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Congratulations to the winners of the Perfect Proposal Contest, held in conjunction with the release of my newest book “Perfect Timing” which is now available in stores wherever LDS products are sold. I would like to thank all those who participated in the contest and were willing to share their proposal stories. They were all so wonderful it made the decision extremely difficult.
Many thanks to the committee who helped in selecting our winners out of over one hundred wonderful entries. I’d also like to congratulate the men who demonstrated amazing levels of romance and creativity – you lucky wives!
Grand prize winner
Jill Lott of Forest Hills, New York
Story: A month before my sixteenth birthday, I started dating a boy whom I met thru mutual friends of ours. We liked each other a lot and we could both tell that our friendship was swiftly becoming something very special. On my birthday he gave me two gifts: a patchwork quilt (that he made by himself) and a custom puzzle piece which had a portion of some text on it that he had written. He told me to keep this piece and that I would receive more as we had more “special” days. From that point on, I would receive a puzzle piece on days like Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas, even Canada day. We continued to date for 3 years. When he left on his mission to Ireland, we continued our relationship and wrote to each other frequently. On occasion, I would get a puzzle piece in the mail too. About 2 weeks after he got home, he took me on a date up the canyon. On the way out, he grabbed the quilt and told me to bring a pair of scissors and my puzzle pieces. After we arrived, as we were discussing our relationship, he reached into his pocket and brought out the last puzzle piece. He told me I could put the puzzle together. When I put the puzzle together, the message on the puzzle instructed me to cut open the red patch that was on the bottom left-hand corner of the holly hobbie patch and then I would know just how much he loves me. (Remember, It had been 5 years since he gave me the quilt!) I cut the patch open and inside was a little piece of cloth with the words sewn “Will you marry me?” I said YES!!! We were married three months later.
1st Runner-up
Graham Allen of Layton, Utah
My name is Graham Allen and I'm a 21 year old and a return missionary from the Philippines Baguio Mission. I returned home November 1st, 2005 and have been dating my sweetheart, Emily Garner since mid-December 2005. We are currently engaged to be married in the Ogden Temple on November 18, 2006. Here's the story...
I returned home to Layton, UT from my sophomore semester at BYU-I for the summer of 2006. Emily and I had dated long-distance throughout the semester and we had a wonderful relationship, but I knew I did not want to have a long distance relationship again. I moved home to Layton so I could be close Emily and so we could plan our futures together. We both made some major decisions in our life that brought us closer together. I decided to transfer from BYU-Idaho to Weber State and she changed her major so she could stay at Weber State. I was working construction that summer at home and by the end of June I finally got up the courage to talk to her father and mother and ask for permission to take their daughter's hand in marriage. We had planned to look at rings on Saturday, July the 8th when we were thrust into a world of hurt, pain and unknowns on Friday, July 7th. While working at my job site in Mountain Green I fell from a ladder while carrying a 200+ lb. beam that fell on my head and caused a traumatic brain injury. I immediately fell unconscious and began throwing up. The crew called an ambulance then gave me CPR and a priesthood blessing as they waited to get me to the Ogden Regional Hospital
I was in a coma for the next 12 days and was given a 10 % chance of living. I woke up disoriented, not understanding where I was or why I was there. I then began the long process of rehabilitation; re-learning to walk, swallow food, tie my shoes and complete simple acts of daily living.
I have been blessed through many prayers and fasting, and a wonderful and supportive family. After understanding where I was and what happened I felt the comforting hand and voice of my sweetheart, Emily. She had been there with me and my family throughout the entire ordeal. She has been a source of inspiration and comfort to me. While in the hospital, only five days after awakening from the coma I knew I had to ask Emily to marry me. While saying good night to her, barely able to speak, let along stand or kneel I asked her if she would marry me for time and all eternity. She said YES! I reassured her after that I was not crazy and that I knew what I was doing when I asked her to marry me. I did not have a ring, nor was I able to get her one until a few weeks later because of my injury.
The joy of that evening and the prospect of our future together intertwined with the atoning mercy of Christ have erased all the negative and bad of the past two months.
I'm grateful and am excited to marry Emily in the Ogden Temple on November 18th. Our love has deepened for one another, out families have grown closer to one another and it is an absolute miracle to have this opportunity to marry her.
Honorable Mention
Melissa DeGraff of Provo, Utah
I believe my husband created the perfect proposal. He told me that he would be busy that night, and conveniently, my roommates asked me to go see a movie with them on campus. Strangely enough, there was no else in the room when we got there, but I didn't catch on. After the previews, all my roommates got up and ran out. It was then that I finally realized what was going on. The movie began playing, an original creation by my husband. He had asked our roommates, parents and friends to give their thoughts on love, marriage, and family. It was sometimes humorous and sometimes touching to hear the thoughts of these significant people. The movie also included some slideshows of our lives growing up and pictures of us together. All the background music was significant to our relationship. Then the screen went black with "When I Fall in Love" playing and he came down the stairs to me. He told me that he had fallen in love and he did want it to be forever (referring to the song). Finally, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. The ring he gave me used to be his mother's. He said that his mom always used to be the woman in his life, but now I am. This was really touching to me because my husband loves his mother dearly. Finally, we walked back to his apartment where everyone was waiting to congratulate us. I really loved that he took the time and effort to make everything so meaningful and such a memorable experience. I liked that he was able to include friends and family while still creating an intimate experience. And of course, we have the movie to watch when we want to remember.
Honorable Mention
Tessa White of Alpine, Utah
He called and said we had a change of plans that evening. Instead of dressing for dinner, bring an overnight bag, jeans and my fishing rod. I wasn’t allowed to ask questions. He picked me up at 6:00 and made a turn towards the mountains. We started down a familiar path to the family cabin. As we reached the gate, a doorman in a black suit and hat who looked suspiciously like my oldest son, escorted us to the cabin. Once inside, a very white (and young) Ray Charles was at the player piano. Fair-skinned waitresses dressed in silk served us Chinese food on a rose petal covered table bathed in candlelight. The youngest waitress, an 8 year old who looked a lot like her father and a 10 year old who looked a lot like me, kept asking if we were ready for dessert, even though the first course was just getting started. Finally, dessert came with nervous giggles, accompanied by all six children. Inside the fortune cookie was my future…a diamond engagement ring. As my husband-to-be knelt down and proposed, he said with tears in his eyes that he couldn’t imagine any other way to start our life together than by having all of six of our children (his three and my three) surrounding us. In a perfect ending, the 7 year old turned our tears of happiness to laughter by saying, "I'm so excited. I can't believe she said yes, Daddy!"