What do you think of when you think about dating? Personally I think about getting to know someone and making friendships. What exactly is a date? Elder Oaks gives us a definition of a date, he says a date is "planned, paid for, and paired off." This is what  the difference between a "hang out" and a date. Dating is something that allows us to find a potential eternal companion. We go on dates so we can get to know people, and we marry who we date; so make sure you are going out with the people that are going to treat you the way that you would want your spouse to treat you. Something I personally think is important for us to be careful of is getting into a serious relationship too fast. We talked in my Family Relations class about the different types of love and how when you enter into Eros(the romantic type of love, the type husband and wife have) too fast in a relationship instead of starting out with the Philia type of love(the love that you experience between friends), you find it harder to enter into the different types of love. I think it is important to become friends first so you can start getting to know them and develop a relationship that will last even if you don't end up dating them seriously, and if you do end up dating them seriously, you will have already gotten to know them and will be comfortable sharing thoughts and feelings with them. Call me old fashioned, but I feel like dating is so important and that it is important for the guy to ask the girl on a date.
Avoid asking girls on dates through a text message; the girl will feel more valued if you take the time to ask her through a phone call or better yet, in person. Dating seems to be not as valued as it was 50 years ago, but we can change that. Guys, make a girl feel good and ask her out, even if you just go out as friends, that is how lasting friendships and relationships start. Girls, accept a guy's invitation to go on a date and just keep in mind that its just a date, you aren't going to necessarily get married.

Thanks for reading I hope this was insightful :)