My grandma told me that who you marry is the most important decision I will ever make. I think she is right and I believe that is why it is important to date lots of people and know what qualities you like and are looking for in someone to potentially marry. A lot of times people see how physically attracted they are, but we also see and observe how they treat people and in different situations you can tell a great deal about someone.
In my class, we talked about dating and how to prepare for marriage. I thought it was interesting and felt really good about how my teacher explained it. The first step is dating. In today's world, people are so confused about what dating is and think that if your dating someone you are in a relationship with them. Dating used to be in the 1950's or so and is still the idea of going on dates and getting to know each other, not hanging out with someone, watching a movie and touching for pleasure. I feel like people are sliding there way in to a relationship by hanging out like a baseball player who slides into home base. Hitting the ball as hard as they can and then just run past all the bases so quick and slide in home base as to win. I think that is how people treat dating now days and just hang out and keep sliding their way in. Dating takes time and patience and going through all the bases carefully to find an eternal companion to prepare for marriage the greatest base of all. Dating is about getting to know your date and involves the three P's and the three T's. Elder Dallin H. Oaks shares the importance about dating and hanging out by sharing his definition of dating, "for a date to contribute to a pattern that could potentially mature into marriage, it should be paid for, planned ahead and paired off." I really like this and how true it is, a date needs to have thought and planned ahead of time. I found it so cool how much it relates to the Family a Proclamation to the world, how in marriage a father is to Provide, Preside, and Protect. In dating, when he plans he is preparing to preside in the home, when he is paying for the date he is showing he can provide and when he is paired off with you he is able to protect. Its so cool how in essence if you really date and have this in mind, you are preparing for marriage. When going on a date it is important to also have the idea of Talk, Togetherness, and Time. In other words, in getting to know someone you should go on activities of shared interest in which you can be together, its also important to talk and get to know each other, otherwise it will be really awkward. Talk about what you like to do, what you want to accomplish, your beliefs, anything that allows you to open up and just have fun. Spending time getting to know them and giving your evening to your date with undivided attention is helpful and allows you to focus on them. The second step is courtship, which means exclusively dating someone. This is after you have been dating a awhile and when you and your partner define the relationship. Some people may think this is out of style but I think it is necessary to talk about what you are as a relationship and helps to know whether to continue going on dates with them and not lead them on. This stage of the relationship is important and should be focused on seeing if you could marry them by getting know to them better, trusting them, relying on them and then in the engagement stage when he proposes you are committing to them and then in marriage you connect and become one through touch and having sex. I really liked the Relationship Attachment model we learned about in class and how we should know someone more than we trust them, trust them more than we rely on them, be able to rely more than we commit to them, and commit more than we touch them. 
