A Total Leap of Faith!

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this week's study. I love the way Elder Hafen explains things! He speaks the truth in a powerful way and I add my witness to these truths.

". . . marrying and raising children can yield the most valuable religious experiences of their lives. Covenant marriage requires a total leap of faith: they must keep their covenants without knowing what risks that may require of them. They must surrender unconditionally, obeying God and sacrificing for each other. Then they will discover what Alma called 'incomprehensible joy.'"

" Of course, some have no opportunity to marry. And some divorces are unavoidable. But the Lord will ultimately compensate those faithful ones who are denied mortal fulfillment."

"Every marriage is tested repeatedly by three kinds of wolves.
The first wolf is natural adversity. . . 
Second, the wolf of their own imperfections will test them. One woman told me through her tears how her husband’s constant criticism finally destroyed not only their marriage but her entire sense of self-worth.
The third wolf is the excessive individualism . . . Our deepest God-given instinct is to run to the arms of those who need us and sustain us. But he [the adversary] drives us away from each other today with wedges of distrust and suspicion. He exaggerates the need for having space, getting out, and being left alone. Some people believe him—and then they wonder why they feel left alone.

"When we observe the covenants we make at the altar of sacrifice, we discover hidden reservoirs of strength."

"May we restore the concept of marriage as a covenant, even the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. And when the wolf comes, may we be as shepherds, not hirelings, willing to lay down our lives, a day at a time, for the sheep of our covenant. Then, like Adam and Eve, we will have joy."

Elder Bruce C. Hafen “Covenant Marriage,” General Conference, October 1996