Right after Mom (Judy Crocket) and I divorced in 1990, Grandpa (Charles Cash Rampton, Jr.) asked me a question for which I did not have an immediate answer. His question was: "Who will David, Travis and Kevin be sealed to in the eternities....will they be sealed to their mother or father?" The matter had been weighing heavily on him so much so that it would cause him to sit up all night in his rocking chair. I told him I would ponder the matter and get back to him. There was nothing dealing with the matter in the scriptures. There was nothing in any of the conference reports that I had access to. And, since I still has my copy of the Church's General Handbook of Instructions from when I was Bishop, I checked in there. Nothing. (I think I was suppose to have turned that in when I was released. Oops.) I pondered and prayed for several weeks and then the answer came. And then I prayed about the answer as it says in D&C 9:8-9. I had that burning feeling, a feeling of sweet confidence that I had the right answer. I went and told Grandpa and he seemed greatly relieved and has been a source of comfort to him ever since in light of the fact that two of his other sons divorced. Want to know the answer? Here it is:
In the hereafter we are not sealed to our father or our mother. Rather, we are sealed to both by being born under the covenant or receiving that ordinance in the temple. This is the great keystone of temple work. All the other vicarious ordinances performed in the temple, with the exception of Celestial Marriage, lead up the that single and sometimes final ordinance. That ordinance is the link in the chain of the family of mankind. This is what the Prophet Elijah was referring to (all the blessings of the temple) when he said if this did not happen all the world would be wasted. This is what Family History is all about, to see that one generation of a family is linked to the next. Before the Millennium is over every soul who has lived on the earth will be linked from beginning to end by this sealing ordinance. And when the last links have been complete, then, as the Prophet Joseph Smith stated, "...the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." Hallelujah!!
Let me be clear (isn't that what President Obama says all the time), I am not saying that children are not sealed to their parents. They are and divorce has no impact on that. Children of divorced parents are not resealed to their father and step-mother who may be married in the temple. The same with a mother and a step-father. That initial blessing of being Born in the Covenant will always be in effect.
In church we sing the song "Families Can Be Together Forever." I remember when that song first came out. That was one of David's repertoire of Primary songs. He may not remember this, but I clearly do......him standing in front of the fireplace at my Aunt Janet's house in Salt Lake City for over an hour and singing with all his might all the songs he knew to my Grandma Blanche (Blanche Ruby Worthen) just a few months before she died. "Families Can Be Together Forever" was one of those songs along with "A Dog Named Jack." David was five at the time and I'm sure if we asked him what his concept of being together forever as a family was, he would say it was being with his Mommy and Daddy. A few years later, his understanding would mature to include his brothers, Travis (who he pushed off the slide) and Kevin. This is the same understanding that Travis and Kevin also had in their early years. But as Travis returned from his mission and married Lindsay, his understanding of an Eternal Family matured even further to include his wife. And when Jude was born that understanding of Eternal Families increased even more. Since Travis and Lindsay were married in the temple, Jude was thus Born Under the Covenant. That link between her and Travis and Lindsay will never be broken, no matter what. The same is true for Kevin and Melissa.
In the hereafter we do not know all of the details of what life will be like in the Celestial Kingdom and its three degrees. Will I live next door to Kevin and Melissa or will they ultimately have their own worlds galaxies, universes or dimensions away. Since we have been promised that we can be together if faithful, then there must be a pretty sophisticated method of travel and communication. And certainly, there will be communion with faithful step-parents. Details have yet to be revealed.
In summary, Grandpa was relieved that he was not going to be cut off from any of his grandchildren in the hereafter due to divorce. Children are not sealed to either a father or a mother. They will always be sealed to both despite the status of the parents. Even though a temple marriage sealing can be undone in this life, being born under the covenant where the child is sealed to both parents can never be undone. Take it to the bank!!!
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Here are a few more pictures of Grandma (Lois Fae Linnebach)
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| Neighborhood babysitter |
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| 1955 in front of house on 15th East in Salt Lake City. I'm 3 and Richard, who Grandma is holding is not yet 1 |
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| 1957 phot taken by the Deseret News announcing the Ramptons were moving to California. Grandma made the vests. |
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