Time and All Eternity

On April 3, 1836 Elijah returned to the Kirtland temple and restored the priesthood to its fulness with the return of the sealing keys on earth.  (see Doctrine and Covenants section 110)  It is this particular part of the priesthood power that allows for me to be sealed to my parents for time and all eternity.  

Many LDS children are "Born in the Covenant."  This means that the parents of the child were born to parents who were sealed in the Latter-Day Saints Temples previous to the birth of the child.  However, I was not.  Now my parents were married in the temple, but since I was adopted I was not born in the covenants.  When I was six months old, I had the opportunity to be taken to the temple with my parents and sealed to them.  Now the ordeals surrounding that day are completely another story, but I am so grateful for that day.  That sealing is a welding link (D&C 128:18) between my family here on earth and the generations before and after me.  

It is this same power of sealing that allows for couples to be sealed to on another for time and all eternity.  It is this ordinance, when sealed by the power of the Holy spirit, that allows for people to reach the highest degree of the celestial kingdom.  (D&C 131:1-4)  This step is so crucial to forming families here on earth.  "The Family:  A Proclamation to the World" addresses this issue in saying, 

"In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which  His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life.  The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave.  Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God for families to be united eternally."

I was reading a series of articles in the Ensign this month on adoption.  They were entitled, "The Gift of Adoption."  It gave the perspective the birth mother, the birth father, the grandparents, and the child.  These articles are a lovely montage explaining the principles of the atonement, celestial marriage, the plan of happiness, and yes, the importance of the sealing keys.  These are all principles that are near and dear to my heart and important principles in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

The small miracle of a baby, at the right time in the right place, can teach so many fundamental gospel truths and touch the lives of many people.  I just gives me all the more reason to do something good with my life and be the person my Heavenly Father wants me to be.