institute.

this semester i am taking a wednesday night institute class. i won't lie, sometimes it's really hard to motivate yourself to drive out to tempe when all you want to do is go home and sleep. BUT, i am so glad i went today. i think i learned a lot about myself tonight. have you ever read 1 corinthians ch. 14? it's a good one--i dare you to read it. i LOVE charity. ironic much?? anyways, i learned a cool trick. replace the word "charity" with "Jesus." it's pretty legit.

on another note, my teacher told a super sweet/awesome/neat story about his family. when my teacher was 13 years old his parents got divorced. his parents had been married in the temple in salt lake, but never took the actions to get a temple divorce. a few years later both of his parents remarried. his mom married a nonmember and proceeded to fall away from the church for over 20 years. his dad became very "hit and miss" when it came to church. both of his parents ended up getting divorced again from his step mom and step dad. about 4 years ago he was on the phone with his mom when she said to him, "i have some news!" he replied asking what was going on. she replied and told him she was going to be getting married. he was in utter shock and disbelief. as far as he had known his mom hadn't even been dating or talking to anyone. obviously the first question that came to his mind was "WHO?!" she replied saying, "your father of course!" his parents had started talking again and had fallen in love again.

i seriously love this story. my institute teacher happened to be a bishop at the time and was able to marry them. since his parents never got a temple divorce they were again married for time and all eternity.

my institute teacher is a great guy. obviously this story is sooo rare, but i have to admire the strength him and his siblings showed by staying strong in the church, getting married in the temple, even when both of their parents were unable to attend all four of their weddings.

eternity is so worth it. i may not be married, but i can tell you that forever with the people that you love the most is the greatest gift of all.