Him, “This is what I want now, but if you have something better planned, I will do my best to be happy anyway and wait for your blessings,” that He will bless you more than you can even imagine.

If you carry on with your life trying to be a good person, reaching out to others in selflessness and love, then God will bless you. It is not easy to hear, “Be patient. All good things come to those who wait.” But have faith that God is there for you. Turn to Him and feel His love. Share that love with others. You have value. You have worth. You have a lot to offer the world.

This article was written by Doris White,  a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Additional Resources:

LDS Weddings

The Meaning of Life

Worship with Mormons

This is the first-of-its-kind event, and Voices for Virtue hoped to draw a large teenage audience. Voices for Virtue is a non-profit organization which is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It uses social networking to reach out to teenagers and young adults to help them learn more about and support them in living virtuous lives.

This was a wonderful opportunity for teens, as well as adults, to ask any personal questions they had about gospel principles and standards.

The session will not be broadcast, and no rights were issued to record it. However, if you would like to know more about Elaine Dalton or Voices for Virtue, please refer to the links below:

Talks and Speeches Given by Elaine Dalton

Interview with Elaine Dalton

Voices for Virtue

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly called the Mormon Church) holds its members to high standards. There are certain covenants members take upon themsleves, which they strive every day to work on and keep. There are times, though, when an individual does something that can get him or her excommunicated from the Church. This action is only taken when an individual has committed a very serious sin. Excommunication means that the person’s records are removed from the Church and excludes the individual from holding a calling (or position of responsibility in the Church), taking the Sacrament (or Eucharist), and attending the temple, although individuals are welcome to and are encouraged to attend regular church meetings. They are welcome to come back to the Church at any time, through the process of repentance and getting re-baptism. In fact, that is the express purpose of excommunication—the beginning of the repentance process, with Church authorities there to help at every juncture. Remember, excommunication is the result of very serious sin.

Even though I wish that I could tell you that every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a strong and obedient member, that is not true of any religious parish or congregation. Like all children of God, we have our agency—the ability to choose right from wrong. And there are times that people in the Church are lured in by the world’s temptations. When a member falls into a temptation that is great enough, there is a chance that a member can be excommunicated, which means that their records can be erased  from the Church.

Most of my life, I have lived around people of the Church whose morals and behavior have matched my own. But the older that I got, the more I made friends with those are not what they may have appeared at first to be. I believed as a child, that if you were a member of the LDS Church, you never did anything bad in your life. It wasn’t until I got into the Army that I realized how untrue that was. Out of about three hundred people in my unit, there were only four or five Mormons. Each day of the week, I watched them live and act as though the Church and its teachings meant nothing. Then on Sunday, they went to church, like nothing was wrong. What made me the most upset was the fact that they had claimed that the only reason they went to church was to get out of cleaning duty.

Now, I’ll admit that it was a nice perk. But that was not the reason that I went to church every Sunday. When I got home, I made friends with people of the Church who were just like the people I had met in the Army. The closer that I got to those people, the more I found out about the things that they were doing. It hurt to see my friends slowly fall into the darkness of sin. One friend whom I was very close to was talking to me one day and told me of a situation that disgusted me. It was my belief that his actions were those that merit excommunication.

I talked to my parents about his situation, telling them what I believed he should do. My parents gave me good advice, though. They said that it wasn’t my place to decide what he should do. Just like a person decides what they do in life, bad or good, they also must decide for themselves whether they are worthy to continue being a part of the Church. Even though I felt that my friend should talk to the bishop, and maybe be excommunicated for his actions, it wasn’t my place to decide. That was something between him, God, and his Bishop.

When excommunication from the Church is necessary, we must not regard the penalty as an end to all blessings and eternal possibilities. Even excommunication, serious as it is, can have the effect of restoring the proper perspective of the offender. Once deprived of Church membership, it is interesting to note how vitally important rebaptism becomes. The truly repentant excommunicated person will strive diligently to regain the waters of baptism. In the Church, there are scores of members who have earned their way back into the Church through true repentance, who now stand on more firm ground than ever before in their lives. They have learned their lesson well. They are not likely to make the same mistake again; and surely the blessings of eternity are once again a possibility, thanks to the sanctifying influence of true repentance coupled with the miracle of forgiveness.

(See Robert L. Simpson, “Q&A: Questions and Answers,” New Era, July 1975, 47–48.)

Around the time that I was finishing high school, my parents ran into some financial difficulties. Everyone goes through something like that at one point or another. Since there were still 3 children living at home, food was something that was essential, especially since two of us were teenagers. One day, my mom asked me if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her. I was a little confused that we didn’t take the turn to the Wal-mart, but instead headed towards a western part of town. We went to a white building that didn’t really look like anything special. When we got into the building, it was like a mini grocery store. I asked my mom what this place was, to which she replied, “It’s called  the bishop’s storehouse.” She went on to explain that a bishop’s storehouse is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes mistakenly called the Mormon Church). When families or individuals of the Church are going through hard times, they can meet with their bishop (the leader of a congregation) and put together a list of basic foods and supplies they need.

The private contributions of other members of the LDS Church make the bishop’s storehouse possible. One Sunday a month, the members of the The Church of Jesus Christ are asked to fast for two meals. The money that they would have spent on those meals is given as a fast offering to the bishop of their ward. With these finances, the bishop helps provide for those who don’t have enough money to cover their expenses at that time. The Church owns ranches for meat and large farms and orchards. Food grown on these farms is canned by volunteers. 

The welfare program of the Church is well known throughout the world. People from all walks of life travel to Church headquarters to see firsthand how the Church cares for the poor and needy without creating dependency on the part of those who receive or bitterness on the part of those who give. A president of a country, after visiting Welfare Square, canceled the remainder of his appointments for the day. “There is something here that is more important than anything else I have on my schedule,” he said. “I must stay and learn more” (“Inspired Church Welfare,” Ensign, May 1999, 76).  

Workers in the bishop’s storehouse are all unpaid volunteers. I wanted to help out when we were getting food from the Church, so I volunteered to help out at the Storehouse. It was such a wonderful experience to give back to the Church and the Lord when they were providing for me and my family. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,not only provides food for families, but it can also provide clothes and job counseling. Deseret Industries is a thrift store owned by the Church that trains people and teaches them essential skills to help them find a job. 

Knowing that the Church will always be there for me, if I am ever in need, is a feeling that I cannot express. I know that nothing comes free, though. Volunteering to help the Church can provide many blessings in your life. I love paying fast offerings and working at the Storehouse, just having the feeling that I’ve done something good for others, and that I’m a part of something that works so well to help others.

For the rest of my ninth grade year, those two people insulted and teased me every chance that they got. The pain was too much most days, so I ended up spending most of my time in the counselor’s office to get away from them. When I moved on to High School, the boy and girl that were hurting me emotionally went to different High Schools than I. For a year and a half, I tried my hardest to forget everything that had happened and focus on making new friends in High School. And for that year and a half, I forgot all about the guy and girl that made me cry almost every day. Half way through my 11th year, my family moved more south in the town we were living in. Because of this, I ended up going to a new High School. My first day that I had drama class, I walked down to the Arts side of the building. Sitting on the steps, talking to one of my old and good friends, was the guy that made my 9th grade year so awful. When I saw him, my eyes opened as wide, as my jaw dropped and my body shook. I didn’t know what I was going to do. But the second that I saw him smile and walk over to me, to give me a hug, I knew what to do. I was going to forgive him, right there and then; I was going to forgive him. And I did. I did not mention anything that happened in 9th grade, and neither did he. He moved past it, and so did I.

It’s discouraging to see how many movies now a days are so focused on revenge, on hurting those who have wronged you in some way. About sixty percent of the movies that I see in the theaters are based around that topic. My question is why can’t people see the pattern in every revenge story that they watch. It never ends well for anybody.

Forgiveness is something that is taught in depth in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in most other churches, and is one of the hardest things to do. It’s hard to let go of the hurt that has been embedded in your heart and soul. But it’s also one of the most rewarding things when it’s done right. There are times when forgiveness can only come through prayer and sometimes fasting. Holding on to hate and pain doesn’t do anything to the people who have wronged you. Keeping those feelings inside for so long turns you into a spiteful and angry person. Holding grudges eats away at you and makes you ugly, inside and out. There is no peace in holding it and building your life around wanting revenge.

Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge accourding to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also.

Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation (Mosiah 26: 29—31).

One story that I can relate to and that most of you know is The Count of Monte Cristo. Because the villain was jealous of the main character, he ruined his life and made him suffer for being happy. The main character, Edmond Dantes, spends the rest of the story plotting ways to get revenge. As you read, you can see how much he changes. He becomes a cynical and hateful person, completely different from the sweet and caring person that he was in the beginning.

In stark contrast, Jesus Christ was bound, beaten, mocked, and spat upon before He was nailed to a cross on the Golgotha, not even a day after he knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane and suffered for all of our sins. And still as he hung on the cross, bruised, broken, and in more pain than we can ever imagine, He raised his head to the heavens and said with a soft voice. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Let us here observe, that three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation:

First, the idea that he actually exists.

Secondly, a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes.

Thirdly, an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to his will.

For without an acquaintance with these three important facts, the faith of every rational being  must be imperfect and unproductive; but with this understanding it can become perfect and  fruitful, abounding in righteousness, unto the praise and glory of God the Father, and the Lord  Jesus Christ (Lecture 3 of Lectures on Faith).

Faith is the most important thing that a man or woman can have in life. A faith in themselves, in mankind’s ability to do what’s right, and more importantly in the Lord Jesus Christ and his church.

Most of the articles I write come from experiences that I have had in my life. The reason is I feel that my experiences have taught me a lot and I want to share those experiences, in hopes that the reader can relate to them. The most profound experience of my life is when I was in 11th grade. I have a strong love for the theater, so even though I did not become a cast member, I often worked with the stage hands. That year’s main production was a show called “Children of Eden.” It’s a basic reenactment of different stories in the Bible, starting from the time of Adam, to the story of Noah and his Ark.

After I had opened the curtain for the beginning act, I hung around on the side of the stage and watched the play from there. The first story that they reenacted was the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were two sons of Adam and Eve, who were born after they left the Garden of Eden. Cain was a worshiper of Satan, while Abel had a strong love of God. As they reenacted in the play, Cain and Abel were out in the fields alone. Cain was jealous of Abel, and hated him. The more they talked, the more that Cain grew angry towards Abel, to the point where Cain slew his brother.

When they acted this out, I was on the side of the stage watching it all play out. After Cain slew his brother, the Lord appeared.

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground (Genesis 4:8–10).

The actor who was playing the Lord spoke that line and had such a sad and disappointed look on his face, that it was hard not to be hit emotionally. I began to think about the Lord, and about  how hurt he must feel when He sees us doing things that hurt ourselves or others. It was then, in that moment that I thought of the Lord as a Father in pain, and not just a person that I’d read about in the scriptures, that I realized how strongly my belief in Him was.

As I stood there, shaking and crying quietly to myself, I thought more and more about the Lord. My faith in him grew so much, in that short amount of time, because I thought of him as a Father whom I knew and loved. From that point on, I strive to think of him as that, as a loving Father that I can talk to whenever I need him.

Living up in a cabin on my own, can be scary some nights. But on those nights, when I feel scared and alone, I lie in my bed and talk to the Lord, like I’m talking into a cell phone. I tell him about my day, about my worries, about how I feel and what I need help with. Having a personal relationship with the Lord means seeing him as a Father, not as an incomprehensible spirit in the clouds. We need to know that we can turn to him whenever we are in need.

Abortion is probably one of the touchiest subjects that is brought up amongst the women in and outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But it’s also an essential topic of discussion, which should be gone over with every person.

Abortion, the taking of life, is one of the most grievous of sins. We have repeatedly affirmed the position of the Church in unalterably opposing all abortions, except in two rare instances: When conception is the result of forcible rape and when competent medical counsel indicates that a mother’s health would otherwise be seriously jeopardized. The Church maintains this stance thirty years later. Even when one of the rare extenuating circumstances arises, the Church counsel’s women that abortion is still a gravely serious matter which should be considered only after having consulted with local church leaders and after fervently praying to know if the decision is correct (President Spencer W. Kimball).

A few years ago, I was listening to a speech given by a political figure on the subject of abortion. His view as a father was that if his daughter had a child out of wedlock, he would not make his daughter suffer the consequences of her actions, that he would allow her to have a abortion if she so desired. There are several arguments about when a child is actually considered a living being. Most believe that someone is not considered a living being until they are born. The Lord has taught, through revelation to His prophets, that we existed as spirits before being born on earth, so our lives and identities are eternal. A human being has this unique identity even before it is formed, and once it starts to grow inside the mother’s womb, and eliminating a pregnancy is considered an act close to that of murder.

As it says in the above quote by President Kimball, there are only a few exceptions that can justify abortion. Even in those situations, prayer and thorough consideration is necessary. Adoption is a favorable choice for mothers to make and gives the child a chance to be raised in a loving and complete family. Even if they don’t get adopted, they can go on to live a full and prosperous life.

I had a friend a High School, who made a few poor decisions after High school and became pregnant, by a boy who was not responsible and did not have the greatest morals. When I found out, she and I had a long conversation about what she was going to do. She knew that her boyfriend was not going to do the right thing, and when she told her parents, they kicked her out of the house. She talked to me about the possibility of having an abortion. I told her “It’s not fair, that you should make a child suffer for something that was not its fault. Give it a chance to live, whether it’s with you, or with another family.” When I said that to her, she began to cry into her hands. Not another word was uttered that night. We didn’t talk for about two weeks after that. I was afraid that I had said something that offended her, or upset her. After those two weeks of silence between us, she called me and told me that when I talked about her child, she could see its smiling face and knew that it deserved to live.

That’s the view on abortion, in the Church and for me. Every being deserves to live, every being has a purpose in this world and it should not be decided to shorten that life, because of poor decisions that another made.

“Most abortions are performed on demand to deal with unwanted pregnancies. These abortions are simply a form of birth control. Elective abortion has been legalized in many countries on the premise that a woman is free to choose what she does with her own body. To an extent this is true for each of us, male or female. We are free to think. We are free to plan. And we are free to do. But once an action has been taken, we are never free from its consequences. To understand this concept more clearly, we can learn from the astronaut. Anytime during selection or preparation, he or she is free to withdraw from the program. But once the spacecraft has lifted off, the astronaut is bound to the consequences of the previous choice to make the journey. So it is with people who choose to embark on a journey that leads to parenthood. They have freedom of choice—to begin or not to begin that course. When conception does occur, that choice has already been made. Yes, a woman is free to choose what she will do with her body. Whether her choice leads to an astronaut’s mission or to a baby, her choice to begin the journey binds her to the consequences of that choice. She cannot ‘unchoose.’” (The LDS Perspective on Abortion, quoted from Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless, Russell M. Nelson, Ensign — October 2008, 32–37)

While God’s plan is to let us grow and learn through our choices, Satan’s plan was to choose everything for us, to take away our agency and have complete control over us.

Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down (Moses 4:3).

What will we do with that agency? That’s simple, we will make mistakes and we will learn from them, as well as make right decisions and learn from those as well. What we decide to do with that agency will bring us closer or further from the Lord.

When I was in Army, choosing to do what was right was not always the easiest choice. It prevented me from forming friendships with others, made me a sort of outcast in some groups, and set me at a higher standard than others. Many of the females in my unit tried to get me to drink on more than one occasion. Their view was that since I was goofy sober, I would be the funniest drunk they had ever seen. My choice to not do as they asked me was difficult, because they believed that I was saying no, because I was scared. My choice lowered and raised my reputation in different ways. I was seen as the “Molly Mormon” and therefore was shunned by many of my peers, because they believed that I was going to judge them or report their actions to the sergeants. At the same time, I was an example to some, and was respected for sticking to my convictions, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

There was a time in my training that I made the wrong decision and will forever regret it. My friends and I went to the movies, looking to see a certain movie we had talked about for a few weeks. When we got to the theater, the movie was sold out. We didn’t want to go back to the barracks, so we decided to watch another movie called “Hostage.” We didn’t know what the movie was about, but I did know that it was rated R. The Mormon Church advices to not watch rated R movies, because of the content in them. The content that is in rated R movies can diminish the spirit. My first bad decision was to watch the movie, despite its rating. The beginning part of the movie had an excess of pornographic material in it, followed by graphic and horrific scenes. My second bad decision, was to stay in the theater, even though I could feel the spirit diminish around me. I didn’t want to leave my friends, and I didn’t want to seem like I was scared, so I stayed in my seat, eyes closed and covered for most of the movie.

The content of that movie has stuck with me for many years after my training. I regret my decision to not speak up when I knew that watching an R movie would not be a good idea, and I regret that I was not strong enough to walk out of the theater when I saw the content. But I don’t regret the lessons that I learned from that night. I don’t regret that I became stronger and was able to say no to other things in my future dealings with my fellow comrades. We learn from our choices, whether they are good or bad. Everything that we do with our agency, determines where we end up after we have completed our time here on earth. We learn from our mistakes, learn from the right choices that we make. We study and grow in knowledge that will help us make the right decisions in the future.

When I was in Basic Training for the Army, prayer was on the most important things that I had to help me through it. Every morning and every night, I would kneel up on my top bunk and pray for strength for me and my friends who were struggling in my unit. One night, when I had finished my prayer and was laying down, I felt someone take my wrist. When I looked down, I saw a girl who slept next to me. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her body was shaking. In a quiet and humble voice, she looked up at me and asked me if I would teach her how to pray.

My example was enough that she saw a difference in the way that I was handling situations in the unit. Most of my comrades and sergeants referred to me as being the most motivated person in the unit. My attitude was different from the rest, my behavior and my actions were different than the others. And apparently it was noticeable. I know that I could not have made it through the struggles of the Army without the power of prayer.

Prayer is something that can be engaged in any time of the day, by anyone. But mostly, prayer is conducted before every meal, in the mornings when an individual wakes up and at night before he goes to sleep. Unlike the Lord’s Prayer, which I learned in a private school in Ireland, personal prayer is not something that is constructed and recited line for line. It’s a personal conversation with the Lord, a moment in the day where you can thank the Lord for things in your life that you consider blessings, and ask for help with the things that you can’t handle on your own.

“Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock. One tumbler falls when there is faith; a second when there is personal righteousness; the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God’s judgment—not ours—right for us” (Neal A. Maxwell).

While most prayers are serious and a penitent experience, the ones that are more causal and comfortable attract the Holy Ghost to that individual even stronger. One example that still makes me smile to this day is when I was living with my roommate and best friend. After a long day for both of us, we knelt down and began to pray to the Lord for safety and strength. We could both tell that there was a lot of tension in the room, because of the stress that we were both going through. In the middle of the prayer, that my friend was saying, she inadvertently passed gas. I was unable to help how much I laughed at the whole situation. Tears of laughter, started to stream down my cheeks as my friend smiled and continued with the prayer. In the prayer, she stated “thank you heavenly father, for giving us a chance to smile and to laugh in the mist of all our troubles.”

I will never forget that moment, because I had never been happier when saying a prayer. It showed me, that prayers should not be something that is planned, rehearsed, or done just because you feel obligated to say them. Prayers are meant to strengthen the connection between us and the Lord, and bringing the Holy Ghost closer to our hearts and our minds. There is no wrong way to pray, anyone can pray, anytime and in any place, as long as you speak from your heart and believe that the Lord will hear and answer you.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when a boy or a girl turns the age of twelve, they are able to do what’s called “Baptisms for the dead.” This is the opportunity to do the baptismal ordinances for those who have passed on, who didn’t have the opportunity to receive these ordinances on earth. After meeting with the Bishop (leader of a congregation), a boy or girl is given a temple recommend. Once they have received this, they are allowed into the baptismal area, so that they can do the baptisms. People who die without having been taught the gospel may yet be saved in the presence of God. This is made clear in the scriptures. But how? That is the question. Jesus preached to the dead. The Apostle Peter taught this in his day, saying that after the death of the Savior, and while his body lay in the tomb, the Lord, as a spirit, went to the realm of the dead and there preached to the spirits of the people who previously had lived on the earth (1 Peter 3:18–20). Then he gives us the reason for this preaching: “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (1 Peter 4:6).

Even though Baptisms for the dead are done for others, it can be something that is a great experience for the individual doing them. As a young woman, I spent at least once a month in the temple, doing baptisms. Being in the temple, and knowing that I was doing something very important for my ancestors and for others’ ancestors, brought me peace and spiritual fulfillment. While you wait for your turn to do the baptisms, they have a waiting area that’s filled with scriptures and church magazines.

I have often times been in a situation wherein I needed help or advice to get through. And time after time, I have gotten those answers while waiting in that foyer. The peace and the satisfaction that you receive from doing that service is beyond description.

Even though the Church has worked hard at doing baptisms for the dead and has made tremendous progress, there are still many people in heaven who are waiting for their baptismal ordinances to be performed. It can be great to go to the Mormon Temple to do baptisms as a group activity, an individual thing, or even a date. My best friend spent at least one day every month, going to the temple with her boyfriend (now husband). They said that it strengthened their relationship in many ways. They were able to move away from the world’s view on an expensive and materialistic way of dating, to sharing something spiritual and important together. I recommend to everyone that is worthy to enter the Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to participate in these sacred ordinances.

“If we can baptize a man in the name of the Father [and] of the Son and of the Holy Ghost for the remission of sins it is just as much our privilege to act as an agent and be baptized for the remission of sins for and in behalf of our dead kindred who have not heard the gospel or fullness of it” (Kenney, p. 165).