And can you talk about hard things together. Why Mormons don't drink wine or coffee. I remember when my ex and I had invited friends to our house for a 4th of July dinner and had spent a lot of money and time getting ready. Again, I deeply love my dad, but these were things that I had to deal with. You won't know this until you do it and that is really important information to get before a marriage contract. While it's true that Mormons are not one-dimensional and completely predictable, the odds of a successful relationship, given the OP's description of his girlfriend, are slim. Yes, we had been in a rough patch for sometime with all of the changing happening around us, moving, starting residency, etc. Everything was fantastic, his family adored me, and he told me that he is going to marry me. He might just be unpracticed at your "love language".
Much good luck, and keep us in the loop. When I was 19, my boyfriend considered himself an atheist. Probably drop me a text or two. I got married to for love and companionship, not to essentially be lonely with a lot of nice things and raise my children "as if" I were a single parent.
I was lucky with my TBM. She wants the captain of a ship who can direct all aspects of a relationship, including spiritual direction. However, I'm going to show him your post tonight and hopefully he will agree that it's worth a try.
He could never tolerate my work schedule, so I became a stay at home mom. My experience with non members has been so much more meaningful and caring. Look for girls in your singles ward. Mine was in California, back in the 70s. They might be disappointed, or overjoyed, or judgmental, or supportive. As these are probably the two most important things to you, it will most likely, be a very difficult decisionвfollow your heart and the spirit. Also, they are encouraged to date in groups and not pair off alone, so if your date insists on the same, then agree politely. We strive to improve each other. Now, lest you look at this all and say, "sheesh, go to counseling. I spent a lot of time on my knees and made several trips to the temple before I felt l could trust that what I knew I wanted to be promptings actually were.