JudoMinja

Not single yet, but when I am it will be because I got divorced.
As I will soon be on the single "prowl" again, I've been giving this some thought. I've seen many complaints from other single girls I know in the church, more specifically a couple of my friends that are single mothers as I am soon to be. They both claim that there are slim pickings, yet I rarely see either of them at institute. One of them, drives three hours to attend the nearest singles ward on Sundays so she can do her "shopping" in an area where guys do not know she already has a kid. She then wonders how she is to approach this topic when she finds someone to date. The other, traveled five hours to a district-wide singles dance within weeks of her divorce being final.
While I admire them for their gung-ho attitudes in looking for a husband, I think they approach it from the wrong angle. Many women and men are still fairly immature at this young single adult age, but I do not think that this should be a barrier. Of course, marrying someone who will do nothing but play video games all day or spend all their time shopping and gossiping isn't really the best idea, but I think of maturity as a scale on which we are always climbing or sliding. You just need to find someone who is at about the same level as you and climbing upward on the scale.
I also do not believe that there is "the one" for anyone. There is no singular person out there in the world somewhere that we were meant to meet and marry. We can't be setting our expectations too high. Many people really are too picky and they use "I won't settle" as an excuse to be picky. Someone else posted something about this on here and I agree with them. Any expectation you set, you should be able to attain for yourself. You are never going to find someone who is a perfect fit, but you can find someone who will fit with a little margin for error.
As long as your expectations are reasonable, you should never feel that you have to settle. Sometimes personalities clash and you will have no better excuse for saying no than I just don't want to marry you. Remember, that the person you end up choosing is the person you will spend all of eternity with. While I would love to marry quickly once my divorce is final so that my son doesn't have to go without a father and I can take care of him instead of working, I'm not going to let that make me feel rushed. I won't settle for someone with whom I would feel unhappy.
There is also always the possibility that the person we end up marrying for eternity is someone we already know. Maybe, it would not have worked out with this person if you had married sooner. Maybe you both needed to progress in life on your own for a time before you were ready to progress together. I remember a talk from Elder Bednar where he said he had been turned down by his wife many times, and he had gone off to pursue his career. When he saw her again, she commented on how he had matured, and he seized his opportunity, soon marrying her.
So, if I end up remaining single for years to come, it won't be because I'm too picky. It won't be because I don't want to be married. It won't be because my time and focus is entangled in other pursuits. It will be because I have not yet found a man who meets my high but reasonable expectations who feels that I meet his.

I remember it being said somewhere, of our day, that the strongest spirits have been sent at this time.
The strongest were NEEDED at this time, because the temptations of the devil have become so strong. He's had a lot of time to practice, to garner tools for his handiwork, and he's perfected his trade. He knows how to draw away even the most faithful. So we need to be strong.
Does this mean the world is more wicked? That our world is THE most wicked of all the worlds? I'm not sure if I would look at it that way. I would think of it more as, where is Satan working the hardest? It doesn't take much effort for him to draw away the weak in heart and mind. Perhaps the Jews (at the time of Christ) were a group of these weaker spirits, easily enticed by the devil. They were "more wicked" than any other people because they were weak, and this is why Christ was sent to them. God sends his strongest people into the fires that will mold them, where they can have the strongest effect on those around them, and he certainly didn't do differently with Christ.
Satan will work even harder on those who are strong, because they take more work and effort to be drawn away. Looking at the signs of the times and how rampant his lessons and ideals are in our world and culture, I would say that we are filled with a world of strong spirits. That is why it appears to be filled with so much wickedness.