Sunday Soapbox # 10

(Chain pictures found here)

Long ago in High School Seminary a wise teacher told me something that has always stuck. "The temple covenants we make are like a link in a long chain" He went on to explain this chain as a means to being linked to our ancestors and posterity for eternity. I've recalled this statement time and time again and what it means for me in in my life.

Think of a chain that holds a swing. If one link, just one link out of the many is broken, the swing will not work for an intended user. It is vital that the chain stay in tact or else the chain loses direction and strength.

Temple covenants were an important goal in my life. I knew they were what I wanted for my own self, as well as my future companion and children. I wanted to be bound for eternity with my husband and children, and held that relationship very sacred to me. My parents, although great people, were not sealed in the temple, which in turn did not seal me to them because as children are born into a sealed marriage, they are in turn sealed within that same covenant. Their parents, my paternal and maternal grandparents were not sealed in the temple either. Our links had been seriously altered and our chain created a directional change away from the Lords intended purposes for us as an eternal unit.

Upon getting married I went to the temple for my own Endowment and my mother who had been worthy for years, preceded me by a week. I was thankful to have her at my side as I entered the temple and was married. As for dad, well, I like to think his time will come and that someday we will secure our eternal chain. Being sealed to my parents would mean the world to me, but that is a choice I cannot make. Until then, I will eagerly await the possibility.


This past week I had the opportunity to go to the temple with my grandparents for their own Endowment. It was a very special day for them, as it was for me. We are solidifying our chain. Backwards, but nonetheless rebuilding it in the right direction! This Saturday they will be sealed in marriage for this life and the next, and sealed as a family to two of their deceased children by proxy. I'm thrilled to be able to witness such a beautiful event in their lives. My heart is proud of them for strengthening their link with that of their parents, and I know their parents and children will be looking down and thanking them with grateful hearts for closing the gap.

The Temple truly is a special place where we can build eternal connections with those we love the most upon this Earth. I'm grateful my link is in place for my posterity and I hope I teach and lead them in the direction that places their link next in a strong, long line of Eternal chain.





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