Full-Time Mission with an Eternal Companion

My parents just got called to serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their third time. They've already served in Brazil and Australia. This time they get to serve in the United States. I'm very excited for them.

As their daughter, I've noticed that they seem much closer as a couple since serving missions together. So, I asked my Dad about it. He mentions that the missions have been good for them because they do good things together, make memories together and make a lot of good friends.  All these things have been very bonding for them as a couple. They also love watching the Gospel change peoples' lives for the better throughout the world.

All these missions together give new meaning to the phrase "eternal companion".


For a long time I've thought how cool it'd be for Ryan and I to go on a mission together one day. To me it would mean three important things:

• we'd still be married!
• we were still healthy enough to serve
• we were still faithful in the Gospel

Hopefully we'll get to serve together one day, too.

Driving a Marriage

A friend compared marriage to owning a car:
"If you don't know how to drive, getting a new car won't solve your problem. Better to take some time out and learn some new skills, then to get a new car."


Cars, like marriages, take lots of work to maintain. If you choose the right car it can last a really long time, but not if you're hard on it and skip repairs and routine maintenance.

The Senses In Your Relationship

We recently read a book about parenting children based on their dominant senses. This got us thinking about how our own dominant senses affect our relationship. I'm (Leah) a fairly visual person. I say things like: "see you later" and I memorize things easily if I can see them. I started to realize that the things that Ryan does that bug me the most are actually visually related. I really like to see all the cupboards and closet doors closed all the time. Solution: tape pictures to the inside that I enjoy seeing, just in case he forgets to close the doors. 

So, Ryan on the other hand is auditory. He notices sounds that other people don't. Also, he's always confused when he hollers something across the room to me and I don't remember it later. Solution: write things down for me if he wants me to remember later or make eye contact while we talk.

Learning about each others' senses has helped us a bit. How about you?

"Country Chiq" puts up pictures on the inside of cupboard doors too, in her kids art room.

Cute!      cupboard drawings