Our Temple Sealing

I am so grateful to have temples dot the earth today, giving more people the opportunity to take part of the rich blessings and learning that occurs inside. The temple is very important to me. From the time I was a young girl, I looked forward to the day that I would go there and partake of the blessings and covenants. I married in the Idaho Falls temple eight months out of high school. It was a very cold day in February. The day prior to my marriage, I received my endowments and I knew that I was being taught correct principles inside the temple.

When my first marriage ended, I was grateful for the knowledge that all the covenants I made in the temple were still in tact for myself and my children. This knowledge gave me the courage to civilly marry Brady. By choosing to marry civilly, we would have to wait a year before he and I could be sealed in the temple. I sat down with each of my daughters to explain to them how important being married in the temple is to me, that I desire for them to partake of the same blessings that I had. I explained why Brady and I were marrying civilly first and that we would marry in the temple once we were granted the opportunity.

On August 5, 2011, Brady and I received our letters from the Office of the First Presidency granting us our request to be sealed. Near my last day of work in the Church Administration Building, President Rasband offered to seal us when the right time came.  His schedule allowed him to seal us on August 26, 2011 in the Salt Lake City temple.

We had the unique opportunity to have Kelsey, Lauren, Alexis and Sophia join us to witness the sealing of Brooklyn. There we were, all dressed in white together in the most beautiful, serene place in the world. It was the most special and important day of my life.

The ceremony was sacred, beautiful and inspiring. President Rasband shared with us some of his personal experiences with the prophets' Thomas S. Monson and Gordon B. Hinckley. The sealing of Brooklyn was touching. She was so calm and beautiful. Many tears of joy were exchanged. The last words President Rasband spoke to us was this, "Brady, here is the deed to your eternal property", and he handed us our sealing certificate. Brady and I keep close to us the teachings and instruction we received that day in the temple.

Following the ceremony, we took pictures outside on the temple grounds and had a luncheon with our family in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Brady and I presented each of the girls a picture of the temple, inviting them to remember the feelings they experienced that day and encouraged them to strive to marry in the temple at the right time. We also presented to our parents a picture of their most recent grandchild. It was a beautiful day and we were grateful to share this special time with our family and close friends.