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Eternal Marriage Is an Eternal Journey
April 2026 general conference
11:42

Eternal Marriage Is an Eternal Journey

By Elder Neil L. Andersen

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We believe in eternal marriage, we teach of eternal marriage, and we seek an eternal marriage.

Following the Savior’s incomparable love and sacrifice offered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, His lifeless body was securely sealed in a borrowed tomb. But the tomb could not contain the divine Son of God. “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” the angels declared. “He is not here, but is risen.”

Because of our Savior’s victory over death and sin, we will praise His name forever.

Jesus Christ brought other immeasurable blessings. He said to His Apostle Peter, “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” The sacred sealing power has been restored to the earth and is found today in His dedicated temples. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “If nothing else came out of all of the sorrow and travail and pain of the restoration than the sealing power of the holy priesthood to bind together families forever, it would have been worth all that it has cost.”

Kneeling at the Altar

In my 74 years, there are only a few experiences where nearly every emotion and feeling are solidly cemented in my conscious mind. One of the most poignant is as I knelt across the altar from Kathy in a holy temple of God. The hopes, the dreams, the love we shared all burst in a kaleidoscope of anticipation as we heard those unforgettable words: “for time and for all eternity.”

To you in this vast worldwide congregation who lovingly remember that day in your life, I speak especially to you.

At that moment, kneeling across the altar, we have a growing realization of the depth of our commitment to God and to each other. The sacred ordinance binds us together with our eternal companion and with God. We solemnly vow to keep the covenants, and the Lord promises us, as we are faithful, unspeakable blessings in mortality and beyond, including thrones, powers, and dominions in the eternal world.

Refining Our Nature

Our even greater hope, however, is a desire to refine our very nature, to become more like our Savior, allowing us one day to live with Him. Within our sacred marriage, bound to God and to each other, we find ourselves in a crucible of spiritual development where vital qualities—sacrifice, charity, patience, and being a peacemaker, as President Dallin H. Oaks spoke of this morning, the very character of Christ, as President D. Todd Christofferson said—can become a greater part of us.

As we increase our love for the Savior, our love for each other grows. Like our own discipleship, our eternal marriage is not a short-term experiment but a journey, an eternal journey of becoming who God desires us to become.

In much of the world, confidence in the lasting nature of marriage is eroding. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, we proclaim that “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.” We believe in eternal marriage, we teach of eternal marriage, and we seek an eternal marriage.

Preparing for the Covenants

We anticipate our marriage with faith and confidence because we conscientiously prepare for the covenants we make in the house of the Lord. In our youth, we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and keep His commandments, including the law of chastity, a law so many in the world have set aside. We take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

But even with our preparation, we of course each have weaknesses, and we realize that our lives will require more unselfishness, more repentance, and more forgiveness. Kathy and I had engraved on the paper napkins for our wedding reception these words of William Shakespeare: “Love is not love [that] alters when it alteration finds.” In those first months as she got to know me better, I kept the leftover napkins all around our apartment.

While embracing the happiness and sorrows of life’s experiences, we etch our covenants indelibly upon our souls, and we keep our eyes focused heavenward, toward the glorious destination awaiting us. We know the divine attributes we seek will not all be perfected in this life. Eternal marriage is an eternal journey.

Relying on the Holy Ghost

We profoundly need the gift of the Holy Ghost in our personal lives and in our marriage. As has already been quoted in this conference, President Dallin H. Oaks recently said: “The adversary has become so effective at disguising truth that if you don’t have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived. Many obstacles lie ahead. The distractions will be many.”

One of the deceptions of the world is to discount the sacred importance and the actual power of the sealing ordinance. Keep your hope in each other and in Jesus Christ. His promises can see us through the obstacles and distractions.

There are times in our marriage that require a stellar dose of patience.

On our 25th wedding anniversary, Kathy and I were in Philadelphia speaking to missionaries. I received a call from President Boyd K. Packer of the Twelve. At the end of our conversation, I commented, “President Packer, today is our 25th wedding anniversary. Don’t you think that is a great accomplishment?” Without pausing, he responded, “It is for Kathy!” With your hope and faith in Christ, allow the Lord to expand your spiritual gifts of understanding and patience.

In speaking about eternal marriage, let me mention two other issues.

First, every true disciple of Jesus Christ, if it is his or her desire, will be eternally sealed to a righteous companion of his or her choosing throughout eternity, whether in this life or the next.

Second, the question is asked, “Are there situations where divorce should be considered?” The answer is yes, there are, but the cautions are significant. I will include prophetic teachings on this subject in the published version of my message.

Caring for Each Other

Fifty years ago, Kathy and I met an impressive couple who had also been recently married in the house of the Lord. Life was promising. They had children. She was talented and full of faith. His work prospered. They kept their covenants.

Unexpectedly, the young woman developed serious health issues.

Their son recently shared these reflections with me:

“In my younger years, my sweet mom went through crushing periods of severe depression, bringing extended periods of difficulty in taking care of even her own needs. It was a new reality for both of my parents. Life would be different than they had anticipated.

“My dad had never experienced mental illness and sought the help of his Heavenly Father. I can’t count the number of times I walked in on him while on his knees, or the number of Sundays he was quietly fasting again. He served my mother—and served us—with incredible love, patience, and humility. He sought the influence of the Holy Ghost, hoping to love, act, and react as the Savior would.

“My mother was the love of his life. These seasons would be but a small moment. They were bound to one another forever. As they remained faithful, they would spend eternity together in health and happiness. That promise gave him a perfect brightness of hope.

“While many times my mother felt that her challenges created a burden for my dad, he saw it differently. He loved serving this incredible, precious daughter of God.

“As my mom bravely—and miraculously—overcame many of her health struggles, they experienced light and joy together: as a couple and as parents and grandparents.

“Later, in her 60s, she faced an entirely different set of trials, including breast cancer and neurological issues that impacted her ability to walk. Once again, she and my dad doubled down on their commitment to each other and their covenants with the Lord.

“They did it together through the final day of her mortal journey.”

Eternal marriage is an eternal journey.

Receiving the Strength

Who gives you the strength to hold tightly to each other and complete the mortal part of this eternal journey?

“The everlasting God, … the Creator of the ends of the earth,” He who rose on the third day, “[He] fainteth not, neither is [He] weary. …

“He giveth power [when you are] faint; and [when you] have no might [He] increaseth [your] strength. …

“[And together, as you] wait upon the Lord … [you] shall mount up with wings as eagles; [together, you] shall run, and not be weary; and … walk, and not faint.”

I solemnly testify of this sacred promise in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

  1. Luke 24:5–6.

  2. Matthew 16:19.

  3. Gordon B. Hinckley, “As One Who Loves the Prophet,” in Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man (1993), 6.

  4. See Doctrine and Covenants 132:19. President Russell M. Nelson said: “We need not be dismayed if our earnest efforts toward perfection now seem so arduous and endless. Perfection is pending. It can come in full only after the Resurrection and only through the Lord. It awaits all who love him and keep his commandments. It includes thrones, kingdoms, principalities, powers, and dominions. It is the end for which we are to endure. It is the eternal perfection that God has in store for each of us” (“Perfection Pending,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 88, emphasis added; see also John Taylor, The Mediation and Atonement [1882], 139–41).

  5. See Brian J. Willoughby, The Millennial Marriage (2021), 14–16.

  6. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Gospel Library.

  7. For an explanation of the conditions and blessings associated with the covenant of eternal marriage, see “Temple Sealing,” in General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3.5.3.5:

    “In the sealing ordinance, a man and a woman make a covenant with God and with each other. They covenant and promise to receive one another as husband and wife, counsel and labor together in love and righteousness, and fulfill their divinely appointed roles as husband and wife and as father and mother.

    “A man and woman who are faithful to this covenant are joined together as husband and wife for all eternity. The couple has sealed upon them … all the blessings of God’s everlasting covenant, the highest of which is exaltation with eternal posterity (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:19–20; see also 66:2; 131:1–4; and 27.3 and 38.4 in this handbook).”

  8. William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116, lines 2–3.

  9. See Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending,” 86–88.

  10. Dallin H. Oaks, “Coming Closer to Jesus Christ” (Brigham Young University devotional, Feb. 10, 2026), 2, speeches.byu.edu.

  11. “If you can, by faithfulness in this life, obtain the right to come up in the morning of the resurrection, you need entertain no fears that the wife will be dissatisfied with her husband, or the husband with the wife; for those of the first resurrection will be free from sin and from the consequences and power of sin” (Brigham Young, “Remarks,” Deseret News, Dec. 3, 1862, 178).

  12. “When a couple are married in the temple, they should try to live in peace and harmony, and if both are faithful members of the Church, this should not be impossible. Young people should try to tolerate each other’s weaknesses and overcome them. If they live worthy of exaltation, they will enter the celestial kingdom without the frailties and weaknesses of mortality and will be perfect” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie [1955], 2:84).

  13. President Dallin H. Oaks said: “We know that many worthy and wonderful Latter-day Saints currently lack the ideal opportunities and essential requirements for their progress. Singleness, childlessness, death, and divorce frustrate ideals and postpone the fulfillment of promised blessings. … But these frustrations are only temporary. The Lord has promised that in the eternities no blessing will be denied his sons and daughters who keep the commandments, are true to their covenants, and desire what is right” (“The Great Plan of Happiness,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 75). A righteous companion will be the choice of both the woman and the man and approved by the Lord.

  14. President Dallin H. Oaks said: “We know that many of you are innocent victims—members whose former spouses persistently betrayed sacred covenants or abandoned or refused to perform marriage responsibilities for an extended period. Members who have experienced such abuse have firsthand knowledge of circumstances worse than divorce” (“Divorce,” Liahona, May 2007, 70–71).

    President James E. Faust said, “In my opinion, ‘just cause’ [for divorce] should be nothing less serious than a prolonged and apparently irredeemable relationship which is destructive of a person’s dignity as a human being” (“Father, Come Home,” Ensign, May 1993, 36).

  15. Personal correspondence, Feb. 3, 2026.

  16. Isaiah 40:28–29, 31; emphasis added.