Lara's happy forever after

On September 26th, 2015, my step-sister Lara was sealed for time and all eternity in the Houstom Texas temple to her eternal companion. It was truly an amazing experience. Despite not being old enough to be in the sealing room, it didn't matter to me. That morning I woke before it was even light outside so Lara's friend Kassie could curl my hair, since I would be a bridesmaid. I was so excited. When we all left for the temple, I could barely contain my excitement. My two brothers and I waited in the waiting room inside the temple, and the happiest feeling came over me. This was it.

It took a lot less time than I thought, and when everyone came out of the temple to lead us outside, I couldn't hold back my excitement to see Lara and Trevor walk out. And when they finally walked out...wow. I had never seen them so happy. And this happiness lasted all night. They looked soooooo happy with the knowledge that this marriage was sealing them forever, and that they had remained righteous enough to be married in the temple. It was like a mini happily ever after. Except forever!

Trevor's groomsmen are so fabulous (that is my brother on the far left)

I guess he is pretty coooooool.



Can you SEEEE our muscles? So strong.

 

The reception was held at our house. I LOVED the lights.

It was honestly one of the best weekends of my life. The house was filled with seemingly never-ending joy. Family was joined together to celebrate. It was amazing...

 

After witnessing their happiness, that day I solidified my decision to be married in the temple, no matter what, which meant finding an eternal companion that not only could take me to the temple, but WOULD. And that means I need to be the kind of person that I would want to marry.

 

WATCH A PREVIEW OF THEIR WEDDING VIDEO HERE!!!

 

Thanks so much for reading :)

just five more words

I have a really close friend that is struggling with depression at the moment, and I can tell how hard it has been for them. Living in this world today, perfectionism is constantly expressed as a necessity for everyone, and if you're not perfect, then are you really worth much? This is the mindset that a lot of people have come to have, including my friend. 

Sometimes I wish I could just grab them by the shoulders and shake them, saying, "YOU. ARE. WORTH. SO. MUCH. MORE. THAN. YOU. REALIZE." But that wouldn't exactly do much good now, would it?

Anyways, I recently found out about an experience my friend had. A few months ago, they were really upset one night. Something had caused them to snap inside and feel angry and utterly useless, and they were headed for their room to cut. However, something told my friend to text me "goodnight Eden." 

Now, when I got this text, I wasn't too caught off guard. This was a pretty routine thing, because my friend always needed someone to tell them goodnight. Usually, I ended up being that person. Anyways, as I was typing my response back, my fingers hovered over the electronic keyboard after I typed, 'goodnight." In my head, I got the prompting to add something unusual. Just five extra words: "thanks for talking to me." 

I didn't give it much of a second thought after sending it, but little did I know that my words had a bigger impact than I could have ever imagined. Those five words stopped my friend in their tracks, and hit them "so profoundly and in such a way" that they actually refrained from cutting themselves that night. Someone (me) was actually grateful that they had taken the time to talk to them. 

Finding that out today hit me hard. God knew what my friend needed to hear. I was only the deliverer, and thankfully I had listened to that small voice telling me to add just five. more. words. 

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I'm so thankful for that experience. Sometimes actions may seem so small and insignificant when we do them, but that's because we don't truly know everything that is going on in someone's life during every single moment. I really needed to learn that lesson.