[photopress:Lewis_Family_Portrait_210.jpg,thumb,pp_style]By Danielle Ellis
Surround Yourself with Greatness.” This is the commitment a young Chad Lewis made to himself while he was half a world away from home, serving a mission in Taiwan. He read an old talk by Gordon B. Hinckley, “Caeser, Circus, or Christ,” (available at speeches.byu.edu; 1965) and resolved to himself that he could surround himself with great music, great books and great people, and this would help him to become the man he wanted to be.

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Joseph Fielding Smith, speaking of marriage, explained the beauty and importance of the covenant. “Marriage is a principle that, when entered into, presents more challenges and blessings than any other.… Nothing will prepare mankind for exaltation in the kingdom of God as readily as faithfulness to the marriage covenant. Through this covenant, perhaps more than any other, we accomplish the perfect degree of the divine will. If properly received, this covenant can be the means by which man gains his greatest happiness. The greatest honors in this life and in the life to come—honor, dominion, and power in perfect love—are blessings that flow from it. These blessings of eternal glory are held in reserve for those who are willing to abide in this and all other covenants of the gospel.”

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[photopress:Dani_mop_210.jpg,thumb,pp_style]By Dave Ellis
My wife’s birthday was last month. I know, this is the first I’ve heard of it too. It’s not very fair to me when she tells me the day after and then acts all pouty about it. Of course I’m kidding. I was well aware of her birthday, I wore a string around my finger since January 2009 to remind me.
Nearly lost that finger over it, but it was worth it.

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[photopress:bride_groom_rose_210.jpg,thumb,pp_style]By Julie Wright
I don’t think boys realize that girls make lists. Not just any lists: important lists. We make lists of our friends, music we like, and most importantly what qualities we expect our future husbands to have before we agree to marry them. I had a list of my own, brimming with the perfections I expected my husband to possess.

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[photopress:walk_away_rose_210.jpg,thumb,pp_style]By Ken Craig
Never, in all my youth, could I conjure up the image of the moment I would purchase an engagement ring. In my mind, the buying of the ring was The Final Step. And The Final Step to
The Final Commitment would be intimidating to most, would it not?

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