Dear Elle-girl,

Dad says to always ask for marriage advice, because the advice is inevitably about the advice giver’s marriage, and in our family we’re too into ethnography to not take advantage of that. Austin says no one should offer marriage advice, because even if you have a good marriage, doing something well once is not evidence of expertise.

In addition to all of these warnings, I shouldn’t give you marriage advice because I’ve been married for hardly any time at all, and I’m your big sister, and sometimes being a big sister can get in the way of just being a good sister. So I’ll try to limit the advice and stick to theology. I’ll end up giving advice anyway, because I’m bad at not giving advice, but here’s my theology: marriage is practice building Zion.

It’s amazing for a lot of the same reasons. It’s hard for a lot of the same reasons. It’s important for the same reason: God tells us, “For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect” (D&C 128:18), and He’s talking about ancestors and progeny, but He’s also just singing the song that resonates across scripture. We can’t be saved without other people.