Encyclopedia of Mormonism

THE FAMILY CAN BECOME AN ETERNAL UNIT. Worthy members can be sealed by the power of the priesthood in holy temples for time and eternity either in or after marriage. At the time of their temple sealing, both husband and wife enter "an order of the priesthood [called] the new and everlasting covenant of marriage" (D&C 131:1-4). Without worthiness and authority, a marriage cannot endure eternally and is "of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead" (D&C 132:7). If a husband and wife are faithful to their temple marriage, they will continue as co-creators in God's Celestial Kingdom through the eternities. They will administer the affairs of their family in unity with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Regarding members of the Church not born into such homes or not married in this life through no fault of their own, President Spencer W. Kimball taught that those "who would have responded if they had [had] an appropriate opportunity-will receive all those blessings in the world to come" (Kimball, p. 295).