There is a song that every young child in the Church can sing for you if you ask:

“Familes can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father’s Plan
I always want to be
With my own family
And the Lord has show me how I can
The Lord, has shown me how I can”

I have previously discussed baptism and the endowment, and the last temple ordinance I will cover is the sealing. Sealings are done in two different settings in the temple. The sealing of couples at the time of marriage, and the sealing of families.

When I was sealed to That Husband on October 11, 2008, there was no mention of death. I did not hear the words “Till death do you part”. I only heard talk of eternity, and the opportunity to live with my husband forever if we kept the covenants we made that day.

I think that many of you wonder what a temple sealing is like. For most it is very difficult to comprehend being married in a place where some of those who we love most can’t be present. Being in the temple is the most beautiful experience I have ever had the privilege to undertake. That Husband’s parents weren’t able to attend our own sealing, but I know that neither of us regret choosing to be sealed in the temple. The entire experience was serene, hallowed, and glorious.

After changing into my mom’s wedding dress, I was led into a small room to meet That Husband. We met with the officiant who would be presiding over our sealing, and he spent a few minutes asking us questions and getting to know us. I waved at our family and friends as they walked by us on the way to the sealing room. When all of our friend and family had been seated, it was time.

We were led into a room that looks much like this one. An altar sits in the middle of the room, flanked by large mirrors on either side. These mirrors are included in every sealing room in all the temples around the world (to my knowledge). Setting the two mirrors across from each other creates a reflection in each that seems to go on forever (just like in the room with the baptismal font). It is a very visual reminder that the covenant of marriage we are about to enter into will last through death and on into eternity. You can see the effect quite clearly in this photo, with the chandelier repeating as far as the eye can see. It’s so beautiful in person.

We were seated on a love seat underneath one of the mirrors, both of us dressed completely in white. The officiant began, saying words very similar to these:

“Today is your wedding day. You are caught up in the emotion of your marriage. Temples were built as a sanctuary for such ordinances as this. We are not in the world. The things of the world do not apply here and should have no influence upon what we do here. We have come out of the world into the temple of the Lord. This becomes the most important day of your lives.

“You were born, invited to earth, by parents who prepared a mortal tabernacle for your spirit to inhabit. Each of you has been baptized. Baptism, a sacred ordinance, is symbolic of a cleansing, symbolic of death and resurrection, symbolic of coming forward in a newness of life. It contemplates repentance and a remission of sins. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a renewal of the covenant of baptism, and we can, if we live for it, retain a remission of our sins.

“You, the groom, were ordained to the priesthood. You had first conferred upon you the Aaronic Priesthood and probably have progressed through all the offices thereof—deacon, teacher, and priest. Then the day came when you were found worthy to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. That priesthood, the higher priesthood, is defined as the priesthood after the holiest order of God, or the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God (see Alma 13:18; Hel. 8:18; D&C 107:2–4). You were given an office in the priesthood. You are now an elder.

“Each of you has received your endowment. In that endowment you received an investment of eternal potential. But all of these things, in one sense, were preliminary and preparatory to your coming to the altar to be sealed as husband and wife for time and for all eternity. You now become a family, free to act in the creation of life, to have the opportunity through devotion and sacrifice to bring children into the world and to raise them and foster them safely through their mortal existence; to see them come one day, as you have come, to participate in these sacred temple ordinances.

“You come willingly and have been judged to be worthy. To accept one another in the marriage covenant is a great responsibility, one that carries with it blessings without measure.” Source

After hearing these words, That Husband and I were invited forward, where we were sealed together for time and all eternity. Our officiant, a priesthood holder who has the authority delegated to him directly by the Prophet of the Church, is one of very few men granted the power to seal. It is a sacred responsibility because we believe that whatever is sealed on earth is also sealed in heaven.

“Whenever the fulness of the gospel is on earth, the Lord has agents to whom he gives power to bind on earth and seal eternally in the heavens. (Matthew 16:19; 18:18; Helaman 10:3–10; D&C 132:46–49.) . . .

Because we have been sealed, That Husband and I won’t be separated after death. If we are both righteous, we will one day have the opportunity to be exalted and be like God. We work every single day for this.

As I mentioned, there is one other type of setting for those who are sealed, and that is the sealing of families.

Here is my cousin and his wife, on the day they were sealed to the baby boy they adopted. They are dressed in the white temple clothes they wore for the sealing ordinance that day.

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The circumstances in which a family might be sealed vary greatly. One occasion might be because the family is baptized into the church. In the case of my cousins it was because they adopted their baby. This sealing ordinance is so important because it provides families with the reassurance that upon their faithfulness they can see and be together beyond the grave. Because my parents were sealed at marriage, all of their natural born children did not need to go inside the temple and be sealed to them. Unless That Husband and I adopt, our natural born children will be automatically sealed to us as well.

Through the ordinance work done by proxy in the temple, all who have ever lived have the opportunity to accept the sealing ordinance in their own lives. All mankind, from Adam our first father, down to the last soul born into mortality will have the opportunity to choose to be sealed to their family.

As many of you know, I have a little brother named Drake. He passed away 16 years ago this January after only living for a few minutes. As you can imagine, this was a very difficult thing for my family to go through. Because of the sealing power, because of the temple, we are able to celebrate him and his short life each year, not his death. I know without a doubt that I will see my brother again one day. We’ll hug, he will scold me for my rebellious years in high school, and hopefully he will end by telling me he is proud of what I accomplished by living on the earth. I feel so happy when I think that my own children will be sealed to me because of the decision I made to be married in the temple. I know I will be with my family in the life to come.

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