By Cordell and Janice Vail

30 May 2004

A weekly email gospel message for the descendents of Ammon and Winona Vail

Answers To Sealing Questions

Now that women can be sealed to more than one husband (even one who chose in her lifetime to be sealed to someone else), how does that affect this family?

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I can see why you would have that question from last week's Sunday Sermon, so I will try to answer it here.

President Joseph Fielding Smith started allowing the temples to seal a deceased women to every deceased husband she was married to in her life time. Then the church office building was flooded with requests from living women, asking to be sealed to more than one man they had been married to while they were still alive. So he quit the sealing of women to more than one man all together.

Then later President Kimball started it again saying, "We will seal a deceased woman to every deceased husband she was married to in her life time. THEN SHE WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE OF THEM. A woman can only be sealed to one man in eternity". Some members of the church just did not understand the DOCTRINE (and that is doctrine not church policy). And I am not sure that all of the members of the church understand that teaching, even today. In the eternities, a woman can only be sealed to one man.

This sealing of a woman to every husband she ever was married to was only intended for women who are deceased. Joseph Fielding Smith said he was allowing it to be done so we would not be making that choice for her. At that time the "POLICY" of the church was to always seal her to the first husband even if she had no children with him and had many children with the second. They sealed her and all the kids to the first husband. (that was the policy before 1975). IT WAS NEVER INTENDED FOR LIVING WOMEN TO BE SEALED TO EVERY MAN THEY WERE EVER MARRIED TO IN THIS LIFE EVEN IF THE MEN ARE ALL DECEASED. That is why President Smith quite doing it, because women so misunderstood the intent of what he had authorized.

If a woman were to ask even today, the First Presidency would tell her no unless they canceled the sealing to the first husband. And many have ask in the past and some ask even now to be sealed to more than one man while they are living, because they do not understand the "DOCTRINE" of sealing. The First Presidency would tell her to make a choice and be sealed to one of them ONLY.

Bergitta Marie made her choice while she was living. When I asked Val Greenwood that very questions he said we should not try to make further choices for her. I think we would be violating the sacredness of her free agency if we sealed her now to Jacob "JUST IN CASE SHE CHANGES HER MIND".

So we could seal Bergita Marie to Jacob but I never did that because she already made that choice in her life time.

Unk Cv

NOTE: Nothing in any of these Sunday Sermons is intended to represent the official doctrines of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are strictly instructions and teachings from Cordell and Janice Vail to their family.