Marriage is Meant to Last Forever

To My Children:

my mom and dad

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.  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 sealing of my mother to her husband (my husband was the proxy) in the temple and I was blessed to be sealed to these two people that knew what love was.

I am indeed grateful for the covenant of eternal marriage.  Elder Hafen talked of a  young and happy couple on their wedding day and wondered how long it would be until these two faced opposition that faces every marriage. Wolves would destroy marriage.  Adversity can take its toll.  Imperfections will test us.  Attitudes of individualism will tear us apart. 

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. The Family: A Proclamation to the World states:

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 and for 
families to be united eternally.

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. President Russell M. Nelson taught:

 "The noblest yearning of the human heart is for a marriage that can endure beyond death."

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.  

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.

They were satisfied with one wagon in the parade and then left.  Thinking that is all there was.  Little did they know there was so much more.  So much!  They didn't know 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.