Arlo Mansor, a southern Utah miner, believed in the Church.
But he felt encased by bad habits and was never active. When his home teachers stopped by to visit, he was fond of telling them that someday, when he could change his habits, he'd get active in the Church and go to the temple.In his sincerity, he encouraged his parents to change their lives and be sealed in the temple.
In the meantime, his wife, Vera, continued to hope and work. She took their four children to Church and taught them about temple marriage.
"The children were never any trouble to raise," she recalled in a recent interview. "I always had high hopes for them."
The family moved to Weiser, Idaho, where Brother Mansor worked in a mercury mine. But he never made it to the temple. He died in 1978, still wanting to be sealed to his wife and children. And, as the children grew up, only one, Beverly, remained active in the Church. Her husband, Devere Wilkins, was not active.
After her husband died, Sister Mansor became involved in temple work. She frequently traveled to the Idaho Falls Temple to do ordinance work. She was sealed to her husband and also had his parents sealed to each other and to him.
Then, a few years later, the family's temple line was extended. In 1987, Beverly's husband, Devere Wilkins, experienced a change of heart and began to explore the gospel.
Later, Devere and Beverly Wilkins and Sister Mansor's son Jerry and his wife, Helen, begin taking temple preparation lessons from Evern Youngberg, a temple sealer.
In 1991, family and friends gathered for the rich experience of witnessing Devere and Beverly Wilkins and Jerry and Helen Mansor sealed in a double ceremony in the Idaho Falls Temple.
Seated with the group was Sister Mansor, the miner's wife. Temple Pres. Lloyd Hamilton asked her to share her feelings.
"I knew I couldn't speak without crying," she said. "There was a feeling there that I can't describe. I don't remember what I said, I was so taken. I felt like it was the fulfilling of what I had taught them all their lives. It was one of the happiest days of my life."
