** DAY 19 -- New Chapter in the DR

The other day Bonnie heard from a friend of ours who served in the mission field. When they were out half of their mission, one of their sons called and asked them, " How is your marriage?"  She smiled and reported that all was well.  Then he proceeded to tell her of his partner in work had just reported that his partner's parents just returned from their mission and filed for divorce.

All things in this life are to either make us stronger or weaken us.  I guess this couple was living in a marriage for their children.  They served their kids, worked and co-existed.  Then when they were put in a position to work together, live together, TALK with each other and share who they really are, or who they had become over the past years, they found out they were married to and living with a stranger.

I watched my parents go through an adjustment when they had to TALK with each other.  Dad was a VP at the best University in Utah (No not BYU) and mom was involved with many things.  They talked with each other through their four missions.  They came out of it much stronger in their marriage.  But I guess some do not.  Some go through the motions and then when they have to TALK with each other, work together, they find they cannot do it.

This dilemma does not in the least worry me.  We are living our own mission even now, and have been the last few years since our children left.  Our mission will do wonders in strengthening our support of each other, and help us become more and more "one flesh" as we are counseled to do.  It is certainly sad to hear of others who fail under the pressures of living with their spouse.

Since we finished our move to the new storage unit in Springville, the last large challenge we had, this morning I woke up and realized before long I would wake up in a new, different country.  We would leave behind us the challenges of this life and enter a new one.  It will be a new chapter in our mortality, in our proving ourselves to our Heavenly Father, in preparing for the Celestial Kingdom Chapter of our existence.  I am sure the DR will have a different smell.  I am sure it will be different in  many ways.  We can handle it together, and we will use this new chapter to become closer, stronger, and more supportive of each other.