We met at Church. The details of which my future husband would rather leave in the past but I feel they make for an interesting story. Certainly one that is burned into my memory. Two young single adult branches merged in the fall of 2016. During the transition I was tasked by my branch president with reaching out to everyone. I felt it was my responsibility to be inclusive. So on the evening of our first FHE I asked everyone I could out to eat. While aproaching him and some others I introduced myself and was greated by David with a promt "Oh, I've heard of you". When I replied "well hopefully good things", David replied "good and bad!" From that interaction on I made it my mission to change whatever impression he had been given and show him I could be a good friend. I think it only took a couple of weeks for him to realize I took my branch responsibilities pretty seriously and I wasn't going to stop at anything short of changing his mind for the better. - The Bride

David and I have been friends for quite some time. Our friendship grew out of a series of, what now seems like, divinely inspired experiences that bonded us. As our personal trials increased, our conversations became deeper and more meaningful, our trust became stronger, and our understanding for one another grew. We found a love rooted in pure, unadulterated, friendship. While our relationship is not void of passion, it is not where we began. In fact, I feel it would be disingenuous to allude that David and I fell in love before simply loving one another. I grew to love David long before I fell in love with him. Anyone who saw us interact would attest to his love for me. So the night David asked me if I wanted to try going on one date, to see if we could form a romantic attachment, I felt it was the start of something worth keeping record of. I am terrible at journaling so I kept a memo list on my phone containing what I considered to be "our big firsts". I entitled it, eternal besties. He, afterall, was my best friend, and we plan to continue that for eternity. -The Bride

So, after we had been going out for a while we had both come to the conclusion that we wanted to spend eternity with each other. We were talking about marriage and so we decided to go look at rings. The time came and I bought her ring and I was planning out something really special. I recruited what is now most of my side of the bridal party to help me pull of something beautiful, magical, something worthy of a fairytale. Code name "#OperationGO" We would often go to the Marietta square, one of our favorite restaurants is there on the square, and there is a cute little gazebo there. I was going to have my guys and a girl put battery powered lights all on the gazebo, have our song start playing on a speaker and we would dance and at the end I would pop the question. Well, that is not exactly what happened. Laurissa had kind of caught on that I might be planning something so she was really nervous and anxious all day. I was nervous and did not plan very well and forgot to make a reservation. We got to the restaurant and we were going to have to wait about 30 or 45 minutes. In that waiting time laurissa got really sick and I had to take her home and discretely message my guys telling them that it was a no go. We got home, got her fed and we went on with the rest of our night. From that point on I had no plan, I carried the ring in my car all the time until one night we went to do service in our Temple and I thought of how perfect it would be for me to do it there, where we would later be sealed, or bound together for all eternity. There was a time in the room that symbolizes heaven, we were all alone, I got down on my knees and pulled out the ring and proposed right there, just the two of us. In the end this was more perfect than my original plan and I did not have to worry about camera angles, songs, or anything. It was just the two of us and it was perfect. So, the moral of the story, If at first you don't succeed, Try again. -The Groom

Just about every night David and I try to pray together. As David prayed tonight he thanked our loving Heavenly Father for the opportunity to say goodbye to our beloved singles branch. As soon as the words left his lips I realized I had not said goodbye to a single person. I left no last words of encouragement. No nuggets of wisdom from my tenure at the singels branch. No hugs or tearful exchanges. Sure, we spoke in church and I shared the truths I have come to believe as I have grown in my faith over the last 10 years. But I didn't actually speak to a single person as if it wasn't going to be exactly the same next week. I left the building as I always had. Fully expecting to return to that same building with the same people the following week. I was devastated at my realization! When the prayer ended I told David of my oversight. My sweet man just said "well, I guess we'll have to go back then". Is it that easy? Can I choose to postpone? The truth I came to realize is: we can visit but our new home is the Atlanta Spanish branch. Yes, everyone there speaks Spanish and all the meetings, talks, prayers and hymns will be in the Spanish language. No, I don't actually speak spanish..yet. I believe this congregation was prepared for us, and we were prepared for it. I believe God gave us that gift. We know where our next ward family will be and with the step into marriage comes a new congregation of loving Saints to meet, embrace and love. I prayed for this moment in my life for so long. I'm so grateful and so blessed to be marrying my best friend. I simply overlooked all the scary unknowns that come next. You know the great part about that is though? I'm not alone. David, God, and I will figure it all out together. -The Bride

It hit me like a ton of bricks tonight as I stared into David's eyes. He was holding me for a brief moment before we knelt down, clasped hands and began our nightly ritual of a prayer together before we part. In 5 days he doesn't have to excuse himself to go home to a different bed. I won't get a kiss on the forehead as he walks through the door of the home we will share, towards the car. I won't have to lock the doors and watch him drive away. I won't get a text telling me he's home safe. Instead, we will both get ready for sleep in the same house. We will still kneel in prayer but now, when we've finished, we will both climb into OUR bed. I will still probably get a kiss on the forehead but I won't have to lock the door afterwords. I will know he's safely home because he will be beside me. It doesn't seem fair, all the hurt in this world and I get to sleep next to my best friend. So I will do my best to remember my privilege, my blessings. 5 days and this grand adventure we call life is taking a turn once more. Ready...set... -The Bride