sealing after divorce

[mikewilliams]

My girlfriend and I are both members of the church with current recommends. She was previously divorced and has previously received a sealing cancellation. We are planning on being married in the near future and I have some questions about two things;

She is told that she needs to present the sealing cancellation at the temple before the sealing, why is this?

Is there any difference in the sealing ceremony for someone who has been divorced prior, sealed prior, etc...?

I'm not asking for specifics on the second one, just a yes or no.

[Daybreak79]

I'm only guessing....

1. By bringing the sealing cancellation with her it will keep any hiccups from happening incase the computer says that she is still sealed.

2. When my sister was sealed to someone who had already been sealed I didn't notice anything different in the ceremony. (I don't know if they were asked to bring his sealing cancellation or not.)

[mikewilliams]

would it not be simpler to get a copy of living ordnances (I usually am given one during tithing settlement)? it will say if they are sealed to a former spouse.

[jayanna]

I would take the actual sealing cancellation, just in case.

The temple can be sticklers about the paperwork, I had to provide the adoption papers for my kids, even though our names were on their new birth certificates.

We had to have 1. our recommends 2. a living ordinance recommend 3. adoption paperwork 4. new birth certificates 5. baptism certificate for my oldes daughter 6. our marriage license and 7. the papers that the temple mailed to us after making our appointment (which had a detailed list of the requirements on paperwork and when to get there, what to tell your guests, etc)

The adoption itself was an actual miracle.

Don't let the details overwhelm you, your girlfriend will take care of most of it, I'm sure...It is not good for man to be alone :)

Worth it to just take the papers, but if you still have any doubts, call the temple, they are more than happy to help couples who are preparing to get sealed.

Congratulations by the way!!!

[mikewilliams]

What paperwork do we need to do there? The temple recommends, rec for living ord etc... will be obtained before the day, the marriage licence earlier that day. Neither of us have children, so there is no complication there.

I could understand that perhaps the cancellation is sometimes received before the records are updated, but this is not an issue for us.

Why else would it need to be shown?

[MarginOfError]

I know it seems odd and inconvenient. But I assure you it's better to have all the paperwork and not need it than to get there and find out the Church records aren't quite in order and not be able to be sealed. I can also assure you that if the temple doesn't see that all the records are in order, they will not allow the sealing to take place.

One thing to remember is that it isn't often that the temple receives a couple where the sealing was cancelled a long time ago. They are much more familiar with the situation of the sealing having been cancelled recently. If you have everything in the order that the people at the temple are expecting to see it, it will cause less confusion for them and make things go much more smoothly.

We are a volunteer church, and the majority of the people that will be handling the issues between now and your sealing will be volunteers. One of the unfortunate side effects of a highly volunteer organization is less customer service and not as well trained people trying to do their best. While I have the greatest sympathies for the confusion you've expressed over the procedures, my best advice is to just get all the paperwork together so that things can go as smoothly as possible.

[mikewilliams]

It is odd, but not really very inconvenient. It is a piece of paper, much like the other pieces of paper required for the event.

I am mostly just curious to the reasoning. That may be the reason; that usually the cancellation is recent, so the records may not be in order. I thought perhaps they wanted to know because the sealing ceremony may be different, but as far as I can find out, it is not.

In our case, it isn't recent, and the records are in order. Have been for some time. As far as I know, the computer system at the temple is not separate, but a part of the larger church system/records.

Since I know they are in order, and it has been quite a while, why is it even necessary for them to be aware?

btw, thanks to everyone for replying to my post, it is much appreciated.

[Backroads]

Take the sealing cancellation to the temple on the day of the sealing to you, when that happens. It will be REQUIRED.

[rameumptom]

You take the form letter to ensure there are no problems when you attend the temple. The ceremony is exactly the same.

God's house is a house of order. While you and your fiancee are honest in this issue, sadly others may not be. There are, for example, those who actually belong to polygamist sects, who will become members and be sealed in our temples. The cancellation letter ensures such people are not trying to use our temples for their plural marriage events.

Edited March 2, 2011 by rameumptom

[mikewilliams]

rameumpton - Interesting. How exactly would people use it to have polygamous marriages sealed in the temple?

When they scan your recommend the last name of whoever you are sealed to (if you are female) is shown in parenthesis after their name. Also, your records would state if you are currently sealed to anyone, under living ordinances. It just doesnt seem like you could get around that, at least not easily. Or without help from someone working there. Anyway...

Backroads - Its required. Fair enough. I know this, and dont disupute it.

Theoretically, how would they even know to ask, or enforce this if the cancellation has been processed and the records updated? Perhaps the records would show they were at one time sealed, but then it would obviously state that they were no longer sealed, rendered the hard copy unnecessary.

Anyway, this was and still is, about curiosity. It's not a big deal, not enough to make an appointment with my Bishop and ask officially. I just figured the all-powerful internet might have answers. So.... I ask.

Edited March 2, 2011 by mikewilliams

[rameumptom]

That is why they don't just take someone's word for it. They want the actual letter from the First Presidency.

As a teen, we had in one of my ward's a town of members from the Allred clan. They frequently joined the LDS church, married their first wife in the temple, and then my bishop and stake president would excommunicate them when they found out the person married a second (or third) wife. My stake clerk told me that my bishop handled a couple excommunication with the stake presidency every month for this problem.

[mikewilliams]

rameumpton - See that makes sense.... So obviously they don't do a records check when it happens, otherwise that wouldn't be an issue. IMHO, they should probably institute, one. It wouldnt take long, and would fix a security issue.

That still leaves my question unanswered. If they don't do a records check (which wouldn't matter to me, because the records are updated), how would they know that we were any different than any other couple getting sealed for the first time?

And why would it matter, if they even knew? Because they dont have to "take my word." They have access to the online church record system, and they could check.

Which still doesnt make any sense. Because if it was a matter of not being allowed to "take someones word," then couples who were getting sealed for the first time would need to have a paper that was in effect the opposite of a cancellation. To prove that they had not been sealed prior.

[rameumptom]

This allows for extra checks and balances to be in the system.

[jayanna]

This might sound bad, but sometimes the church records system doesn't work. Remember I told you we had to take my oldest daughter's baptism certificate, well, it's a good thing we had it, because her baptism had not been recorded! It was almost 2 years later, and it wasn't in the online church records...someone dropped the ball on that one. People make mistakes, and I think they do check records. When my hubby forgot his recommend, they checked his records.

I think it is more of a 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses' thing.

And I don't think you are any different than any other couple. :) I'm so excited for you!

[mikewilliams]

Yep, I hear that. A similar thing happened to me when I received the Melchizedek priesthood. They couldn't find a record of my receiving the Aaronic.

But that was the point. I have seen the printout of her living ordinances, she got them at her last tithing settlement. It's not on there.

Thanks for the help people :)

[rex8499]

And the same thing happened to me too, me receiving the M Priesthood didn't get recorded in the computer and caused me some trouble when I went to get my endowments out. It definitely just keeps things safe to have the paperwork along with.