with love,

To my family and friends:

Mick and I are very excited and are looking forward to our temple marriage. We hope and pray that you will come to understand our decision in choosing to be married inside the temple. We KNOW without any doubt that it will bring us the upmost joy for the rest of our lives and for all eternity.

I would like to tell you a little bit about my fiancé Mick. He grew up in Salem, Utah. He is the youngest of 6 children. Ken and Debbie are his parents. He has three older brothers and two older sisters (Laura, Sam, Shelly, Matt, and Rob). He grew up playing lots of sports, his favorite being hockey which he played most of his high school years. He was a part of a group called “Ambassadors”. They performed by singing and dancing (has anyone seen Glee? lol). He graduated in 2006. Shortly after graduation he went on an LDS 2 year mission to Chihuahua, Mexico. There he learned to speak fluent Spanish and he taught the people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He returned worthy to the U.S. in 2008. Since then he’s been attending Brigham Young University. He is working towards a degree in Business. He has recently become a Mason. He is now working very hard in Salem, Oregon selling Dish Network and Direct TV.

Now I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I have lived most of my life in South Dakota. There I was adopted by Robert and Robin. I am the oldest of 6 children. I started playing the cello in 4^th grade and still bust it out and dust if off every now and again. Lol. I love being creative, particularly in the areas of scrapbooking and sewing. I have tried my hand at fashion design but decided to go a different route. I moved to Washington at age 16 and lived there until I was 19. At age 19 I moved to Utah to attend Utah Valley University. I’m studying photography and I hope to have my own photography business in which I’ll be able to share my talent with those around me.

Mick and I met last year (2009) in January. My old roommate and he were friends in high school and they performed together in Ambassadors. We didn’t start dating until July of 2009. It was a bumpy road at first but over time we have grown to love and care about each other very much, hence the decision to be married! We got engaged December 2009 and are looking forward to our June wedding. We love playing games (banana grahams and killer bunnies are our favorite), we watched 5 seasons of LOST in about a 3 month time period, and we LOVE going on drives and turning up the music and singing really loud. People probably think we’re crazy!

We have chosen to be married in the Portland Oregon temple. The main reason we want to be married in the temple is that we want to be together not just until “death do you part” but for time and ALL eternity! When you love someone so much you would do anything for them, die for them, wouldn’t you want to be with them forever? I know I do. I can’t imagine not being with the man I love so much only until I die.

Matt 16:19 – “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shalt be bound in heaven.”

Another reason we want to be married in the temple is that when we begin adding to our family (mini Mick’s and Jessica’s) we also want to be with them forever. We as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in Eternal Families. We believe that after we die we will be united again. What a wonderful thing!

In order to be married in the temple we are asked to live a certain lifestyle. There are guidelines and other things that we must do before we can enter into the temple. For example, we must live our lives worthy by refraining from drinking alcohol, smoking, doing drugs, defiling our bodies, being chaste (not having sexual relationships before marriage), serving others, going to our church meetings, etc. If we do not take these steps to be counted as worthy we cannot enter the temple.

Anyone may enter and ALL are invited to go to the temple! But there is a process and there are things that have to be done before you can. Those things take time. More time than you have left before the wedding. Mick has been preparing his entire life and I have been for the past 11 years for this day.

I hope you read this letter with an open heart and mind. Please know that we love you. I have been very blessed to have such wonderful people who have accepted me as a part of the family. I truly do love you guys with all my heart. I hope you understand why Mick and I want to be married inside the temple.

We would like to invite you to join us on the temple ground for photos and to ask any questions you may have. Please join us also at our ring ceremony where Mick and I will exchange rings. And we hope you will be able to make it to the reception held that evening. We will be cutting cake, dancing, taking more pictures, doing that garter and bouquet toss. We want to celebrate our day with you!

I wish you all the very best.

With all of my love,

Jess