True Love

True Love! Last night in a class I am taking through the church education system called "Preparing for an Eternal Marriage", we talked about what true love is. The instructor used a quote by some guy named Bennion (sorry, lousy at citing!) who determined that there are 6 keys to building a relationship. The first is FRIENDSHIP, followed by TIME, then in less of an order RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING,and RESTRAINT, and lastly ROMANCE.

So you want to know what true love is? ..... they got it...



This is my parents in Argentina, playing in a park. My mom arrived a week after my dad. She was so nervous to fly to Chile where she doesn't speak the language, then waited 6 hours to change planes to fly to Argentina. But it was all worth it she said, because she got to be with my dad. While my dad waiting for mom to arrive, he found a pastry bakery nearby their apartment. He knows what makes his wife happy! Now that is love! They are each others best friends; they spend a lot of time together (5 weeks in Argentina); there is the utmost respect for one another; they clearly understand each other (mom brought a box of cereal and a jar of peanut butter to Argentina for dad) . Do they every disagree? Sure, but never have I seen them fight or argue...so restraint- check! And Romance? Totally, on a skype chat with them the other night, mom had her arms draped around my dad's neck and they looked as giddy as teenagers. So sweet!

"True love is a process. True love requires personal action. Love must be continuing to be real. Love takes time. ...Love demands action if it is to be continuing. Love is a process. Love is not a declaration. Love is not an announcement. Love is not passing fancy. Love is not an expediency. Love is not convenience. 'If ye love me, keep my commandments and if ye love me feed my sheep' are God-given proclamations that should remind us we can often best show our love through the processes of feeding and keeping." (Elder Marvin J. Ashton)

"Perfect love is perfectly patient...Unlike our love, Jesus' love consists of active restraint as well as pressing encouragement. His perfect love of each and all spares Him the need to accept us as we now are, for He knows perfectly what we have the possibility to become." (Elder Neal A. Maxwell)

I can't wait for my true love to find his way into my life. Until then, I will keep practicing loving. Seems a good place to start. I got a few people I can practice on...