Sunday Comments and Our Engagement Story

You know how sometimes you really feel the Spirit and plan out just what you're going to say. . . and then you get to the pulpit and it's not nearly as nice as you thought it would be. Yeah, that happened to me on Sunday. But that's what blogs are for, right? :D.

On occassion, my ward has a singing sacrament meeting--kind of like testimony meeting--where people get up and share a favorite hymn and what it means to them.

Mine was "High on the Mountain Top." I basically said that we sang it after we were engaged and that I know that families can be together forever, and that this song makes me think of more than just the gospel on a whole, but of that smaller part of the gospel--eternal families, but I left out a few important facts--like that we were actually ON a mountaintop. Of course, I wouldn't share as much in church as I do here. . . But. . . Anyway. . . It's a good story, or at least one I'd like to remember, so here goes:

When Robert and I got engaged for the second time, we decided to take a hike up the mountain behind his parents' home. (It was also our second time taking this hike--the first time I got too dizzy and couldn't make it all of the way up.) We were broken up at the time, but we had been getting together occassionally for about two weeks to talk about how we were doing and if it might be possible to get back together again. I remember Robert commenting that we were the only thing that could help the other get through that time. (Dating is ridiculous, isn't it?) Anyway. We're on a hike. We get to the top of the mountain and discuss our feelings. Robert had talked with his bishop, and his advice (thank goodness!) changed his perspective on a few things--i.e. he wasn't going to ask me to marry him only a few days before our wedding date. (Like I said, dating is ridiculous.) But we still weren't for sure going to get married.

We talked about lots of stuff. We snacked a little, read some scriptures, and we talked about school and his trip to Europe that was coming up in the next few days, theories about spiritual matter, how neat it was to be on a mountain (I'd never been before) and I also remember talking about how getting an answer about marriage is personal, and if you truly had a positive Spiritual revelation (and the person you wanted to marry also had one), then it doesn't matter how many people got a negative one--it's not a popularity vote. We talked a little more. . . and I don't remember exactly what I said, but Robert jumped up really quickly. I honestly thought I'd offended him or something and that he ran off to go throw up somewhere. I couldn't see him or what he was doing for quite awhile. My emotions got the best of me, and I started to sob quietly to myself. I was feeling pretty hopeless--like we'd never be able to be together.

Eventually, Robert came back with some wildflowers he'd picked, got on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes--it's Robert--I cried some more from happiness--and we felt like we should sing a hymn or something. We picked "High on the Mountaintop," although we didn't remember all of the words perfectly--and then we went to tell our parents the good news, which was kind of like telling someone you broke their picture window. Now we have four kids. End of story.