What else matters?

Jeff has served as Bishop in a Young Single Adult ward over three years (actually the first year he was a counselor).  He is now serving in his 4th ward.  He was in 3 different wards at the University of Utah and now is Bishop in a YSA ward in Farmington, UT.  The most amazing thing to me as I attend the wards with him are the number of beautiful, well-educated, spiritual young women that are not married.  In visiting with both the young women as well as the young men it seems they have made the decision to marry so much more difficult than it needs to be.  I have reflected back on our courtship, engagement and marriage and am so thankful that we were able to not get distracted or detained by worldly obstacles.  We met at USU in October of 1977.  We knew of each other but had never met until attending a USU football game.  The next Monday was the first day of classes and as fortune would have it we had two classes together.  I was completing the last quarter of my sophomore year and Jeff was beginning his freshman year.  I'm not sure he even knew what he was going to major in.  We spent every day together studying, playing and getting to know each other.  By December we both realized that we couldn't imagine living our lives or eternity without each other and we were engaged at Christmas.  Setting the date to marry in March we went to register for school  in January and realized that just wasn't working for us and we changed the date to February 10.  We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on a beautiful snowy day, went to Park City for a honeymoon, and came back to Logan to live in our very small rental home situated beneath the university.  As I think of it now, neither one of us even had a job until after the wedding.  I don't recall worrying about our education, how much money we had, or if we could find jobs.  We just knew that together we could do anything that was dealt to us.  We wanted to be one!!  That decision to marry my dear Jeff is one decision that in almost 33 years I have never regretted.  We could of analyzed it and realized it didn't make sense to marry, but it was right.  Where is the passion and adventure in these kids lives?  It will never be perfect timing or perfect circumstances or perfect anything.  If two people have testimonies of their Heavenly Father and His Plan, if they are doing the best they can to live righteous lives, if they are willing to sacrifice and serve one another, and there is love between them, then what else matters?

On our first bed  (Feb 1978)