Why I Tried LDS Dating Online
I was against the whole online LDS dating thing because that's how I met my first husband. We didn't go through the proper dating/courtship process but just jumped into marriage. I was miserable and in an unhealthy, abusive marriage for five and a half years.
When referring to online dating I used to say, "I'm never doing THAT again!" (Can you guess what happened next?)
After a few years of being single, dating, and breaking up with a boyfriend, I re-considered trying the online LDS dating scene again... but still I resisted, until I decided to review all the LDS dating sites.
How Did You Get Together?
To properly review all the LDS dating sites I created an account on each one. After a few weeks I requested a one-month trial membership on the three most active sites (top three in the review) to be able to do a full page review of each.
After I tested, reviewed, and ranked each site I deleted my profile off all but two sites. I was only going to keep my profile on one of the sites, but for some reason I kept the other one.
Less than two months later, my future husband, Curtis, contacted me through one of the two LDS dating sites I was still on. Although we started dating, we continued to date other people for awhile before becoming an exclusive couple. We then went through a proper dating and courtship process before becoming engaged and later married.
One of the funny aspects about our story is that when Curtis first did a search for "LDS dating" he found my review of the Top 10 LDS Dating Sites. He read my review, visited a few of the sites, and then joined one. It wasn't until our second date when he learned about my work as the About.com LDS Guide that he figured out that I was the author of the review he'd found and read. He didn't tell me this until a few weeks later, and of course the site he contacted me on was the one I had almost removed my profile off of. For some reason (unknown to me at the time) I didn't, and fortunately I followed that feeling.
We're happily married and enjoying our lives together! Curtis is my best friend and is perfect for me, just as I am for him. So, yes, it is possible to find love on the Internet.
Advice
- Safety first! Always meet in a public place (preferably with other friends) for at least the first meeting, if not several meetings.
- Decide beforehand what you want. I had a list of conditions I wasn't willing to break. Some were: 1. Local dating only 2. Has to be within my age range 3. No weird/creepy vibes
- Go through a PROPER dating courtship. That means spending QUALITY and QUANTITY time together. One or two dates here or there doesn't count. Hours through phone, email, or text don't count either! You can't know what a person is really like unless you are WITH them for a long enough time.
- Pray and fast for discernment, then listen to it.
