Temple Divorce Vs Being Exed

[Guest suthner03]

Ok here is the question, I ask my bishop about getting a temple divorce, yes I know it is actually an annulment. Anyway he told me that it can take up to 5 years, I have already been divorced from my ex for 5 years, I am somewhat inactive, I quit wearing my g's years ago not because I don't love and respect the Lord but because after my ex cheated on me I felt betrayed and after the diviorce did not live up to my covenants, I felt I was mocking the Lord by continuing to wear them so I quit. Anyway here is my question, if I am excommunicated I know I have to wait a year to be re baptized but can my children be resealed to me if I am remarried in the temple?

[liahonagirl]

With a cancellation of sealing, wouldn't the sealing of the children to the 2 of you also be of no force? I would think that any subsequent sealing to take place it would be possible to have the children sealed to you . . . I'm honestly not sure . . . talking to your bishop about this one would be the best idea imho.

[Faerie]

it was my understanding that if your sealing w/ your spouse is taken away, you are still sealed to your children...

maybe you could call the temple president of the nearest temple and ask them...they are always the best resource for answers and they LOVE to give advice :)

[liahonagirl]

I sit corrected for now . . . or at least aware that I may likely be wrong . . . Faerie has given excellent advice . . . :)

[Faerie]

*shrug*...I'm not spouting that as absolute fact...just MY understanding...may have come from a question asked a while back, I don't know...

the reasoning being: you have to know who the mother and father are to seal a family together...however, this couple could choose NOT to be sealed to EACH OTHER in the afterlife, thus nullifying their sealed bond, but they would still be eternally sealed to their children and descendants...

but like i said, any temple president can answer that more truthfully and logically...:)

[Guest bat]

I checked the CHI (Super Secret Handbook), and it didn't give the protocol for the scenario, but I would bet that Fairy is on the mark on this one.

[Nina]

I have a friend who was sealed to her spouse, they had two children and were later divorced (temple and civil). She is still sealed to her children. So is he. I have a few other friends who unfortunately have gone threw similar scenarios and the same applied... while their sealing was annulled they remained sealed to their children ... I do not know if this holds true for each and every temple divorce (there seem to be exceptions to every rule) but I imagine it is the norm.

[Guest estump]

If your children were born under the covenant, they are still sealed to you. My brother and sister were born out of the covenant after my dad was exed...he's looking now to get his blessings restored. (It's about time!!!!!!!!!) They will have to be sealed to my parents if they choose..however, me and my older two brothers will not. It's a little complicated, huh?! Now you know you can't get exed for not wearing your garments. That's something personal. HOWEVER, the covenants you made w/ God were individual...you took out your endowments and just because the marriage covenant was broken, your single covenant w/ God was not. Think about putting on those G's again, if you are living righteously. If you need to do some repenting, talk to your bishop. It's well worth the journey.

Man alive...I sound like DEAR ABBY today!

[Guest jackvance88]

i've never ever understood the sealing of parents to children. it would seem to me that in the next life families will consist of a man married to one or more women. but the kids left home at 21 and they aren't coming back you know. they'll have their own families i.e., spouses.

or maybe, just maybe, everyone in the kingdom of god will be sealed to everyone else, one big happy eternal family.

these are just questions???

also, i want to know this: my parents aren't LDS. should they never reach the kingdom, i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

[yaanufs]

Originally posted by jackvance88@Aug 16 2004, 02:40 PM

i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

Could you marry someone, have kids and then get a civil and temple divorce?

Ex-wife re-marries some other guy.

Can this couple adopt you as a son and therfore could you be sealed to your ex-wife as a child? Is this getting silly now?

[Ray]

Originally posted by jackvance88@ Aug 16 2004, 01:40 PM

i've never ever understood the sealing of parents to children. it would seem to me that in the next life families will consist of a man married to one or more women. but the kids left home at 21 and they aren't coming back you know. they'll have their own families i.e., spouses.

or maybe, just maybe, everyone in the kingdom of god will be sealed to everyone else, one big happy eternal family.

these are just questions???

According to my understanding, the sealing ordinance unites people in an association that would otherwise dissolve without that ordinance, and is the means God uses to organize associations in Heaven.

For example, the spouses we have here on Earth will not be our spouses in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Likewise, the fathers and mothers we have here on Earth will not be our fathers and mothers in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Instead, they will only be our brothers and sisters as they had been before.

also, i want to know this: my parents aren't LDS. should they never reach the kingdom, i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

I happen to be in the same situation you are in, in that my immediate parents haven’t been sealed to me and I sometimes wonder if they ever will be. If we never do become sealed together, I imagine that the persons who will assume the role of parents to me in Heaven will be the persons who have been my parents here on Earth and have accepted the sealing ordinances that have been done in their behalf. To my knowledge I haven’t had any parents who have been sealed to their families on Earth, aside from the many distant relatives we all have in common, which is why I say they will be persons who will have accepted the work that has been done in their behalf.

In other words, our fathers and mothers include the ancestors to our fathers and mothers, and we as their children can be sealed to them just as our children can be sealed to us. The only persons that will not continue in these associations will be the persons who would not accept these sealings, which is their right to refuse as much as anything else.

Btw, my immediate parents are both Christians, we’re just not members of the same Church. I keep hoping and praying they'll someday be open to receiving more of the gospel than they receive now, but in the end it's their choice.

[Guest jackvance88]

Originally posted by Ray+Aug 16 2004, 03:44 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ray @ Aug 16 2004, 03:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--jackvance88@ Aug 16 2004, 01:40 PM

i've never ever understood the sealing of parents to children. it would seem to me that in the next life families will consist of a man married to one or more women. but the kids left home at 21 and they aren't coming back you know. they'll have their own families i.e., spouses.

or maybe, just maybe, everyone in the kingdom of god will be sealed to everyone else, one big happy eternal family.

these are just questions???

According to my understanding, the sealing ordinance unites people in an association that would otherwise dissolve without that ordinance, and is the means God uses to organize associations in Heaven.

For example, the spouses we have here on Earth will not be our spouses in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Likewise, the fathers and mothers we have here on Earth will not be our fathers and mothers in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Instead, they will only be our brothers and sisters as they had been before.

also, i want to know this: my parents aren't LDS. should they never reach the kingdom, i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

I happen to be in the same situation you are in, in that my immediate parents haven’t been sealed to me and I sometimes wonder if they ever will be. If we never do become sealed together, I imagine that the persons who will assume the role of parents to me in Heaven will be the persons who have been my parents here on Earth and have accepted the sealing ordinances that have been done in their behalf. To my knowledge I haven’t had any parents who have been sealed to their families on Earth, aside from the many distant relatives we all have in common, which is why I say they will be persons who will have accepted the work that has been done in their behalf.

In other words, our fathers and mothers include the ancestors to our fathers and mothers, and we as their children can be sealed to them just as our children can be sealed to us. The only persons that will not continue in these associations will be the persons who would not accept these sealings, which is their right to refuse as much as anything else.

Btw, my immediate parents are both Christians, we’re just not members of the same Church. I keep hoping and praying they'll someday be open to receiving more of the gospel than they receive now, but in the end it's their choice.

poor george and laura, bush that is!

[Guest jackvance88]

Originally posted by Ray+Aug 16 2004, 03:44 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ray @ Aug 16 2004, 03:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--jackvance88@ Aug 16 2004, 01:40 PM

i've never ever understood the sealing of parents to children. it would seem to me that in the next life families will consist of a man married to one or more women. but the kids left home at 21 and they aren't coming back you know. they'll have their own families i.e., spouses.

or maybe, just maybe, everyone in the kingdom of god will be sealed to everyone else, one big happy eternal family.

these are just questions???

According to my understanding, the sealing ordinance unites people in an association that would otherwise dissolve without that ordinance, and is the means God uses to organize associations in Heaven.

For example, the spouses we have here on Earth will not be our spouses in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Likewise, the fathers and mothers we have here on Earth will not be our fathers and mothers in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Instead, they will only be our brothers and sisters as they had been before.

also, i want to know this: my parents aren't LDS. should they never reach the kingdom, i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

I happen to be in the same situation you are in, in that my immediate parents haven’t been sealed to me and I sometimes wonder if they ever will be. If we never do become sealed together, I imagine that the persons who will assume the role of parents to me in Heaven will be the persons who have been my parents here on Earth and have accepted the sealing ordinances that have been done in their behalf. To my knowledge I haven’t had any parents who have been sealed to their families on Earth, aside from the many distant relatives we all have in common, which is why I say they will be persons who will have accepted the work that has been done in their behalf.

In other words, our fathers and mothers include the ancestors to our fathers and mothers, and we as their children can be sealed to them just as our children can be sealed to us. The only persons that will not continue in these associations will be the persons who would not accept these sealings, which is their right to refuse as much as anything else.

Btw, my immediate parents are both Christians, we’re just not members of the same Church. I keep hoping and praying they'll someday be open to receiving more of the gospel than they receive now, but in the end it's their choice.

i always though that heavenly father would be my father in heaven???

[Ray]

He is and He will be, but you probably have a lot of other fathers who are worthy of honor and glory too.

If our heavenly Father makes use of the family structure now, why do you suppose He’ll simply ignore it later?

[Ray]

Originally posted by jackvance88+Aug 16 2004, 04:22 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (jackvance88 @ Aug 16 2004, 04:22 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Originally posted by -Ray@Aug 16 2004, 03:44 PM

<!--QuoteBegin--jackvance88@ Aug 16 2004, 01:40 PM

i've never ever understood the sealing of parents to children. it would seem to me that in the next life families will consist of a man married to one or more women. but the kids left home at 21 and they aren't coming back you know. they'll have their own families i.e., spouses.

or maybe, just maybe, everyone in the kingdom of god will be sealed to everyone else, one big happy eternal family.

these are just questions???

According to my understanding, the sealing ordinance unites people in an association that would otherwise dissolve without that ordinance, and is the means God uses to organize associations in Heaven.

For example, the spouses we have here on Earth will not be our spouses in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Likewise, the fathers and mothers we have here on Earth will not be our fathers and mothers in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Instead, they will only be our brothers and sisters as they had been before.

also, i want to know this: my parents aren't LDS. should they never reach the kingdom, i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

I happen to be in the same situation you are in, in that my immediate parents haven’t been sealed to me and I sometimes wonder if they ever will be. If we never do become sealed together, I imagine that the persons who will assume the role of parents to me in Heaven will be the persons who have been my parents here on Earth and have accepted the sealing ordinances that have been done in their behalf. To my knowledge I haven’t had any parents who have been sealed to their families on Earth, aside from the many distant relatives we all have in common, which is why I say they will be persons who will have accepted the work that has been done in their behalf.

In other words, our fathers and mothers include the ancestors to our fathers and mothers, and we as their children can be sealed to them just as our children can be sealed to us. The only persons that will not continue in these associations will be the persons who would not accept these sealings, which is their right to refuse as much as anything else.

Btw, my immediate parents are both Christians, we’re just not members of the same Church. I keep hoping and praying they'll someday be open to receiving more of the gospel than they receive now, but in the end it's their choice.

poor george and laura, bush that is!

Do you have a point?

[Guest jackvance88]

Originally posted by Ray+Aug 16 2004, 05:30 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ray @ Aug 16 2004, 05:30 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Originally posted by -jackvance88@Aug 16 2004, 04:22 PM

Originally posted by -Ray@Aug 16 2004, 03:44 PM

<!--QuoteBegin--jackvance88@ Aug 16 2004, 01:40 PM

i've never ever understood the sealing of parents to children. it would seem to me that in the next life families will consist of a man married to one or more women. but the kids left home at 21 and they aren't coming back you know. they'll have their own families i.e., spouses.

or maybe, just maybe, everyone in the kingdom of god will be sealed to everyone else, one big happy eternal family.

these are just questions???

According to my understanding, the sealing ordinance unites people in an association that would otherwise dissolve without that ordinance, and is the means God uses to organize associations in Heaven.

For example, the spouses we have here on Earth will not be our spouses in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Likewise, the fathers and mothers we have here on Earth will not be our fathers and mothers in Heaven unless we are sealed to them through the power of the priesthood. Instead, they will only be our brothers and sisters as they had been before.

also, i want to know this: my parents aren't LDS. should they never reach the kingdom, i would like my best friend (who happens to be about a year younger than me) to be my father. is that possible? can he adopt me? can i be sealed to him as father and son? and his wife become my mother?

I happen to be in the same situation you are in, in that my immediate parents haven’t been sealed to me and I sometimes wonder if they ever will be. If we never do become sealed together, I imagine that the persons who will assume the role of parents to me in Heaven will be the persons who have been my parents here on Earth and have accepted the sealing ordinances that have been done in their behalf. To my knowledge I haven’t had any parents who have been sealed to their families on Earth, aside from the many distant relatives we all have in common, which is why I say they will be persons who will have accepted the work that has been done in their behalf.

In other words, our fathers and mothers include the ancestors to our fathers and mothers, and we as their children can be sealed to them just as our children can be sealed to us. The only persons that will not continue in these associations will be the persons who would not accept these sealings, which is their right to refuse as much as anything else.

Btw, my immediate parents are both Christians, we’re just not members of the same Church. I keep hoping and praying they'll someday be open to receiving more of the gospel than they receive now, but in the end it's their choice.

poor george and laura, bush that is!

Do you have a point?

just the fact that they pursue some false religion which will get them nowhere in the life to come. oh well, i'm sure mr. bush doesn't believe that marriage is forever anyway.

i still can't understand what the difference is between my father being my father in the next life and him being my brother in the next life. so i'm not sealed to him. okay, he's still my brother is he not? what does the relationship mean? god didn't say he was going to destroy relationships did he? i'll still love him and associate with him as much as i do in this life, probably more.

plus, if (it would be a miracle) i somehow made it the way mormons look at it i.e., exaltation, then i have become like god have i not? so personally I am not cut off from anyone. i can live in the presence of god and as a god, but i have all the power he has. though those who don't "make it" cannot dwell in the presence of god i.e., cannot ascend, i who have "made it" can condescend to be with them

so what's the difference? at least to me? i have loved friends in this life, with whom i have no familial relationship, more than i have loved members of my own family. and love (charity) never fails right? it abideth forever.

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by suthner03@Aug 13 2004, 10:59 AM

I know I have to wait a year to be re baptized but can my children be resealed to me if I am remarried in the temple?

I am also an active LDS person, but I really don't understand this mindset that children are a piece of property to be given and taken away from their own parents. If there is a doctrine that says they will be given to a different father (other than God), than I think it's a false doctrine. YOU are those children's father. The bond that will "seal" them to you is your love for them and their love for you. No words spoken in any building by someone with no vested interest in you will invalidate your bond with them unless you let it. Continue in your loving relationship with your children and they will want to maintain your relationship in the afterlife. Nothing is going to sever that.

[Ray]

Originally posted by jackvance88@ Aug 17 2004, 09:41 AM

just the fact that they pursue some false religion which will get them nowhere in the life to come. oh well, i'm sure mr. bush doesn't believe that marriage is forever anyway.

What makes you think President Bush and his wife are pursuing a false religion? While they may not know all the truth, they do acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, and I believe they’ll someday know and accept more truths than they do now as well as the opportunities that will become available to them as they accept them.

i still can't understand what the difference is between my father being my father in the next life and him being my brother in the next life. so i'm not sealed to him. okay, he's still my brother is he not? what does the relationship mean? god didn't say he was going to destroy relationships did he? i'll still love him and associate with him as much as i do in this life, probably more.

Heh, are you asking me about the difference between a father and brother? Are you honestly telling me that you don’t see any differences in the way people associate with other people in those positions?

plus, if (it would be a miracle) i somehow made it the way mormons look at it i.e., exaltation, then i have become like god have i not? so personally I am not cut off from anyone. i can live in the presence of god and as a god, but i have all the power he has. though those who don't "make it" cannot dwell in the presence of god i.e., cannot ascend, i who have "made it" can condescend to be with them.

I think you need to learn how to appreciate your fathers more. Do you realize that although Jesus is God, He still looks up to His Father? How do you imagine you would feel if you couldn’t look up to yours? I think it’s very sad how some people want to skip right over their Dad, and their Granddad, and their Great Granddad, and their Great Great Granddad, etc, supposing that simply looking up to one Great, Great, ………………… Great Granddad as their Father is enough.

so what's the difference? at least to me? i have loved friends in this life, with whom i have no familial relationship, more than i have loved members of my own family. and love (charity) never fails right? it abideth forever.

While I also don’t have very close associations with most of my family who is here on Earth right now, I still have hope that things will get better between us and I have Faith that I will have many family associations that I will thoroughly enjoy and benefit from in Heaven.

Families are or at least can be associated in the same positions now and forever, and the sooner you realize that the more you will be able to enjoy the one that you have and hope to have someday.

[Ray]

Originally posted by curvette@ Aug 17 2004, 09:57 AM

I am also an active LDS person, but I really don't understand this mindset that children are a piece of property to be given and taken away from their own parents. If there is a doctrine that says they will be given to a different father (other than God), than I think it's a false doctrine. YOU are those children's father. The bond that will "seal" them to you is your love for them and their love for you. No words spoken in any building by someone with no vested interest in you will invalidate your bond with them unless you let it. Continue in your loving relationship with your children and they will want to maintain your relationship in the afterlife. Nothing is going to sever that.

Apparently you aren’t aware that jackvance88 is saying that he doesn’t want to continue the association that he has with his father now, and that he wants someone else to be his father. And not only that, but he apparently also doesn’t want to have anything to do with his grandfather, or his great grandfather, or his great great grandfather, etc, thinking that the association with his friend and our Eternal Father are all the family that he really needs.

So while you may want to continue your association with your family, curvette, there are people who apparently who don’t want that, and they will have the right to choose who they associate with as much as you do.

[inactivetx]

Ray -

I am sooo confused (probably because I haven't gone to temple yet for anything!). Are saying that when I do make it to temple some day

a) If I haven't been sealed to my father (non-LDS, dead - no ordinances yet), then

b: I could be sealed to my grandfather (non-LDS, dead - no ordinances yet), but if he rejects the gospel then

c) I could be sealed to my great-grandfather and so on and so on and so on?

When does all this sealing action occur?

[Ray]

This information is freely available from the Church to the public, so I see no problem with posting it here.

When we do sealing ordinances for people, we do all of the ordinances for all of the family associations we have and we usually begin with our closest associations. There are situations that complicate matters, however, and I’ll use my own situation as an example.

My parents are not LDS, they are divorced, and my Dad has remarried.

Even if my parents ever do become sealed, they will not be sealed to each other because my Dad would be sealed to his wife. I would then become sealed to my Dad, and as I understand it, all children are sealed to their patriarchal line anyway. Hence, while my Mom will always be dear to my heart as only a Mother can be, her position in my family as my Mom will come to an end in Heaven, and she will only be my sister throughout Eternity.

Understand that it is only because of Divorce that her position in my family association has ended, and not due to anything that can be attributed to my Dad or to God. I imagine that my Mom and I will be as close as we are now, if not closer because of a greater understanding of things in Heaven, but my family hierarchy will be traced through my Dad and not my Mom.

Btw, a Divorce always causes children to lose something they otherwise would have had, and I among many other children of divorced parents can understand why God HATES divorce.

Now back to the issue of sealing ordinances and what is in fact sealed together.

While I still do family history research and family ordinances for my Mom and her parents, I understand that my family structure will be traced through my Dad and his parents. The reason I do this work for my Mom and her parents is because I want her to have as many family associations as possible, while also hoping that she will remarry and continue her family associations throughout eternity. As I said, I imagine that I will still know her and still associate with her, but the persons who will be accountable for me will be my Dad and his parents traced back through his patriarchal line, and even then only toward those who have accepted the gospel and the ordinances that seal us all together.

Do you see how all of this works now?

In effect, unless there is a welding link of some kind that unites fathers to their children, the whole Earth would be cursed because there would be no family associations to bind us all together. If God did not organize things in some way, it would all be utter chaos until God did work out some way to organize people into groups and associations that will continue forever. Hence, that is what we have, as the priesthood bind those who are and can be sealed together in Heaven as they are on Earth.

Heh, in other words, God isn’t going to work out some way to get us all organized.

He’s ALREADY worked out that way, and it is now left to us to accept it.

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by Ray@Aug 17 2004, 10:24 AM

Apparently you aren’t aware that jackvance88 is saying that he doesn’t want to continue the association that he has with his father now, and that he wants someone else to be his father.

Uh....okay....

Apparently you aren't aware that I wasn't replying to jackvance or even addressing his post. I was posting in reply to the person who originated the thread.

[Faerie]

i'm sorry ray, but where do you get the doctrine that your mother will not be sealed to you?

my father's parents divorced...the temple president explained that they should still be sealed TO EACH OTHER and all their children from that marriage will be sealed to them...if both parents have remarried, they are also sealed to their new spouses...in the "end of it all" they will choose which sealing to fulfill...same way you can seal a woman to all of her spouses, given that she has the final choice as to who her "eternal husband" will be...we do not make that choice for them....

but they have to be sealed to each other for the children to be sealed to both their mother and father....you will always be your mother's son, even in the eternities...you will not be sealed to your stepmother, you will be sealed to your mother unless you purposefully choose to be sealed to your stepmother, and i think the only way the church allows that is if your stepmother adopted you...

[Ray]

I think you’re talking about a different situation, Faerie. Were your father’s parents dead when that choice was made available for them? I happen to know that my Mom will never choose to be sealed to my Dad, so that choice has already been made. In other words, there is nothing to work out as far as that is concerned.

Going from there, the only choices that remain are that I become sealed to my Dad and his new wife, or my Mom and her new husband, assuming that my Mom will ever remarry and choose to become sealed to that husband. I suppose that could happen, because she has already been married 4 times, but whether or not she'll ever find a husband that she would choose to stay married to is yet to be seen.

Anyway, as far as I know, I cannot choose to be sealed to both of my parents because that would mean that I would be accountable to two Fathers and two Mothers in two separate spheres, and, well, I just don’t see how it would work out that way. I am still waiting for additional light and knowledge on this, and not claiming that I know and understand everything about it, but what I’ve said is in accordance with what I’ve already learned.

Btw, I know that my Mom will always be the person that gave birth to me in the flesh, and I wasn't saying that I expect to ever forget that. I'm simply talking about how things work according to family order, as far as I know.

[Guest jackvance88]

my mission president told me something profound once. he was telling his wife and kids how much he loved us, the missionaries. for some reason, his wife, or one of the kids in his wife's presence, asked him whether he loved us more than he loved them, his direct family. "no, of course not" he replied. but then he added, and the debate ensued, that he didn't love his family anymore than he loved us either. he told me that even his wife had a hard time with that comment, but that it was true, that he truly loved us, and now his current ward members (he's now a bishop) in the same amount he loved his family. that they were all equal in his sight. i found that very touching. i never said i don't love my mortal father. i mean what my mission president meant, which is basically that at the end of the day we are all brothers and sisters with one heavenly father who loves us all the same. he loves me me just as much as he loves even his only begotten son, no more, no less.

as i have gotten older my parents have ceased to be my parents anymore. before you say that's a sad thing, it's not. they are more like my brother and sister now. it's hard to explain. sometimes i even feel like a father to my mother, guiding her etc.

i believe that's how the kingdom of heaven will be, all equal, all brothers and sisters. not many families, some with just two siblings and others with nine or ten. all "one" big family under one loving heavenly father. our true children in heaven will be the spirits we bring forth in the eternal marriage state.

that's just how i see it.

when christ's mortal family came looking for him he was told that his brethren were without wanting him. he replied saying who are my brothers and sisters? and answered by pointing to the crowds surrounding him.

shouldn't we answer the same? family is important. it's part of god's plan. but this habit we have in our culture of elevating our direct mortal family over and above all our other brothers and sisters, who are equally deserving of our love, i just don't buy it. i want kids, and i will love them with all my heart. but no more or less than anyone else, regardless of blood.