Supporting One Another

After I had served as an elders quorum president, a branch president, and a bishop over a period of five years, we moved to a new ward. My wife was soon called to be the Relief Society president. She went to her first meeting with the bishop while I chased our two youngsters up and down the halls and through the parking lot and cultural hall. I had my first experience with waiting. I waited one and a half hours. When Mary came out of the bishop's office, I had one boy in my arm and the other by the hand. I didn't have the courage to say anything, but I just gave her a look that said, "Do you realize you've kept me waiting an hour and a half?"

All she did was raise five fingers and say, "Five years." That is how long she had been waiting for me. Then I began to realize it was going to be my job to support my wife in her calling just as she had supported me in my callings.

I ask you not to lean on your spouse as a crutch but to stand strong, strengthen each other, and ask for help as you pray together each night. I bear testimony that those moments in my life when I have been unhappy, depressed, or sad are when I have deviated, even to a minor degree, from the teachings of the Lord. That you might have true happiness and find the joy of a celestial marriage with a little heaven on earth is my prayer.

When you are choosing your companion, make sure that both of you have a desire for a celestial marriage relationship, a desire to have a companion for eternity, a desire to have a family for eternity, and a desire to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Celestial marriage is like climbing a mountain. You tie yourself to an eternal companion, and you start up the mountain. As children come along, you tie into them as well and continue your journey.

The secret of a happy marriage is to protect the Achilles' heel and not take advantage of the weaknesses of those you know the best, love the most, and ultimately can hurt the most.

I ask you not to lean on your spouse as a crutch but to stand strong, strengthen each other, and ask for help as you pray together each night.

Photo illustration by Robert Casey

Left: photo illustration by Matthew Reier; right: photo illustration by Vernon Wiley © iStock

Left: photo illustration by Matthew Reier; right: photo illustration by Christina Smith

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