We mark certain dates on our calendars, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years Day would be on a list that would include July 4th and Memorial Day. Getting down to a more personal level most would add individual birthdays for each member of the family along with their anniversary date. With the passing of each year these sign posts act as reminders and hopefully as pleasant recollections with a hint of hope of many more to come.
Lucy and I were married on July 23rd, 1971; but we have an additional anniversary date, October 23rd, 1980 when we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. What’s that you say, time and all eternity; you mean ‘till death do you part isn’t enough? Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself as I relate the importance of a Celestial marriage.
Long before Lucy and I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, before we had the young missionaries over to teach the doctrines associated with the “Mormons”, long before that the seeds had been planted by those around us. Lucy was at a business meeting many years earlier where one of her co-workers, a member of the LDS Church casually mentioned something about the concept that families could be forever, that a husband and wife and their children could always be together through all eternity if they so desired. The idea appealed to Lucy and was tucked away in her heart; no further discussion took place at that time and the seed lay dormant for quite some time.
While we were investigating the beliefs of the LDS Church we learned a little more about the purposes of the Temple and how special ordinances were performed which included the sealing powers for a husband and wife to join eternally, surpassing the civil marriage vows we had already taken upon ourselves. A little over a year after joining the Church we flew to Salt Lake and took the next step toward obtaining the added blessings available to all of Heavenly Father’s children. The link provided lends considerable insight; however, some remarks by Gordon B. Hinckley cover the basics.
Lucy and I were married on July 23rd, 1971; but we have an additional anniversary date, October 23rd, 1980 when we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. What’s that you say, time and all eternity; you mean ‘till death do you part isn’t enough? Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself as I relate the importance of a Celestial marriage.
Long before Lucy and I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, before we had the young missionaries over to teach the doctrines associated with the “Mormons”, long before that the seeds had been planted by those around us. Lucy was at a business meeting many years earlier where one of her co-workers, a member of the LDS Church casually mentioned something about the concept that families could be forever, that a husband and wife and their children could always be together through all eternity if they so desired. The idea appealed to Lucy and was tucked away in her heart; no further discussion took place at that time and the seed lay dormant for quite some time.
While we were investigating the beliefs of the LDS Church we learned a little more about the purposes of the Temple and how special ordinances were performed which included the sealing powers for a husband and wife to join eternally, surpassing the civil marriage vows we had already taken upon ourselves. A little over a year after joining the Church we flew to Salt Lake and took the next step toward obtaining the added blessings available to all of Heavenly Father’s children. The link provided lends considerable insight; however, some remarks by Gordon B. Hinckley cover the basics.
“Was there ever a man or woman who, in a time of quiet introspection, has not pondered the solemn mysteries of life?
Has he or she not asked, "Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What is my relationship to my Maker? Will death rob me of the treasured associations of life? What of my family? Will there be another existence after this, and, if so, will we know one another there?"
The answers to these questions are not found in the wisdom of the
world. They are found only in the revealed word of God. Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are sacred structures in which these and other eternal questions are answered. Each is dedicated as a house of the Lord, a place of holiness and peace shut apart from the world. There truths are taught and ordinances are performed that bring knowledge of things eternal and motivate the participants to live with an understanding of our divine inheritance as children of God and an awareness of our potential as eternal beings.”
I’ve obtained knowledge as I studied the Bible, The Book of Mormon, the teachings of modern day Prophets in conference talks and, I must add to that, the answers to my individual prayers as given by the Spirit which have given me to understand my relationship with my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. As a Child of God I am heir to all the blessings, one of those blessings is my wife. It is my goals to live my life in such a way as to have Lucy want to be with me for time and all eternity, to improve upon the foundation of our civil marriage relationship and enjoy that forever and a day. Yes, October 23rd is a very special day.
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