Hi. I’m LDS, and I don’t ever plan to stop believing in the church, even though I’m inactive. I’m endowed and married in the temple. My ex-husband left me for another woman and we got divorced. I’m responsible for my two children, and my husband has problems with pedophilia. My question is, will I continue to be married for all eternity to him? Also, how can I receive missionary visits?
2 Responses to “Hi. I’m LDS, and I don’t ever plan to stop believing in th…”
Samuel Delgado
2010-04-05 01:40:36
Hi friend. I'm very happy that you continue to have a testimony of the Church even though you're less active. I'm sorry to hear that your husband has not kept the sacred covenants he made with you and with God in the temple. I think there are few circumstances where divorce is justified, but pedophilia is certainly one of them. As a mother, you have a responsibility to protect your children. You did the right thing by removing your ex-husband from your home.
A missionary visiting Brazilian friends in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil.
The Church is very reluctant to formally dissolve a sealing unless it's absolutely necessary. As your ex-husband is not keeping the commandments, however, the sealing is effectively annulled, even if it is not officially annulled. As your husband is not living worthy of the covenant, he will not receive the benefits of the covenant in the next life. On the other hand, if you live worthy of the covenant, you'll receive the blessings, even if your ex-husband doesn't. I invite you to come back to the church and discuss this issue further with your bishop or branch president.
You also asked to receive a visit from the missionaries. I think that's an excellent idea! Aside from helping people join the church, missionaries also help less active members to come back to the church. I'm sure they could help you as well. You can request a missionary visit online. You can also learn the address and schedule of the Mormon chapel nearest your home so you can visit.
God bless you, friend. Come back to the church and prepare yourself to receive the many wonderful blessings of the restored gospel of Christ once again. The angels in heaven will rejoice when you do! :)
Pamela Dean
2010-04-05 14:19:25
The answer to your first question is both yes and no on several levels. Since you have been endowed and sealed, all the blessings that you are entitled to receive through those ordinances are still yours provided that you live worthily to receive them, regardless of whether your spouse/ex-spouse lives worthily. The key, however, is to live worthily, which means at the very least that you remain an active temple-worthy member of the church. It sounds from your desire to meet with the missionaries that you are willing to work your way back to full fellowship, and I hope and pray that you are able to find the support you need - both from members and from the Lord - to help you do this. I, too, have been in situations where my spouse/ex-spouse whom I was sealed to was not living worthily, so I know the angst that can arise from thinking about having to spend eternity with such a man. However, you do not have to remain sealed to him, although it is not as simple as just writing church headquarters and requesting that the sealing be cancelled. If you remarry a worthy priesthood holder, your first sealing can be cancelled after you are married so that you can be sealed to your second husband. However, since you have children with your first husband there may be other considerations to think about, and I don't know what the answers to these questions are, namely: what happens to the eternal connections between you and your current children if your first sealing is cancelled? Does this affect your eternal family line? I don't know the answers to these questions... But maybe someone else can help clarify them. Prayers to you, dear sister.
You also asked to receive a visit from the missionaries. I think that's an excellent idea! Aside from helping people join the church, missionaries also help less active members to come back to the church. I'm sure they could help you as well. You can request a missionary visit online. You can also learn the address and schedule of the Mormon chapel nearest your home so you can visit.
God bless you, friend. Come back to the church and prepare yourself to receive the many wonderful blessings of the restored gospel of Christ once again. The angels in heaven will rejoice when you do! :)