Hello everyone

I genuinely enjoyed this week's reading and I was glad it found me at a perfect time where I had lots of questions and concerns regarding the matter of intimacy. We as Latter-day Saints, we are too discrete when it comes to the intimacy. I once asked some people regarding the matter and they just were not comfortable talking about it. They said, it is a matter that should only be discussed by partners. I further asked them, then what if both partners are clueless? They said everything will come naturally. We are taught of sexual purity before and after marriage, so how do people expect us to know more deeply about it. Even though, I joined the church in youth I already knew how important sexual purity was. My mother tried teaching me and said I am to treat my body as a temple of God. Ever since then, I have always been too conscious when it comes to my body. I would even lock the door when I am taking a bath even if I was with my sisters only. When I got engaged I never wanted any talk about intimacy, especially sexual intimacy. The topic became too awkward for me up until after marriage and that was when everyone felt I was asking too much. Both my husband and I were clueless. I feel like that mindset for some it does have a negative impact on marriages, which it did on mine. It is okay to go through this. 

Learning about spiritual and physical fidelity in marriage has been great and insightful. I learned that being friends with an opposite sex is not a bad thing. Adding to this, I feel like there should be boundaries in the friendship. In what we talk about we should ask ourselves how would my partner feel if he/she would hear me talk like this. Would I talk about this if my partner was around? If not that friendship is not right. I had a friend of mine who was friends with a guy. This friend of mine was married and then she and her husband faced some difficulties in their marriage. She started by turning to this male friend of hers and he became her shoulder to cry on. Because of that their friendship became more stronger and they would chart almost all the time. I would call her and want to meet but she always came up with excuses and we would end up not meeting. This one time when I wanted to go for lunch with her, she said that male friend was going to tag along. We then went together and as we were having lunch I noticed how well they connect and finish each others sentences. I became uncomfortable with that but never made it too obvious. I expressed my concerns after the lunch and she said to me she notices also but does not know how to stop the friendship as he was there for her in times of sorrow. I suggested she seeks council from the bishop and that's how she got helped. Things like these could happen to any of us if we are not careful. Satan seeks for opportunities like these.If it does not feel right, then it definitely isn't.  If you were in her shoes how would you deal with this?