Mirian's Story Part I (Four Parts to this Story)

As we have gone through the process of adoption with Mirian, we have been blessed to no end. We want to share with you the wonderful story of how sweet little Mirian came into our lives.

We were married on August 4, 2001. We have both always wanted to have children once we were married. Approximately 7 months after we were married, we decided that it was time for us to begin trying to have children. After some time, we realized that we may not be able to have kids on our own and decided to pursue other methods. We discussed different options and nothing in particular jumped out to us as "the way to start a family". By this time, we had received much love, support, and advice from family and friends. Then one day we were visiting with Emily's family in California and we were sitting in Ward Conference. The speaker quoted Elder Bednar saying that one way we receive answers to our prayers is that the spirit will "bring all things to our remembrance." The light turned on in Emily's head and on the flight home from California, Emily turned on the light in Russell's head. Many of our family and friends who had offered advice had mentioned how they had known someone who had adopted and how wonderful the experience was. These memories of adoption started to flow into our minds like a river flowing into the Ocean. We knew then that the Lord wanted us to prepare ourselves for adoption.