My faith is that somehow, some way, the Atonement of Jesus Christ is going to make everything that is wrong about this mortal life right. Someday, all our losses will be made up. Somehow, everything that is broken will be fixed by Him.
We believe that the highest blessing available to individuals and families is to be sealed together--bound together to the Lord and to each other--forever, and it can only happen in the Holy Temple by one who holds authority. This authority was restored by Peter, James, and John to the prophet Joseph Smith, and the keys of sealing, the power to bind on earth and heaven, were restored by the prophet Elijah to Joseph Smith after the Kirtland Temple was dedicated in 1836. We also believe that the Lord, in His great love and mercy, allows saving ordinances such as baptism and the sealing ordinances, to be performed on behalf of those who have passed away without having an opportunity to receive the ordinances, and they then have the choice about whether to accept those ordinances.
My dad's childhood and family situation was not ideal, and when he was sixteen, his parents divorced. His relationship with his siblings and parents has never been what he wished it was. There has been a lot that needs fixing and healing over the years.
Despite doing his best to follow the Savior, my dad was unable to be sealed to his parents while they were still alive. My grandparents had many struggles that kept them from being able to go to the temple. My grandpa Chadwick passed away in 2006, and my grandma Higley passed away in 2011. They had both remarried not too long after their divorce from each other, and my step grandparents both passed away in 2021.
Sometime in 2023 when Brian and I were in the temple, I felt very strongly that I should do the sealing ordinances on behalf of my grandparents and my dad. It's tricky to talk about sealings with divorced individuals. Why would they want to be sealed together if they got divorced? The answer: they don't. But then how can my dad be sealed to his parents? A sealer did tell me that a child can be sealed to his parents, even if they aren't sealed together, but they usually seal the parents to cover all their bases. I have assisted in the temple work for my biological grandparents, and I noticed that someone else had already done the temple work for my step-grandparents and my dad's half-sister Melanie. Every ordinance was complete for all of them except the sealing ordinances.
I reached out to my aunts to get permission to do the sealings, including my dad's brother Scott who died as an infant. In trying to get the permissions, I noticed that my Grandpa Chadwick's sealing to Grandma Chadwick (his second wife) had been reserved by someone I didn't know, and I reached out to this individual to ask if we could do the ordinance. This led to texting and a phone call. I found out that she was best friends with my Aunt Melanie, and that she had been the one to do my Aunt's work as well as my Grandma Chadwick. She had talked through temple ordinances with my Grandma Chadwick before Grandma passed away. We both felt strongly like they wanted these ordinances to happen--she felt a pull to do the work on her end and I felt the pull on my end. We made arrangements to go and do all these sealings together in the Orem Temple on May 3, 2024. It was so healing talking to her, getting to know someone who loved my family and knew them, someone who understood their struggles and challenges and who wanted them to be healed like I did.
The anticipated day finally arrived. My grandparents and my Mom came down from Idaho and Taryn and David came down from Tremonton. Unfortunately, Melanie's friend had to cancel last minute, and we missed having her there. It was such a sweet session in the temple witnessing these ordinances be performed.
Brian and I were proxy for my Grandpa and Grandma Higley. Grandpa Higley was such an incredible man who stepped into the family and loved my dad and his siblings so well. I loved teasing him on visits; it seemed to be his love language. I always had the impression that the gospel mattered to him, but for whatever reason, he couldn't get himself to the temple. He loved my grandma, and my aunt Shirley (their daughter together) told me that he absolutely wanted to be sealed to her, that it was his last wish. When they were sealed as husband and wife for eternity, the tears were streaming down my face. I knew they were with us.
The best moment was when my dad got to be sealed to his parents. Grandpa Linville was proxy for Grandpa Chadwick, Mom was Proxy for Grandma Higley, Brian was proxy for Dad, and David was proxy for Scott. After all his years of waiting, my dad finally has been sealed to his parents and one of his brothers, and it was wonderfully joyous.
I don't know how all the tangles of divorced couples and their children gets worked out, but I do know that it will. Everyone will be happy with the situation, and the necessary healing for my dad's family will happen. The Savior's atonement and His holy ordinances in the temple will make all of it right. I have already felt it working, and I am so grateful that I got to be apart of this day.
