March 30, 2009

My Family is Forever

My family has died and we want to go to heaven. We've been taught about the true gospel of Jesus Christ and now we understand that our family can be seal together forever. This is the greatest desire of our hearts. We've come today to see if our work has been done and if we can progress as an eternal family.

This was the idea behind our presentation at church on Sunday. We were asked to represent a family that had passed away before learning about the restored gospel. We shared a modified version of my grandparents lives and deaths. At the end of our presentation we asked if anyone "had our names" indicating the completion of the temple work on our behalf. Eliza (Michelle) had her work completed and was able to progress with the three youngest boys. Matthew (David) was 8 1/2 when he died and no one had his name or mine (William). David and I were not allowed to progress. The point was that families want to be together but that is not possible until all their work is completed, for everyone in the family. And it was a heart-wrenching experience to watch our family be separated and there was nothing we could do about it.

We felt the spirit very strongly in our meeting and it helped to reinforce the importance of being married to the right person, in the right place, by the right authority. I'll have to admit that I didn't make it through the whole presentation without a few tears. In fact, I couldn't sing the intermediate or closing hymns all the way through. I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful family and it brings me great comfort to know that we are sealed together forever.

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