In case you can't tell from the title I am somewhat tired of riding in the car. Know that I am very grateful for my car. It took us all the way to St. George and got us home, but we've spent some time together. About 18 - 20 hours.
Despite the long ride it has been a good few days. We came down to Utah in order to attend a wedding for my wife's cousin Christiana (her husband's name is Corey). They were married in the St. George LDS temple. It was my first time at this particular temple and it was great seeing the classic architecture of the building. I immensely enjoy visiting all of the different temples available to us.
For anyone who is reading this and is unfamiliar with the difference between a normal wedding and a temple sealing/wedding in an LDS temple I will give you a brief overview of what happens. A temple for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ is literally God's house on earth. It were he goes to perform his work. We also go there to make covenants (agreements) with God. Basically we promise to obey His laws and commandment and we are promised certain blessings in return. These covenants are essential in order to enter back into God's kingdom after this life, but there are many people who have never had the opportunity to receive these covenants while they were living. This may be because they never were able to get to a temple. We still see even today many nations that still don't know about or understand who Jesus Christ is, and faith in Him is the first step towards entering a temple. We believe that everyone will have a chance to accept Christ in their lives if they desire to, but they need a body in order to be baptized, or accept these covenats. Those of us who are living have an opportunity to return to the temple and act on behalf of these people. We stand as proxies for them and are baptized, married, and receive those covenants for them.
Now before one can be married in the temple he/she must go through all of these steps. They must have faith, be willing to repent of sins (for many people this mean things such as giving up smoking and/or drinking, living with someone out of wedlock, or any other thing they feel a need to change), be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and then they must continue to be faithful for at least a year (they will hopefully be faithful forever). At this point they are interviewed by a couple of different leaders in order to obtain a recommend that they are worthy to enter into God's home. They then promise to live a good gospel oriented life so that they may receive the grace sufficient to be forgiven of their sins. We receive these covenants through what we refer to as ordinances. You will hear many people say that these things are secret, but I prefer referring to them as sacred. Basically, the knowledge and ordinances performed in the temple are available to everyone, but before they can obtain them they must first prove themselves to be ready through faith and obedience. After doing this they are qualified to get married in the temple. In most weddings you are married "'Til death do you part." Its nice that you want to spend your life together, but why are you asking for a divorce when you die? Especially if you believe in an afterlife. We view marriage and family as an eternal entity. It shouldn't end at death, and we should want to be with our families longer then that. In the temple you are "sealed" together "for time and all eternity." Your family will continue after this life. Not only is it a pleasant thing to know about and feel, but we see it also as necessary in order to obtain the highest degree of heaven. In other words, you can get to heaven without it, but its better with it.
If you are reading this and have any other questions go to www.lds.org for more information, or just send me a message and I'll help out the best that I can.
Now back to the wedding.
In the ceremony, the officiator said some good things that I want to right down in case some day in the future they are trying to remember what was said, this is my way of helping out.
The part that stuck out to me the most was when the officiator talked about a what a help meet is when its mentioned in the scriptures. It basically refers to the fact that while the husband is the head of the house, the wife is to help him as his equal. He talked about a few other thing like how they are leaving their families and cleaving to one another. He obviously took time and talked to them beforehand and made sure they understood how the ceremony worked.
One other thing I hope they remember always concerning their recommend. There are three signatures provided showing their worthiness. He mentioned that the most important one is their signature. By signing their name they are attesting to their honesty and willingness to obey.
Afterward they had their first opportunity to perform a sealing ceremony for the dead as they stood as proxies for Corey's deceased grandparents. The spirit of peace and love was very strong at that point and time. Because of that feeling I can't help but think that his grandparent were prepared and waiting for that service to be done for them.
It was a wonderful experience that everyone present felt uplifted by. Congrats Christiana and Corey. Keep that day always present in your hearts!
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