The Tongues of Seven Thunders

In his recent conference address about temples, President Nelson referenced a quote from Brigham Young who said this: “What do you suppose the fathers would say if they could speak from the dead? Would they not say, ‘We have lain here thousands of years, here in this prison house, waiting for this dispensation to come’? … Why, if they had the power the very thunders of heaven would be in our ears, if we could but realize the importance of the work we are engaged in. All the angels in heaven are looking at this little handful of people, and stimulating them to the salvation of the human family. … When I think upon this subject, I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people.” There is an urgency of our work to redeem our dead, and President Nelson highlighted that with a story in another talk he gave about two girls named Laurel Ann and Gay Lynn, daughters of Ruth and Jimmy Hatfield, who had died in heart surgeries he had performed. He recounted, “I was heartbroken when both girls died following their operations. Understandably, Ruth and Jimmy were spiritually shattered. Over time, I learned that they harbored lingering resentment toward me and the Church. For almost six decades, I have been haunted by this situation and have grieved for the Hatfields. I tried several times to establish contact with them, without success.” What he then related highlights the truth of the words of Brigham Young: “Then one night last May, I was awakened by those two little girls from the other side of the veil. Though I did not see or hear them with my physical senses, I felt their presence. Spiritually, I heard their pleadings. Their message was brief and clear: ‘Brother Nelson, we are not sealed to anyone! Can you help us?’ Soon thereafter, I learned that their mother had passed away, but their father and younger brother were still alive.” Ultimately President Nelson was able to finally contact their father and work with Jimmy to prepare him for the temple where President Nelson sealed him to his deceased wife and to his children. This story witnesses that there are indeed those on the other side of the veil waiting for us to perform saving ordinances for them in the temples of God.

                President Nelson also highlighted the need for living couples to be sealed together as an eternal family in the temple. He boldly declared, “If I could speak with each husband and wife who have still not been sealed in the temple, I would plead with you to take the necessary steps to receive that crowning, life-changing ordinance. Will it make a difference? Only if you want to progress forever and be together forever. Wishing to be together forever will not make it so. No other ceremony or contract will make it so.” This week our Come, Follow Me reading included this passage about Esau: “And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah” (Genesis 26:34-35). Esau did not marry in the covenant; he did not marry a follower of Jehovah. This contrasts with the urgency Abraham expressed that his son Isaac not marry a Canaanite. He said to his servant: “And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac” (Genesis 24:3-4). Abraham knew how crucial it was that Isaac marry a wife who would, with him, continue in the covenant he had made with the Lord. For us in our day, we do this by marrying in the temple of God to one also willing to carry on in the covenant of Abraham and receive all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

If we want our families to indeed endure throughout eternity, we must be sealed through the power of the priesthood in a holy temple of the Lord. The Prophet Joseph revealed it in these words: “And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood…. it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19). Last night after reading those verses about Esau with my children, I took a mirror off of a closet door and carried it into another room with a mirror so they could face each. I had my children look into them and when they finally saw it they were amazed—they could see the reflections seemingly go on forever. That is what the temple enables—for us to be bound together forever as families through sacred covenants with Him. I am so grateful for my own temple sealing to my wife and children and to my parents and the knowledge that if we can stay true to our covenants we will be bound together forever.