Love is in the air...and what better season than Christmas?

Love is in the air.

And what better season than Christmas?

Last evening, with tears in my eyes, I peeked round a corner to watch my adorable son get down on one knee, hold out a sparkly diamond ring, and ask his beautiful girlfriend Amanda to be his for time all eternity.

And I asked myself, "What does that really mean?"

It means that together they will navigate the changing tides of this life. It means they have chosen each other as partners, companions, best friends, and soul mates.

It means that together they will share incredible joy, the joy that comes from building a future as one, from creating and following common goals, and from crafting those goals into reality.

It means that together they will also share disappointments and struggles, and strife. They will rely on each other's strength in times of weakness. They will face hardships and adversity because, well, Heavenly Father loves them too. But in the face of trials, they will choose faith instead of fear because together, they are stronger than either one by him or herself.

It means that on April 8, 2016, in the Draper, Utah Temple, they will make sacred covenants with their Father in Heaven and with each other. As a result of keeping those covenants, they will be promised eternity together and with their future children.

What does that really mean? It means they are heirs to blessings they are only just beginning to understand.

For now, they are young and happy and so deeply in love.

Their smiles show what is in their hearts.

In just two weeks, Amanda will go with her family home to California, and Eli will stay here with us. Both will work hard and save money until their wedding in April. It won't be easy. Worthwhile things rarely are. They will talk on the phone and Skype and text and maybe even write old-fashioned love letters. And they will learn that their love can withstand even physical separation.

What better season than Christmas for two so lovely and pure and hopeful to begin this amazing journey?

"A weary world rejoices."

And so did we.