“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.” ( John 13:34) To love everyone, as suggested by that scripture, is to be able to see yourself, your hopes, desires, fears and your ambitions in everyone else. First compassion, then love. My granddaughter, Sarah (missionary), wrote a statement about loving others saying: “We are all children of God; we are all brothers and sisters, and we need to take care of each other. That is something that I have learned on my mission is to love people no matter who they are, what they look like or what they have done. You just love em! In one of the wards where I serve, on Tuesday night, a little boy named Sammy (11 years old) got in a fight with his dad, stormed off, and in a decision of rage, went into his parent’s room took his dad’s gun and shot himself in the head. My first day in the area we went over to their house and there were 15-20 people in the house working hard cleaning up everything! Yes, everyone was sad, but they didn’t dwell on it. They couldn’t because they knew that this family needed their help. After we helped, one of the little girls in the family named Kalli asked me, “Where is your mom?” I told her that she is in Utah. She then said, “That’s really sad.” And I told her, “It is sad, but it’s okay, because I will see her again.” To which this little girl replied, “Just like I will see Sammy again?” That is something that has amazed me with this ward, is to see that their is no doubt in their mind that they will see Sammy again, that he isn’t gone forever. It’s not a goodbye—just a “see ya later!” But to make it back home (Heaven’s family), we all need to help one another. No one gets left behind. Remember this, and I promise you that you will have a deeper love for all those you meet.” Someone has said that in respect to romantic love, caution rules, because to risk loving another is to risk not being loved in return.” Fortunately, most people are willing to take that risk. Once love is found, it fills a void that only love can fill. Those who are unwilling to take the chance at love because of the fear they will not be loved in return will live an empty life. The emotion of true love is much more powerful than the emotion of fear. It is actually an art according Van Gogh, “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” So even the fearful usually overcome that fear when they, by design or by accident, run into that special person that loves them true. That may possibly be when they start applying the paint to the canvas. Fear loses its power because it will most always succumbs to love. That is demonstrated in the way a person will usually, without a second thought, risk their own life to save a loved one. Even the thought of a loved one being in danger can be a strong emotion that starts the adrenalin moving. Love is demonstrated everywhere. It is so touching to see servicemen returning home from deployment and how their families rush to their arms. Jack Kornfield suggested that in the end just three things really matter: “How well we have lived, how well we have loved and how well we have learned to let go.” Real and true love implies sacrifice of many kinds not just that of saving the loved one’s life if in danger. A single person may justify their singleness by saying, “I don’t want to lose my freedom.” Freedom from what? Freedom from the responsibilities of marriage and family? Most will agree that those are huge responsibilities. However, I have met very few people who do not feel that the rewards far outweigh the responsibilities. Most single people of marriageable age look forward to that responsibility, even to losing their freedom. They want to have a wife/husband, and most people want to have children. It is a natural desire that I believe is inbred in both young men and young women. It would be a powerful act of selfishness for a young adult to deny themselves that natural desire. Some people will realistically and honestly see marriage as a sacrifice but a sacrifice they have dreamed about, a sacrifice as well as an opportunity to be with and support those they love. I remember reading a love story about a sacrifice that was supposedly made in the pre-earth life. It is a very touching and wonderful story. The story is about Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the famous German composer. He was far from handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback. One day, he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance. When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty but caused him deep sadness by her refusal to even look at him. After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, “Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?” “Yes,” she answered, still looking at the floor. “And do you?” “Yes I do,” he replied. “You see, in heaven, at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord added, “But your wife will be a humpback.” Right then and there I cried, “Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy. Please, Lord, give me the hump and let her be beautiful.” Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife. That story was shared by Barry and Joyce Vissell. All marriages are not crafted in heaven obviously, or there would be fewer divorces. Men and women differ in so many ways that someone has said that you cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. One thing that I am sure of is that the things that make me sad and/or happy are the same things that make me sad or happy when they happen to my sweetheart and/ or to any of my family members. Love, marriage and family is the mixture or combination that holds a society together. I believe that where there is love, there is an answer and a solution to every problem that has and ever will confront a couple in love. I love what Ann Landers said: “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty thru good times and bad. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present; it hopes for the future and it doesn’t brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that you lack. If you don’t have it, no matter what else is there, it isn’t enough.”