Sealings. Faithful Latter Day Saints believe civil marriages are dissolved at death, but that a couple who has been sealed in a temple will be married beyond physical death and the resurrection if they remain faithful. This means that in the afterlife they and their family will be together forever.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the word sealing refers to the joining together of a man and a woman and their children for eternity. This sealing can be performed only in a temple by a man who has the priesthood, or the authority from God.
In the Latter-day Saint temples, promises are made between the marrying couple and God. Through restored priesthood power, in this ceremony the couple is “sealed” and promise that they will continue to be a family unit forever, thus binding the husband and wife, and children with their parents, for all eternity.
Children born to parents who have been sealed in the temple are born in the covenant. Thus, they are part of an eternal family, based upon their faithfulness. Children who are not born in the covenant can also become part of an eternal family once their natural or adoptive parents are sealed to one another.
In 1998, the LDS Church changed the policy and now also allows women to be sealed to more than one man. A woman, however, may not be sealed to more than one man at a time while she is alive. She may only be sealed to subsequent partners after she has died.
Not anyone can actually marry in the temple, but only men and women who are faithful members of the Church. Marrying a non-member is allowed, however, the marriage ceremony cannot be done in the temple.
Plural marriage was not for everyone -- in fact, at most 20 to 30 percent of Mormons would ever practice it, more among the church leadership than the regular members. But if commanded to take other wives by God and the church, an obedient Mormon was expected to comply.
What are my options? When you experience unwed pregnancy, you will have to choose one of four options: marriage, adoption, single parenting, or abortion (see General Handbook, 38.6. 1, “Abortion,” for an explanation of why the Church does not support abortions except in rare circumstances).
Still, many ex-Mormons are completely shunned and have given up spouses, children, and the ability to enter Mormon temples to witness life events of family members. Ex-Mormons in geographic locations away from major enclaves of Mormon culture such as Utah may experience less stigmatization, however.
From a young age, Mormon children are given responsibilities such as household duties and the tending of younger siblings. Mothers play a key role in their children's religious education, and parents who do not rear their children strictly according to Mormon gospel are condemned.
No one will be sealed to any one with whom they do not want to be sealed. Only worthy members of the LDS Church, who hold current valid temple recommends, can attend and witness sealings. Non-member family and friends generally wait in the temple waiting room during the sealing ceremony.
But here's a fact you need to know: children can be sealed to only two parents. So if you were born to your parents after they were sealed in the temple (born in the covenant) or were sealed to them in the temple yourself, you are still sealed to them—both of them—even after a divorce.
Anyone, regardless of religion, may enter a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse and attend services. However, because of the sacredness of temples as “houses of the Lord,” only members of the Church, who are in good standing are allowed to enter the temples.
Divorced or widowed men can be “sealed” (married for eternity in Latter-day Saint temples) to multiple wives, while such women generally can be sealed only to one husband.
LDS brides getting sealed in the temple have two options: you can wear your white temple dress for the sealing, or your wedding gown. If you choose to wear your wedding gown in the temple, it must be white, floor-length, long-sleeved, and high-necked with no collarbone showing.
Mormon marriages are different from most marriages because they are considered eternal. If a husband and wife are sealed together in the temple, they can be together on into the celestial kingdom. However, the church does have a process for annulment and sees divorce as an unfortunately necessary evil.
There is also a substantial emotional toll that leaving Mormonism can take. The Mormon community is very close and reliant on one another, so breaking out of that group can be fairly traumatic. “Mormonism as a whole is so knit together as a community,” said Barlow. That's where support groups come in.
Returned-missionary men had a divorce rate of 9%; returned-missionary women had a divorce rate of 15%.
While an estimated 40 percent of returned missionaries become inactive sometime after completing their mission, only 2 percent become apostates, meaning that they request to have their names removed from church rolls, or are formally excommunicated.
An LDS magazine published a bishop's teaching in 2013 that oral sex was forbidden before marriage. Two BYU graduate Mormon sex therapists, however, publicly stated in 2013 that oral sex was acceptable for married couples as did another LDS therapist in 2014.
Within the Mormon culture, women are expected to marry, raise children, and be a "helpmeet" to their husbands.
The average age of first marriage for LDS Church members is approximately 23, said Jason Carroll, assistant professor of marriage, family and human development at Brigham Young University.
“Do not date until you are at least 16 years old. Dating before then can lead to immorality, limit the number of other young people you meet, and deprive you of experiences that will help you choose an eternal partner.” For the Strength of Youth, 24. “The Lord has made us attractive one to another for a great purpose.
The standard doctrine of the Church is monogamy, as it always has been, as indicated in the Book of Mormon (Jacob chapter 2): “Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none. …
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Christmas season is a special time to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. Every year, Latter-day Saints gather with family and friends and recall the tender scene of “the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).