Sealing of Living Women to More Than One Husband

[inho]

I just read an article, where the author tells the story of his mother-in-law. Joan was sealed to his husband and it was happy marriage. As always in life, there were hardships (they buried three of their children) but their relationship was good. Joan's husband died. Joan met Avard, who was the stake patriarch. Avard was widower and they planned to get married. They both were temple workers and the temple president was their good friend. So, it was clear that they would get married in the temple and the president would officiate. They just needed to decide whether they would get sealed for eternity or married just for time only. Joan felt that there was nothing wrong with her sealing to her deceased husband and didn't want to cancel the sealing in order to be sealed to Avard. But a third option was presented to them:

As Avard explained, a third option was presented to them by President Jack. President Jack told Avard if each of their children would write a letter in support of their being married for time and all eternity without Joan cancelling her previous sealing--if all the children on both sides agreed--that sealing for Joan could take place.

Eventyally, they got married for time only, since some of Avard's children thought that they were rushing.

Have anyone heard of that kind of third option before?
I have never heard of that before. I know that dead women may be sealed to multiple men, but I didn't know that it could be possible for a living woman.

[gkearney]

Not this particular situation but I do know from personal experience that all sorts of unusual exceptions to standard practices are made.

[ElizaRSkousen]

Thats really cool! I havent heard that story.

[The Airbender]

I have an uncle whose wife turned lesbian on him. He remarried for time another woman who was a widow. They are very happy together. I wonder sometimes what the end result will be after this life. Won't he have to "hand over" his new wife to her old husband to whom she is sealed? What is the point of this marriage now? But they are so happy together.

[brianj]

This gets messy real fast. What happens at the end for a woman sealed to more than one husband? If polygamy is not the way of the Celestial Kingdom, what happens to the multiple women sealed to one man?

I believe it was Elder Holland who expressed a hope his wife, sealed to him as an eternal companion, will choose to remain with him for eternity.

What about the man who marries a widow sealed to her first husband, and they have children? If he, she, and those children make it to the Celestial Kingdom, is he forever isolated from his children? The church teaches that when children are born to a woman sealed to a husband those kids are sealed to the woman and the man she's sealed to.

I have heard people at church describe having had experiences while courting their spouse that convinced them they knew and loved one another in the premortal existence. One person, an institute director and counselor in the stake presidency, said the experiences were so intense that he was scared by them. What if I had such a relationship and looked forward to an eternity with her? Did my marrying Miss Very Wrong lead my premortal girlfriend to another man as her eternal companion? Are we destined to be together, meaning that my mistake lead her to either being alone until now or marrying someone else and endure the pain of her own divorce? If we are never married in mortality, we meet up in the Spirit World or Millennium, and we want to spend eternity together, is it okay to destroy one or two existing families so we can be together?

Like I said, it gets messy in a hurry.

[Earthling]

Brian you are assuming that there is a "one & only" or someone you chose in the premarital existence to marry. While some people apparently did love in premortality it is not the case for everyone. I believe if it was the case for you that you are given that opportunity to meet & marry that person. A friend of mine said that he had dated a special girl in high school but then he was drafted and did not come into contact with her again until they were both divorced and in their 50's. They feel they were meant to be together and eventually the opportunity did happen.

Another erroneous assumption is that there is a "one & only" for each person and if you don't find that person or they marry someone else then everything is messed up. I have come to find out that there are many people you could marry and be happy with if you are both living righteously. Pres. Spencer W. Kimball made a statement to this effect once.

Another take on this is that the prophet Joseph Smith appeared to Brigham Young after he died and told him to tell the saints to pray earnestly that they will be righteous and find themselves organized in families as the Lord intended. He said that mortals had not listened to the spirit and so found themselves not in their intended family units. Usually just the first part of this quote is found. It doesn't make sense that there isn't some sort of "master plan" for the human family. I am thinking that just as some made covenants with God before birth that some also made covenants with each other to be a family unit - but not everyone.

I wish I had the references for these quotes but I don't have time to research it. Anyway, there are some things to think about.

[Red]

I just read an article, where the author tells the story of his mother-in-law. Joan was sealed to his husband and it was happy marriage. As always in life, there were hardships (they buried three of their children) but their relationship was good. Joan's husband died. Joan met Avard, who was the stake patriarch. Avard was widower and they planned to get married. They both were temple workers and the temple president was their good friend. So, it was clear that they would get married in the temple and the president would officiate. They just needed to decide whether they would get sealed for eternity or married just for time only. Joan felt that there was nothing wrong with her sealing to her deceased husband and didn't want to cancel the sealing in order to be sealed to Avard. But a third option was presented to them:

As Avard explained, a third option was presented to them by President Jack. President Jack told Avard if each of their children would write a letter in support of their being married for time and all eternity without Joan cancelling her previous sealing--if all the children on both sides agreed--that sealing for Joan could take place.

Eventyally, they got married for time only, since some of Avard's children thought that they were rushing.

Have anyone heard of that kind of third option before?
I have never heard of that before. I know that dead women may be sealed to multiple men, but I didn't know that it could be possible for a living woman.

I must be the only one concerned that all of the children have to give consent. Hello, agency!

[Sarah]

I just read an article, where the author tells the story of his mother-in-law. Joan was sealed to his husband and it was happy marriage. As always in life, there were hardships (they buried three of their children) but their relationship was good. Joan's husband died. Joan met Avard, who was the stake patriarch. Avard was widower and they planned to get married. They both were temple workers and the temple president was their good friend. So, it was clear that they would get married in the temple and the president would officiate. They just needed to decide whether they would get sealed for eternity or married just for time only. Joan felt that there was nothing wrong with her sealing to her deceased husband and didn't want to cancel the sealing in order to be sealed to Avard. But a third option was presented to them:

As Avard explained, a third option was presented to them by President Jack. President Jack told Avard if each of their children would write a letter in support of their being married for time and all eternity without Joan cancelling her previous sealing--if all the children on both sides agreed--that sealing for Joan could take place.

Eventyally, they got married for time only, since some of Avard's children thought that they were rushing.

Have anyone heard of that kind of third option before?
I have never heard of that before. I know that dead women may be sealed to multiple men, but I didn't know that it could be possible for a living woman.

I must be the only one concerned that all of the children have to give consent. Hello, agency!

My guess is that it is one way to keep the option in check, but I was wondering the same thing.

This was posted by someone named Faith in 2016 in one of the many many polygamy threads!

I must say though . . . . THere is a man in my ward who shared a personal story of his mother or grandmother ( I forget which.)

Her first love and eternal hubby was killed shortly after they were married. Their love was beautiful- but cut very short.
She later married her second love, and lived her mortal life with him, had children and grandchildren with him, and lived a wonderful life together.

She was approached by a couple of the brothern in authority in the chruch, and asked if she would like to be sealed to this (second) man who she loved just as much as the first . . . . which would finally seal them for eternity and also their children and grandchildren. And she was!!

I had never heard of a woman sealed to two men . . . but it happens! We will one day truly understand it all and how it works, and all the whys and it will all make sense.

[Sarah]

Also in the same thread...

SARAH ANNE FRANKS & GEORGE PADDLEY

As told by President Scott Lorimer of the Riverton Wyoming Stake
In 1991, the people of the Riverton Stake in Wyoming were very busy doing the temple work for the pioneers of the Martin and Willie handcart companies; they called this project the Second Rescue. During this time the stake presidency received about 6000 letters from people and relatives concerning the work that was under way. After a story appeared in the Church News, thousands more letters arrived. It is through such a letter that the story of Sarah Anne Franks and George Paddley was discovered.
One of President Scott Lorimer’s counselors received a call from a lady in Rexburg, Idaho asking for their help in finding the name of the fiancé of her great-grandmother. They had come from England with the Martin Company in 1856 and he had died at Martin’s Cove. In searching the ship’s log, they found Sarah Anne Franks, a single woman traveling as sort of a nanny with a family who had five children. But there was no information about a young man traveling with them. They decided to check for any single men from her hometown traveling on the ship and found there were nine. This didn’t help much so they checked to see if any of them had died at Martin’s Cove. There were three. By this time, President Lorimer was ready to send what information they had found back to the family and let them worry about which one he was, his counselors, however, wanted to finish the job, but they didn’t know where to go from there.
Four weeks later President Lorimer received a letter from a man in Johannesburg, South Africa who had also seen the article in the Church News. Enclosed was a copy of four pages of his great-grandfather’s journal. As he read the pages about 10:00 one night, a single line jumped out a him. It read, “Sarah Anne Franks is betrothed to George Paddley.” He immediately called his counselor and asked what the names of those three men were. They couldn’t remember so they left their beds and went to the stake house to check it out. George Paddley was the fourth from the last person to board the ship before it left England.
When President James E. Faust heard this story he called it the greatest love story of our time. Sarah and George were in their early 20’s. They met because some missionaries came to England to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were each baptized, they at tended church, met and fell in love. The wanted to be married. They had been taught about the temple and the sealing ordinances they could receive there. They chose to come to America, to Utah, to be married and sealed in the Endowment House for all eternity.
They made it across the Ocean, and then across the plains to the North Platte River where they met the blizzard of 1856. George Paddley spent most of the day in the river helping the people of his company dodge huge chunks of ice as they tried to get to the other side and continue their journey to Salt Lake. He got chilled and came down with hypothermia but he recovered and went on to Martin’s Cove another 150 to 160 miles. There the terrible conditions overcame him and he gave up his mortal life.
Sarah Anne Franks loved George Paddley, she loved him a lot. You can read in the journals how they dug trenches in the snow to bury the dead because the ground was too frozen. They did the best they could with the bodies. You can read about the snapping and growling of the wolves as they fought over and carried off the bodies. Sarah didn’t want George to be eaten by the wolves. She took what was probably one of the only things she had to stay warm, her shawl, and asked the brethren to wrap him in it and hang his body in the trees. When she got to Salt Lake and learned that in the spring the brethren were going back to retrieve supplies left behind she asked them to find George’s body and give him a proper burial. But, when they went back to Martin’s Cove the only thing they found was the shawl. They brought it back to her and her family has it still today.
Sarah had some frozen toes and fingers. She was taken to the home of Thomas Mackey where she was nursed back to health. She eventually became the third plural wife of Thomas Mackey. She raised a wonderful family and was an obedient and faithful member of the church for the rest of her life.
That was the end of the story for almost 138 years until one day President Lorimer and his counselors of the Riverton Stake had a special visitor. President James E. Faust visited Martin’s Cove and was told the story of Sarah and George. Tears rolled down President Faust’s cheeks as he listened to their story, they just wouldn’t stop. Finally he asked, “Did you seal Sarah Anne Franks to George Paddley?” The said no, they couldn’t. She had been sealed to Thomas Mackey. She had children with him and they were sealed to her. President Faust said, “You go back to the Logan Temple and seal Sarah Anne Franks to George Paddley. You give her a choice.” At that time, this kind of thing could not be done without special permission from the 1st Presidency. A woman could only be sealed to one man. It has been changed since then for certain situations. They went back and she is now sealed to both men. We don’t know how this will all work out in the eternities. President Lorimer said that he knows that Sarah Anne Franks loves George Paddley and that he loves her and her children. He knows that the only reason they were not sealed for eternity was because George gave his life to save the lives of other people in his company.
That was the end of the story again...for a while. In the year 2000, President Lorimer received another letter. It was a copy of Sarah Anne Franks Mackey’s Patriarchal Blessing. In it was a tremendous promise. Sarah did not receive her blessing until she was 72 years old. She had raised a good family, she had been endowed and sealed in the Temple. There were no other temple ordinances that she could have received yet this is what the Patriarch told her in the blessing: “Sarah, you will be allowed the privilege of returning to the House of the Lord and receiving the ordinance that awaits you.” How could that Patriarch have known that 100 years later she would be given the opportunity of being sealed to her first love, George Paddley, in the Temple of the Lord.

[Elizabeth]

Can a living person be married and sealed to a deceased person?

[brianj]

Brian you are assuming that there is a "one & only" or someone you chose in the premarital existence to marry. While some people apparently did love in premortality it is not the case for everyone. I believe if it was the case for you that you are given that opportunity to meet & marry that person. A friend of mine said that he had dated a special girl in high school but then he was drafted and did not come into contact with her again until they were both divorced and in their 50's. They feel they were meant to be together and eventually the opportunity did happen.

Another erroneous assumption is that there is a "one & only" for each person and if you don't find that person or they marry someone else then everything is messed up. I have come to find out that there are many people you could marry and be happy with if you are both living righteously. Pres. Spencer W. Kimball made a statement to this effect once.

Another take on this is that the prophet Joseph Smith appeared to Brigham Young after he died and told him to tell the saints to pray earnestly that they will be righteous and find themselves organized in families as the Lord intended. He said that mortals had not listened to the spirit and so found themselves not in their intended family units. Usually just the first part of this quote is found. It doesn't make sense that there isn't some sort of "master plan" for the human family. I am thinking that just as some made covenants with God before birth that some also made covenants with each other to be a family unit - but not everyone.

I wish I had the references for these quotes but I don't have time to research it. Anyway, there are some things to think about.

I would love that quote from Young if anybody reading knows it.

I actually made no such assumptions. You may have noticed I prefaced that comment with "what if." I don't believe in the concept of a one and only, and while I do believe that some people loved so strongly in the premortal existence that they will be blessed to marry that love in mortality I know that it is entirely possible for one person in that relationship to turn away from the church leaving the other without their premortal love. Additionally, I have no knowledge of if I had a premortal love or not.

Decades ago I was told that Brigham Young taught that any man and woman who are living the gospel can have a happy marriage. I don't believe this, one of my bishops said he doesn't believe Young ever taught this, and I believe that I could have a reasonable successful marriage with a lot of women but I could only have a really fulfilling and satisfying marriage with just a few women. But I fear that finding such a woman will be as difficult as finding astatine in nature.

[brianj]

Can a living person be married and sealed to a deceased person?

I understand that if your spouse dies before you're sealed, you can be sealed to them after they are dead. But I believe the marriage has to exist before the other person dies.

[gkearney]

Can a living person be married and sealed to a deceased person?

I understand that if your spouse dies before you're sealed, you can be sealed to them after they are dead. But I believe the marriage has to exist before the other person dies.

All sorts of situations can be accounted for and have been.