I have been a member of the church my entire life. My mother was raised a member and she always took my sister, Katie, and me to church. My dad was not religious at all but he supported us and our mom in everything we did for the church and would always come when she spoke or for the primary program or things like that. My dad was always a good man and father. He worked hard and loved our family, but something was always missing. I remember right before my 8th birthday crying to my mom because my dad couldn’t baptize me and my grandfather had to do it instead. I just couldn’t understand what made my dad not want to do for me what all of my friends dads had done for them.
As one of my birthday gifts for my 8th birthday in February of 1996, I got the game “Book of Mormon Quest”. We played it a lot for family home evening. At first, my sister and I would answer the questions for my dad but as the year progressed, he started knowing the answers for himself. It was the summer of that year that he told us he was going to take the missionary discussions. It took my dad 5 months with the missionaries before he committed to be baptized but in November of 1996, after 11 years of marriage to my mom and at the age of 41, my dad became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a fast Sunday that he was baptized and still 88 people in our ward came to see it happen, it was that big of a shock for so many. That next June, my dad was able to baptize my sister and 6 months after that, in December of 1997, my family was sealed together for time and all eternity in the Atlanta, Georgia temple.
Although my memories of my dad pre-baptism are few, I distinctly remember things changing in our home after he was baptized and even more after we were sealed. There was more happiness and peace. I don’t have a single memory of my parents fighting. We tried to have regular family home evening, scripture study, and prayer. My mom had always been so involved at our school and in our lives but I remember how much more my dad became involved, especially when we were in high school- and he was bishop then. He did not miss a single band competition or concert and watched at least a couple of rehearsals for marching band each week. Katie and I both graduated from seminary and received our personal progress awards- largely due to the support and encouragement we received from home, from 2 parents who knew for themselves the truthfulness of the gospel and ensured that their girls did too. I have no doubt in my mind that everything about my life would be different had my dad not made the decision to join the church when I was young.
Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth president of the church, said the following: “No ordinance connected with the gospel of Jesus Christ is of greater importance, of more solemn and sacred nature, and more necessary to the eternal joy of man than marriage in the house of the Lord.” Ezra Taft Benson, 13th president of the church, said: “Faithfulness to the marriage covenant brings the fullest joy here and glorious rewards hereafter.” Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th president of the church, said “Our Father in Heaven, who loves his children, desires for them that which will bring them joy now and in the eternities to come, and there is no greater joy than is found in the most meaningful of all human relationships: the companionships of husband and wife and parents and children. And that companionship will endure beyond life if the parties to the marriage live worthy of the promise.” All of these quotes from modern day prophets have one word in common in regards to eternal marriage and family: joy.
I don’t think anyone would disagree that life’s greatest joys are found in the family. Strong family relationships require effort, no doubt about that, but with that effort brings great happiness in this life. Why would our Father in Heaven not provide a way for that happiness and bond to continue throughout the eternities? The good news is He did. And it is available to all those who will listen to and heed his word. In our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness, a man and woman can be sealed to one another for time and all eternity. Those who are sealed in the temple have the assurance that their relationship will continue forever if they are true to their covenants. They know that nothing, not even death, can permanently separate them.
So what really changed about my dad? Was it that he no longer drank coffee? Or maybe that he now got up with us on Sundays and put on a suit and drove us to church? No. It was neither of those things. It was the fact that he had gained an eternal perspective, particularly about family. As Latter-day Saints we are living with an eternal perspective and not just in the moment. We can receive blessings in this life as a result of being married for eternity. Elder David A. Bednar said “The ultimate blessings of love and happiness are obtained through the covenant relationship of eternal marriage.” One of those blessings is the sheer knowledge that our marriage can last forever. Nothing can separate an eternal marriage except for our own disobedience. This knowledge helps us work hard to have happy and successful marriages. A second blessing is knowing that our family relationship can continue throughout eternity. Knowing this helps us be careful in teaching and training our children. It also helps us show them greater patience and love. As a result, we should have a happier home while here in mortality. A third blessing is that because we have been married in God’s ordained way, we are entitled to an outpouring of the spirit on our marriage as we remain worthy.
We can receive great joy because of our eternal family relationships. Trials and hardships become easier when we share them with our families. Our lives become richer and more enjoyable because of the love we share. And we feel a great peace and comfort because we have the assurance that we can be together forever. All of these blessings are contingent upon our righteousness. Couples must center their lives in the gospel of Jesus Christ. As couples help one another keep the covenants they have made, attend church and the temple together, study the scriptures together, and kneel together in prayer, God will guide them. Their companionship will sweeten through the years; their love will strengthen. Their appreciation for one another will grow.
Heber J. Grant, the 7th president of the church, said: “The blessings and promises that come from marriage, for time and eternity, in the temple of the Lord, cannot be obtained in any other way. When Latter-day Saint men and women participate in that sacred ordinance, together they find that their eternal partnership under the everlasting covenant becomes the foundation upon which are built peace, happiness, virtue, love, and all of the other eternal verities of life, here and hereafter.” I have a personal testimony of the truthfulness of this statement. I have seen it in my childhood and now, as an adult in my own marriage. Matt and I were civilly married in July of 2009, just 3 months after he joined the church. We were sealed together in the Orlando temple almost a year later, in June of 2010. Our marriage has been so blessed since then. As much love as we thought we had before, it only grew and filled our home more. And by the end of this summer, we will have the great blessing of bringing a baby into our home, who will be born under the covenant and ours forever. I cannot imagine a sweeter blessing than knowing our growing family will be together throughout the eternities.
the atlanta, georgia temple. where my family was sealed in december of 1997.
the orlando florida temple. where matt and i were sealed on june 5, 2010.
Thank you, Kellye. This is a beautiful written testimony of something that is so very special and important about our beliefs. I love and miss your family so much.
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