This is Article #1 in Single and Still Breathing: Subject SOCIAL: Dating and Friendship

Become Best Friends Before Marriage: 10 Ways to Plant the Ripe; Rich Fruit of Friendship

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Couples who start out in marriage without really getting to know each other, getting to the point of a deep and true-friendship are possibly missing the best part of romance. Spencer W. Kimball wrote: “The successful marriage depends in large measure upon the preparation made in approaching it. … One cannot pick the ripe, rich, luscious fruit from a tree that was never planted, nurtured, nor pruned” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969, p. 242). Jonn D. Claybaugh, bishop of a BYU ward said in his talk Dating:  Time to Become Best Friends, "Courtship is a time to discover who you and your partner really are—and how to nourish your relationship." 

He tells of President Ezra Taft Benson...