In the Eternities

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)

Neighborhood babysitter



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





1957 phot taken by the Deseret News announcing the Ramptons were moving to California.  Grandma made the vests.



Resemblances

How often have we heard someone say, "She looks like her mother, or he looks like his grandfather?"  Just last week my daughter-in-law, Melissa, stated that my granddaughter, Jude, looks like a certain relative.  With that in mind, I ask each of you, particularly my sons, nieces and nephews:  "Who do you look like?"  Below are some early photos of your ancestors (although it seems a little strange that I am someone's ancestor.....I'm not even 60 years old.)



Charles Cash Rampton at 16 months

 

Blanche Worthen age 1





Lois Fae Linnebach age 1





Charles Cash Rampton Jr. age 3





Charles Cash Rampton III age 1



Richard Arthur Rampton age 1



Roger Lee Rampton age 1



James Glen Rampton age 1



Below is a picture of Travis when he was about 1 year old.  Compare that to Grandma Lois's (Lois Fae Linnebach) baby picture.  I think there is a resemblance.  When I look at a picture of my niece, Angie, I see a striking resemblance to my Grandma Blanche (Blanche Ruby Worthen.)   


Blanche Ruby Worthen early 20's



Is this all just genetics or is it something more?  I don't know.  In addition to passing on those dominant and recessive genes to us, were we acquainted in our pre-mortal existence?  Were we friends?  I am confident we knew each other there.  Some patriarchal blessings state that a person was able to choose their parents there.  Mine does.

In addition to having physical traits passed down to us by our ancestors, I can make a case that behavioral traits can also be inherited.  Here are three examples (not all good):

My Mom's father, Grandpa Joe Bush (I don't know why we called him that.....his real name was Arthur Phillip Linnebach....everyone called him Art) was an avid lover of birds.  Family lore has it that he raised fighting roosters in his early days.  When I was young I remember his many parakeets, parrots and cockatoos.  But later in his life he began to specialize in the breeding and raising of rare pheasants.  Below is a copy of a sheet of his stationary listing his many pheasants.

He was a member of the Avicultural Hall of Fame.  Many of you know that I enjoy photographing birds and have traveled to many places to get a good shot.  Check out my Flickr.com page to see some of them.  Grandpa Joe Bush died in 1969.  Had I only had my present interest then, and a good camera (not my Kodak Instamatic), think of the great photos I could have taken in his back yard in Sandy, Utah.  My brother Richard, seems to have inherited a greater portion of Grandpa Joe Bush's love of birds.  For over 15 years he has bred and raised African Gray Parrots at his home in Phoenix, AZ.  By the way, Richard's middle name is Arthur.  His love of birds..........just a coincidence?   

Example Two:  My Dad, Charles Cash Rampton, Jr. used to tell us a story about our Grandpa Cash, his father (Charles Cash Rampton.)  I've never been able to verify this, but according to Dad, Grandpa Cash was expelled from the University of Utah.  Seems that one day he was leaning out the second story window of the science building holding an eye dropper full of nitro glycerin (liquid TNT).  When a coed would walk by he would squeeze out a drop that would fall to the sidewalk below and explode, scaring the young woman.  Great fun, right, but university officials frowned on such activities and booted him from school.  So, he went to work for Walker Bank and retired a Senior Vice-president.  This love of explosives seems to have passed on to Dad.  To this day, he delights in telling the story of a summer job he had as a teenager in central Utah as a surveyor for the State of Utah.  He and the guys he worked with were responsible for checking out how much ore was brought out of certain mines so proper taxes could be assessed.  One day they were working in a canyon where a road was being built.  That evening the miners and road crew had all gone home, leaving behind their tools, bulldozer and a box of dynamite.  The surveyors were still there since they did much of their work once the miners went home.  Imagine their surprise when they found the unguarded box of dynamite.  And they just happened to have a 22 caliber rifle.  They started out placing single sticks of dynamite on rocks and shooting at them.  The explosion they made was exciting but soon got old.  Then someone, and Dad never said who, had the bright idea to place the whole box of dynamite under the bulldozer, shoot it and see how high up the bulldozer would fly.  Well, that's exactly what they did,  the bulldozer flew about 10 feet in the air and landed upside down and then slid down into the creek.  Needless to say, they didn't go back to that job site the next morning.  Like father,  like son.  But the affinity for explosives does not end there.  My son, David, is as good a young man as there is......Eagle Scout,  4 years of seminary, assistant to the president when serving his mission in Brazil, college graduate, etc.  But,  all that notwithstanding, he has been in trouble with the law twice in his life, both times for illegally discharging fireworks and other related items.  I will spare you the details, you can ask him if you would like, but I hear tell that if you place a quarter stick of dynamite under a trash barrel and light it, the barrel shoots pretty high in the air and makes a noise like a gun shot.  Three generations of  TNT fanatics.  Coincidence or something more?

Last example:  According to the autobiography of my great, great grandfather, John Worthen, he joined the church in England after his mother gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read while he was recovering from an ankle injury (seems he was run over by a cannon.)  He and his family immigrated (or emigrated, not sure which is appropriate) to the United States, arrived in Nauvoo, worked on the temple, was driven out by the mob and prepared to move west.  John and his family had no money for an outfit and would probably have to go by handcart.  But, the last sentence of his autobiography states:  "Played a game of Yewker with the Gentiles until I made a fit out."  Yewker is a card game similar to poker and his winnings allowed him to purchase a wagon and oxen. Well, John Worthen is not the only gambler in family.  One of my weaknesses is playing the California Lottery.  Every time the jackpot gets over 50 million dollars, I will buy a ticket.  I am yet to win, but I use the example of John Worthen to justify my indiscretion.  Coincidence, or just two guys hoping to get lucky, one who did and the other who did not.....yet?  Decide for yourself. 

If you know of other similarities, either physical or behavioral, with your ancestors,  feel free to share in the comments box.



Travis Michael Rampton age 1