Hey Bro Jo -
You give awesome advice so I figured you could help me with this. I want to explain to my non member friends about getting sealed with your family. I’m not too sure how all of this works and how to explain it so why do we get sealed to our families. what’s the purpose and what will happen if we do not do it. also, if someone isn’t a member then what will happen to them
thank you for all your help. :)
- M
Dear M,
What a great question! Thank you for asking and thank you for the kind words.
Getting Sealed in the Temple is an ordinance, like baptism or partaking of the sacrament. When we partake in an ordinance we make a covenant (or renew a covenant) with our Heavenly Father. When we're sealed for "time and all eternity", whether as a couple or as a family, we promise to live as Disciples of Christ and Heavenly Father promises us that we can live together forever.
And that, Little Sister, is pretty cool.
Non-members and families who aren't sealed in the temple have not made that covenant, so (as the scripture mastery says) they have "no promise".
That's why we do temple work for the dead and why we serve as missionaries, so that all can receive the blessings that Heavenly Father has for us.
- Bro Jo
5 comments:
what happens if you only have one parent and therefore cannot be sealed as a family??
Well . . .EVERYONE has two parents.
It's Biology.
In the temple there are two types of sealing ordinances: those for the living (a man and a woman getting married) and those for the deceased (where living people stand in as proxies for those that do not at this time have bodies - just like baptisms for the dead).
If living people have who already have children are getting sealed, then after their sealing their living children are sealed to them. If they have children who have died prior to the sealing then proxies stand in for those children.
If deceased people are being sealed, then after their sealing they are sealed to their children. Those that are living are there for themselves; proxies stand in for those that are deceased.
As I understand it, children can only be sealed to parents that are sealed.
Please understand, beyond this we get into a bunch of "what ifs", like: "what if one of the living children can't be there" or "doesn't want to be there", "what if my mom has died and she never told me who my father was", and all kinds of things.
My advice is "don't worry about it". If you have a special or unusual circumstance, talk to your Bishop or Stake President. My bet is that, especially if it's particularly unique, they'll need to talk to someone a little higher on the authority chain; some things
can only be answered by the First Presidency.
What I do know is this: Heavenly Father is loving and just; the plan is that families can be together forever; I have every confidence that all things will work out as they should.
- Bro Jo
This has been bothering me. It might be a "what if" situation, but it seems rather large.
If someone is sealed to their family, but then don't marry in the temple for whatever reason, does that create some sort of problem? Wouldn't they not be able to get to the celestial kingdom because they weren't sealed in the temple, yet they're sealed to their family...
Maybe I have something wrong?
Thanks for your help
As for ease of explaining it to your friends, say something like, "When most people are married, the priest says that they are married 'till death do you part.' In the Temple families are able to be together after death." It has worked very well for me.
Instead of being bothered, it's better to focus on doing what we're supposed to do to return to live with Heavenly Father.
By the way, being Sealed in the Temple is not a celestial guarantee; we need to do the best we can and repent of our sins and shortcomings.
Think of it this way: you can't start the car without the key, but having the key and starting the car is not enough to guarantee that you'll arrive at your destination safely.
To be more blunt: get sealed and endure to the end, then you've got nothing to worry about.
- Bro Jo
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