Faith, Work, Love Helped Build 72-Year Marriage
Contributed By By Marianne Holman Prescott, Church News staff writer
Allen and Evelyn Frandsen welcomed their 72nd great-grandchild the same month they celebrated 72 years of marriage.
Article Highlights
- Faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, hard work, and loving attitudes have provided Evelyn and Allen Frandsen an even better life than they could have imagined.
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Evelyn Frandsen remembers a time many years ago when her daughter asked her what she wished for her children. After thinking for a moment, she remembers answering with two responses: first, that her children would love the gospel throughout their entire lives and, second, that they would become educated.
Years later, those hopes remain the same for her family, which has expanded quite a bit. Her 72nd great-grandchild was born within weeks of the 72nd anniversary (on March 30) of her marriage to Allen Frandsen.
“The thing that is most important to me is that everyone [in my family] has a deep testimony of the gospel,” she said.
Their positive, hard working, get-to-it attitude has helped the Frandsens throughout life, but most important has been their faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“We have been married for 72 years and have had a loving relationship every day,” she said. “My husband tells me he loves me every day, and we have been so blessed with a happy marriage all these years.”
Since their marriage they have had eight children, 39 grandchildren, 72 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Although the Frandsens’ lives have not been immune to hard things—including the death of three of their eight children and six of their grandchildren—their faith in God and willingness to serve wherever and whenever they are asked has guided them throughout their entire marriage.
“Life goes by, and you just have to accept life as it comes,” Sister Frandsen said. “You will always have ups and downs; all of the things that have happened are just part of life.”
Over the course of 22 years, the Frandsens faithfully worked in the Manti Utah Temple twice a week—Brother Frandsen as a sealer and Sister Frandsen in various assignments. One of Brother Frandsen’s greatest joys has been to act as the sealer at many of his grandchildren’s marriages. The Frandsens have gladly accepted any call to serve.
“No matter what they asked me to do, I never felt I was really qualified to do it,” Sister Frandsen said. It was in those times that she turned to the Lord and the scriptures for strength and guidance.
As they look back on their 72 years together, the Frandsens recognize that through the ups and downs, their trust in the Lord has provided an even better life than they could have imagined.
It was while they were sitting together one evening that Brother Frandsen turned to his wife and told her, “I couldn’t have had a better life.”
Allen and Evelyn Frandsen on their wedding day, March 30, 1942. Photo courtesy of the Frandsen family.
