LDS Newlywed Smart Start Kit — Article Guide

The LDS Marriage Network has put together the LDS Newlywed Smart Start Kit, a series of articles designed primarily for the LDS engaged or newlywed audience, and those who wish to support them.  These articles can be read, studied, and discussed by:

• Engaged couples or couples thinking about marriage
• Newly married couples and couples in early marriage
• Single adults wanting to prepare themselves for marriage
• Parents, grandparents and friends who wish to support couples
• Religious leaders or community educators who wish to support couples

These articles are designed to give brief, practical, and insightful information on developing and maintaining a strong and healthy marriage relationship as husband and wife.  We hope that you find them interesting and share your feedback with us!

The articles in this series for the LDS Newlywed Smart Start Kit, which will appear in order on Meridian Magazine, include:

1. Doctrinal Foundations of the LDS Marriage — Scott Anderson, PhD

2. A Smart Start for the Newlywed Years: Marriage is Worth the Effort — David Schramm, MS

3. Choosing the Same Partner Over and Over Again: Commitment in a Healthy Marriage — H. Wallace Goddard, PhD, CFLE

4. From Honeymoon to Happily Ever After: Preparing for an Intimately Fulfilling Relationship — Laura Brotherson, CFLE

5. Let’s Talk: Applying the Principle of Agency to Couple Communication — Greg McGreer, PhD

6. Consider Your Finances — A Smart Start to Managing Money in Marriage — James Marshall, PhD

7. What Did You Expect?  Starting Marriage with Realistic Expectations — Chuck & Laraine Chamberlain

8. Dealing with Differences and Resolving Issues in Marriage — Sean Brotherson, PhD

9. A Prophetic Prescription for a Healthy Marriage: A Foundation of Respect — LDS Marriage Network author

10. Do We Understand Each Other?  Making the Most of Your Marriage — Maurine and Scot Proctor

We hope that you will not only read these articles, but also share them with couples who are thinking about marriage, getting married, or who have married in the past few years.  Also, we encourage parents, grandparents, church leaders, friends, and others, to use them in discussing how to have healthy marriage relationships with both single and married friends and family members. 

Each of us makes up part of the community that sustains the marriages around us.  We hope that you will use the LDS Newlywed Smart Start Kit to strengthen that community support.

Sean Brotherson — Co-Chair

Wally Goddard — Co-Chair

Maurine Proctor — Convener

LDS Marriage Network