Marriage Was Meant to Last Forever

When I was a little girl, I reached over the front seat of the car, and asked my Mother who her best friend was.  I was perplexed when she said my father.  I expected her to say her sister, or a neighbor.  Anyone but my father!  But over the years, I have been the beneficiary of that deep and abiding friendship.  They were loyal to each.  They encouraged each other.  They respected each other.  They didn't seek to change each other.  I was blessed that my mother took the steps to be sealed to my father in the temple.  These two people that knew what love was.

They experienced cancer, deaths, disability of a child, and financial struggles.  But through it all they persevered. The bond between them grew.  The friendship deepened.  My father passed away unexpectedly in his sleep one night.  Mom, knowing he was dead in the bed, got up and put on her panty hose and dress, then called 911 because she knew it was going to be a big day.

Later that week, she told me that she would do all she could to be healthy and ensure a long live (she had cancer at the time), but she wanted me to know that if she should die how happy she would be to be with my father again.

Years passed, and my mother kept true to her word.  She said she felt my father's presence nudging her towards baptism and the temple.  On a glorious day, I witnessed the temple sealing of my parents. 

I am indeed grateful for the covenant of eternal marriage.

 My mother saw that there was indeed a way to be with her husband, her best friend in eternities, and she took those steps, even though she, herself was ill.  When my mother passed away, it was a bitter sweet day for me.  Even though I knew I would miss her deeply, I remembered how much she longed to be with my father again.  How joyous that reunion must have been.

Wolves would destroy marriage.  Adversity can take its toll.  Imperfections will test us.  Attitudes of individualism will tear us apart.  Elder Russell M. Nelson taught, "The noblest yearning of the human heart is for a marriage that can endure beyond death."

Consider this illustration by Boyd K. Packer:

My wife has an aged aunt in Brigham City. She is the last of fourteen children. Perhaps seventy-five years ago, Millicent took her little brothers and sisters to town to see the Peach Days Parade. With excitement they walked the long way to town. They hadn’t been there long when a horse-drawn water wagon came along, sprinkling the streets to settle the dust. They watched it in awe and were greatly impressed. When it had passed they went home. They thought the parade was over. They were quite satisfied, until they learned the difference.

My mother understood the difference.  She wanted all that Heavenly Father intended for His children's happiness.  And my happiness.  And your happiness.  Through her diligence in keeping covenants, she was able to obtain that.  Through the blessings of temple ordinances, I am blessed that my family can be together, forever.