A long time ago is a valley not so far away a young man named Steve and a young woman named Arah decided to make some incredibly significant changes in their lives.  Steve and Arah had both made some not so great choices.  They had fallen away from the gospel and weren’t living in a way that made either of them very happy.  Steve met with his Bishop and repented of his sins and started working towards being worthy to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and a while later he decided to get his Patriarchal Blessing. Arah met with her Bishop and worked on becoming worthy to receive her Patriarchal blessing as well.  Steve and Arah didn’t know each other but ended up receiving their Patriarchal Blessing from the same Patriarch exactly 2 months apart.

Over the next several months they both continued to making changes in their lives. Life was good! They were working, going to school, dating around and having lots of fun with friends. It also so happened that they lived in the same neighborhood and were attending the same singles ward. They still didn’t really know each other, but they had mutual friends. In fact, Arah had dated a couple of his friends and Steve was really good at flirting with her friends.

Arah was happy but started to feel like she needed to be preparing for something. She prayed about it and Heavenly Father told her she needed to prepare for a mission. So that’s exactly what she did. She met with her bishop, started working on her mission papers, attending missionary prep and preparing to go to the temple to take out her endowments.

In the meantime, Steve had heard the rumors that Arah was going on a mission and decided now would be the perfect time to ask her out. You see, Steve had some commitment issues and thought dating a girl about to leave on a mission would be perfect. They could have a little fun for a couple of months and then go their separate ways. Arah was on the same page. She new she would never get married so young and knew it wouldn’t be anything serious. After all, she would be leaving on a mission soon.

Arah received her mission call to serve in the Independence, Missouri Mission and she couldn’t wait. She went through the Timpanogos Temple the same day as her sister Lisa. Lisa was going through as a future bride and Arah as a future missionary. This was a super spiritual experience for the sisters and their parents. But the strange thing for Arah was while she was sitting in the celestial room, she couldn’t stop thinking about Steve. This was very strange to her because they had just started dating and it was supposed to be casual.  She was leaving on a mission in just a couple of months.

However, after just 2 weeks of hanging out they went on a walk and had “the talk”.  They decided to only date each other and see where the relationship could go. This was a pretty big deal for both of them, because they were not the relationship types. So, for two months they dated as Arah continued to prepare for her mission. But as Arah prepared for her mission, she also realized she had fallen in love with Steve and Steve had fallen in love with her. Steve met Arah’s family and they loved him the second they met him. Even her brother loved him, and this was huge! Her brother never liked any of her boyfriends.

Two weeks before Arah was to report to the MTC, she and Steve went on a California vacation with her family. Steve planned a date on Catalina Island for the two of them. On the ferry ride over Steve was acting very strange. Arah was certain this was it. He was going to break up with her and she would leave on her mission as planned.

After a very strange seafood lunch where Steve insisted on eating several super gross oysters they went for a walk.  They sat down on a bench in a place called Lover’s Cove. Steve had barely said two words to Arah, and she thought, “This is it. We are done!” She braced herself for the heartbreak as he got down on one knee and blurted out, “Will you marry me?” She couldn’t believe her ears. What was he saying? What was he holding? Is that a ring inside the oyster shells he ate for lunch? She said, “Are you serious?” He looked at her with wide eyes, nodding yes and waiting for an answer. After she was able to compose herself and come back to her senses, she realized what was happening and squeaked out a "yes!"

Four month later, Steve and Arah were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. This was exactly two years after Arah had received her Patriarchal Blessing from the same Patriarch Steve had gotten a blessing from two months earlier.

I know this was a long story, so thanks for hanging in there. I needed to tell the entire story, because it took years of “Defining Moments” to bring Steve and me together. This union wouldn’t have happened any other way. Both of us had to decide to come back to the gospel, both of us decided to get our Patriarchal Blessing at the same time, we made changes in our lives around the same time that brought us together. If Heavenly Father would have answered my prayer by telling me to prepare for marriage, I don’t know if I would’ve listened. Marriage was the furthest thing from my mind. By preparing for a mission, I prepared for marriage. If I hadn’t put in my mission papers, Steve wouldn’t have asked me out. If we didn’t have a deadline to decide whether we break up or get married, we wouldn’t have taken our relationship so seriously, and we wouldn’t have gotten engaged. Without these defining moments and many to follow this family of 4 would not exist.

Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us individually. He hears and answers our prayers. He may not answer them the way we want or the way we expect, but He knows best!