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Dear younger self, I love you. I love you! I wish I'd loved you more. I wish I had valued what you do and the effort you make more than I did. I’m sorry I didn’t love you enough. I see you. I know exactly who you are and what you're going through. I see the sacrifices that you're making for your family that you think no one sees. I know the struggles that you keep to yourself. I know how hard you work on your marriage and how difficult it can be for you to have patience with yourself and with Dan. Don't. Give. Up. There is healing and hope ahead for every time you turn to your Heavenly Father for His guidance in your marriage. You will see it! James E. Faust has said, speaking on divorce, "Marriages performed in our temples to have eternal relationships become the most sacred covenants we can make. The sealing power Given by God through Elijah is thus invoked, and God becomes a party to the promise." I don't know Elijah, but I know his purpose and mission is to turn our hearts to God and others who can help us. Don't lose sight of the promises and the help. God keeps his promises. Always remember that. He will send help. He will strengthen you to become your answers to prayer by giving you much to think about and you'll rise to the occasion. You are mighty, a true daughter of a king. You can't know everything now. Your marriage is being refined and purified like silver, until the master can see his own image in you and in Dan. It will be hard, excruciating even... some of the time. But the silversmith never leaves his silver too long in the flames, and is constantly attentive. You will have to make some very serious and important choices, but don't take council from your fears. You know what I'm talking about...I give you permission to cast away your fear of becoming becoming abusive or abused. Carlfred Broderick, a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California said, "As children of God, we have been given the great gift of choice. We may choose to help, or we may choose to hurt. Unfortunately, as the Lord explained to Moses, the iniquities of one generation are often visited upon the heads of following generations. Anyone can see the truth of that saying by looking at many families in the world today. Often, troubled families seem to pass on their pain and darkness—virtually intact—to their children and grandchildren. The victim of one generation becomes the victimizer of the next." I read this and was worried, because I thought of you and how you struggle with anger. But I know that can stop with you. Right now. You are not beholden to the destructive decisions and patterns of others. Choose to have your own path. Choose to trust God and His promises. Choose to believe in the grace of God that will not only take your marriage beyond the grave, but will guide it every day of your life. Good bye for now, and remember... I love you. Sincerely, Your Older Self

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