Tuesday, April 12, 2011

LDS Writer Blogfest: The Eternal Blessings of Marriage

Okay, so my post today is kind of long...but it's SUPER awesome and totally worth reading!


Today I'm joining other writer's of my faith to tell you a little bit about our beliefs. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every six months we have a General Conference when we gather together as church members to learn from our leader's.
Richard G. ScottI'd like to share some highlights from Elder Richard G. Scott's talk on the Eternal blessings of Marriage.
In our church we have the opportunity to be sealed in temples for time and all eternity. This ordinance makes it possible for us to be sealed together as a family unit after this life is over.
If you'd like to know more about temples, you can learn more about them here.
Now I'd like to share the highlights from Elder Scott's talk. These are the things that stuck out to me, the stories and council given that I absolutely loved :)
"Two of the vital pillars that sustain Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness are marriage and the family. Their lofty significance is underscored by Satan’s relentless efforts to splinter the family and to undermine the significance of temple ordinances, which bind the family together for eternity. The temple sealing has greater meaning as life unfolds. It will help you draw ever closer together and find greater joy and fulfillment in mortality.
"Once I learned an important lesson from my wife. I traveled extensively in my profession. I had been gone almost two weeks and returned home one Saturday morning. I had four hours before I needed to attend another meeting. I noticed that our little washing machine had broken down and my wife was washing the clothes by hand. I began to fix the machine.
Jeanene came by and said, “Rich, what are you doing?”
I said, “I’m repairing the washing machine so you don’t have to do this by hand.”
She said, “No. Go play with the children.”
I said, “I can play with the children anytime. I want to help you.”
Then she said, “Richard, please go play with the children.”
When she spoke to me that authoritatively, I obeyed.
I had a marvelous time with our children. We chased each other around and rolled in the fall leaves. Later I went to my meeting. I probably would have forgotten that experience were it not for the lesson that she wanted me to learn.
The next morning about 4:00 a.m., I was awakened as I felt two little arms around my neck, a kiss on the cheek, and these words whispered in my ear, which I will never forget: “Dad, I love you. You are my best friend.”
If you are having that kind of experience in your family, you are having one of the supernal joys of life."
Isn't that a great story? I love that the wife didn't think twice about doing the laundry by hand. It was more important for her to have her husband spend time with the kids. Yes, the washer would need to be fixed sometime, but there is a time and place for everything.

Next, I'd like to share with you some awesome marriage strengthening questions that Elder Scott asked.

"If you are married, are you faithful to your spouse mentally as well as physically? Are you loyal to your marriage covenants by never engaging in conversation with another person that you wouldn’t want your spouse to overhear? Are you kind and supportive of your spouse and children?"

And then he gives some great advice...mostly for husbands but I think it's good for everyone.

"Do you tell your wife often how very much you love her? It will bring her great happiness. I’ve heard men tell me when I say that, “Oh, she knows.” You need to tell her. A woman grows and is greatly blessed by that reassurance. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often. That will make life far richer and more pleasant and purposeful. Don’t withhold those natural expressions of love. And it works a lot better if you are holding her close while you tell her."

I know that this council can strengthen my marriage and my family. I'm grateful to have the fullness of the gospel in my life. I love that I have the opportunity to be with my awesome hubby and cute kidlets forever. Although having a family is hard, there is no greater joy or love than the happiness that can come from working together, laughing together, supporting each other, and growing closer to each other as we grow closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Satan wants to tear down families because he knows that's where we can find the greatest blessings. It's important to be strong and build a good foundation to keep Satan and his influences from our families. I hope we can all turn to our Savior, build our family relationships and find joy in the journey that will lead us all to eternal happiness in our marriages and families.

If you'd like to read the complete talk by Elder Scott, you can find it here.

To read more talks from the most recent General Conference from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can find them here.

To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you can go here .

Here's a complete list of bloggers in this blogfest!


Annette Lyon: “Desire”
Annie Cechini: “The Spirit of Revelation”
Ben Spendlove: “The Atonement Covers All Pain”
Chantele Sedgwick: “LDS Women Are Incredible!”
Charity Bradford: “LDS Women Are Incredible!”
Jackee Alston: “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage”
Jenilyn Tolley: “What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?”
Jennifer McFadden: “Establishing a Christ-Centered Home”
Jessie Oliveros: “Establishing a Christ-Centered Home”
Jolene Perry: “It’s Conference Once Again”
Jordan McCollum: “What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?”
Kasey Tross: “Guided by the Holy Spirit”
Kayeleen Hamblin: “Become as a Little Child”
Kelly Bryson: “The Atonement Covers All Pain”
Krista Van Dolzer: “Opportunities to Do Good”
Melanie Stanford: “What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?”
Michelle Merrill: “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage”
Myrna Foster: “Opportunities to Do Good”
Nisa Swineford: “Desire”
Sallee Mathews: “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage”
Sierra Gardner: “The Atonement Covers All Pain”
Tamara Hart Heiner: “Waiting on the Road to Damascus”
The Writing Lair: “Waiting on the Road to Damascus”



And in case you missed my interview with Susan Fields, you can read it here

Thanks for taking the time to read this :) Have a great day!

31 comments:

  1. This was great! Such good advise, no matter what your faith is! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Thanks for sharing Michelle. I listened to the talk as well. I look forward to being married some day. You're awesome. I love reading your blogs.

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  3. Wasn't that a great talk? Listening to him talk about his wife made me really want that kind of relationship with my husband. I'm glad he gave some great clues for how to get there. Thanks for posting!

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  4. Awesome post, Michelle! I can just hear his voice when I read this. :)

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  5. I loved this talk and it's so great to see your perspective on it. Thank you! Scott was so tender about his wife that it moved me deeply.

    Thanks again for sharing and it's great to "meet" you! :o)

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  6. One of the things made me smile - when my husband gets into an odd conversation at work, or says something he's worried he shouldn't have - he'll tell me as soon as he gets home. It's never been any big deal, but it makes me happy to know he shares even brief conversations that he thinks could be questionable. It's pretty happy.
    LOVE your wedding pic.

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  7. I loved his talk too!! Elder Scott is amazing!

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  8. I loved that talk! It really made me think about my own relationship with my husband. And it was great of Elder Scott to share so much from his own life. It was great to read your post and remember what he had to say.

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  9. Hi. :) I'm stopping by via Susan Fields blog. I'm LDS too, and I really enjoyed conference. As usual, it was a wonderful boost.

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  10. Okay, so this was one of my favorite favorite talks. I wanted to pick it but I didn't think I could do it justice. You on the other hand, did fantastic! I loved this whole post. It's so nice to think about my relationship with my hubby and know that we are treating each other with the respect we both deserve. We have so many wonderful memories already, 8 years together, and 3 beautiful children. I can't wait for the years to come! Thanks so much for sharing Michelle! I loved this. :)

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  11. Ah! I loved hearing all your thoughts on this. The talk was wonderful! Marriage and family are so important!

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  12. Some great advice in there, no matter what your faith is. :) Marriage and family are everything to me.

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  13. Elder Scott's tears as he gave his talk were the icing on a great cake!

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  14. these are such fantastic bits of advice, and that part about the little kid hugging the daddy got me all misty. It's true that if we put value in our family, we only get it back multiplied. Good lessons to remember--especially for us solitary writer-types! Kudos to the LDSs~ :o) <3

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  15. Oh, I loved this talk. About halfway through, my oldest asked if her dad was listening to it, and I had to tell her he was sleeping. But it was such a great talk.

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  16. Wonderful post, Michelle! And thanks for sharing one of your wedding photos with us. I'm going to guess that's the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. Am I right, am I right?

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  17. Your wedding picture is beautiful! And this was a great talk! I need to sit down and listen to it again with my husband.

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  18. Ditto what Jessie Oliveros said--Love the picture. This was an excellent talk too! Another one that I felt I needed to hear. Thank you for sharing it with us again.

    PS, I love your blog background.

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  19. I was into fashion designer business, but it was not working fine the way it was supposed to, life was not what living cos things was very bad for me financially, i have a beautiful wife with three kids to take care off. i sold my car and some of my fashion design property just to keep a living and still things was not going easily for me. so i complained to a friend of mine Ann who said he knows a powerful spell caster called Dr Orissa who can help me with money spell, good luck and automatic promotion in office, spell to bring back your ex lover, spells to bring close one in jail lost back home,healing spell.that help straightened his brother life from taking hard drugs. At first i was confused and doubtful, then i decided to give a try and did what Dr Orissa told me to do, to my greatest surprise 12hours later things started working perfectly well for me, i got what i ever bargained for, my business was flourishing like never before, i now have enough money to take good care of my lovely family and now we are living happily,I say thank you for bringing my source to hope and joy with his powerful spell,well if you want to be a living testimony like me or interested in any spell casting you can contact Dr Orissa via email: orissatemple@yahoo.com

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  20. Such a heartwarming post on the eternal blessings of marriage! It's incredible how the temple sealing strengthens relationships over time. If you're seeking places that reflect the beauty of eternal bonds, consider visiting Santorini, Greece, with its breathtaking views and Venice, Italy, where the timeless canals echo the permanence of love.

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