As he spoke at the conclusion of April 2026 general conference, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Dallin H. Oaks, testified of the gospel truths taught over the previous two days.
Among the topics he mentioned was marriage, saying, “We have been reminded of the central role of marriage and families in our Heavenly Father’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”
Sunday morning, when speaking about the Savior’s Resurrection, President Oaks said that belief in resurrection “encourages us to fulfill our family responsibilities in mortality. It helps us live together in love in this life in anticipation of joyful reunions and associations in the next.”
The sealing power
In the Sunday afternoon session, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about the sealing power.
“The sealing ordinances are effective after this life and in the eternities — to seal husbands and wives, parents and children. Without these keys, there are no eternal families and the “whole earth would be utterly wasted” (Doctrine and Covenants 2:3).
When escorting leaders of other faiths through an open house of a temple in Utah, Elder Cook said, the late President Jeffrey R. Holland was overcome with emotion when they entered a sealing room.
“In a very spiritually powerful way, he explained that Elijah indeed had come and restored the sacred keys that allow the eternal sealing of husbands and wives and their families. He explained that the sealing room, where we were assembled, is a place where the restored keys are exercised,” Elder Cook said.
‘Eternal marriage is an eternal journey’
In the Sunday afternoon session, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about eternal marriage.
“In much of the world, confidence in the lasting nature of marriage is eroding,” he said. “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.”
Elder Andersen taught that every true disciple of Jesus Christ, if it is their desire, will be eternally sealed to a righteous companion of their choosing throughout eternity, whether in this life or the next.
He explained that there are situations where divorce should be considered, but the cautions are significant.
“Eternal marriage is an eternal journey,” Elder Andersen explained. And he promised that God would provide the strength for that journey.
Returning and receiving blessings
Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared examples in the Saturday morning session of people who have joined the Church or returned to Church activity and received the blessings of being sealed to their families in the house of the Lord.
He also spoke to those who feel they don’t belong. He shared the story of a woman who had left her faith 30 years earlier and eventually mustered the courage to attend a temple open house.
“As beautiful as the visit was, Tammy later confided to me, ‘All I could see was an experience I would never have. No sealing and no endowment,’” Elder Gilbert recounted.
Then an inspired bishop sent a note inviting her back to church. “The Lord brought her home and restored her to His light, love and joy.”
In his Sunday afternoon message, Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, General Authority Seventy, spoke to families yet to be sealed in the house of the Lord, to those who are not members of the Church and to those who have spouses who are not Church members, saying, “You are essential to God’s plan.”
Elder Wakolo’s wife waited eight years for him to be baptized and sealed to her in the temple. He said to remember that “the Lord honors patient faith. And it is never too late for miracles.”
Promises from a temple sealing
After four children died early in their marriage, Elder Thierry K. Mutombo, General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Nathalie Mutombo, were told by their extended family in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that tradition required that they should separate.
After praying for strength, Elder Mutombo told those gathered that the Savior would help him and Sister Mutombo build an eternal family together.
“I remembered the words of our temple sealing and the promises made to God and to each other,” he said. “I felt great peace and reassurance that Nathalie and I are a daughter and a son of a loving and caring Heavenly Father.”
