I’m glad you like the blog. I enjoy getting e-mails from people with their comments and even some of their insights. I hope that this blog might help others see the gospel in a clearer light. I love the gospel and I believe that the most profound doctrines and principles you can study are actually the most basic, such as faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism. If you have any personal insights, please feel free to share them. Thank you kindly. Paul

I believe that Malachi was very literal on what he meant by the earth being smitten by a curse if Elijah was not to return.

Let me answer the second question first:
The sealing powers are not necessary to perform all ordinances but it is essential for exaltation. Baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost are important but they relate to the gospel of Jesus Christ which is to save all mankind from death and hell.

Without the sealing power and the power to unite families forever, none of God’s children would ever be able to return to His presence and receive the glory that He intended us to have. That’s the important thing. God’s entire plan was for us, His children, to become like Him and without the sealing power the plan could not be fulfilled. Therefore a curse would come upon the inhabitants of earth for they would never be able to reach their full potential.

As for the first question, Joseph Smith explained that our salvation and exaltation and that of our ancestors was connected and that we cannot fulfill our full potential without them neither can they without us. I believe that genealogy must be done linking each family back to Adam and providing a chance for every person ever to live to have the chance of hearing the gospel.

For me, that makes more sense in relation to what Heavenly Father has in store for His children. He loves each of us very much, and He wants us to be able to be happy and live with those we love for eternity. Thus, Elijah’s coming and restoring the sealing keys, like you talked about, makes it possible for us to have eternal marriage, eternal families, and the capacity to be with those we love most for time and all eternity. Trying to imagine the earth without that…well, it makes it seem like a pretty cursed place to me. The sealing ordinances are what make living imperfectly in this imperfect world all worthwhile, to me. They make it worth striving to become better and make my relationships have the potential to last forever.

As for your second question, I have some really interesting thoughts about that one, but my “answer” for it is significantly more speculative. It’s not confirmed by anything that I know of, so I’d prefer not to post it on the Internet without some kind of concrete authority to back it up. If you’d like to know what I think, grab me before or after class sometime and I’ll tell you my thoughts. I’d love to hear yours as well. Thanks for asking such interesting, thought-provoking questions! And I apologize that my answer is rather long. I just had a lot of thoughts, I suppose. What wonderful things to think about. Thanks.

Great questions! I’ll attempt to add a little to your second question. First of all, I don’t think the sealing power is necessarily connected to other ordinances, such as baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, etc. If it were true, then only sealers could do all of those things. The Holy Spirit of Promise is what ratifies and seals those ordinances. Moreover, the Kirtland temple wasn’t dedicated until 1836. Many baptisms, confirmations, and ordinations had been done in the Church previous to that, and I don’t think it was necessary to do them all over again. I’m pretty sure that the sealing power that Elijah restored is only utilized when the sealing ordinance of marriage and proxy work for sealing families are performed. Of course I’m no gospel scholar, but this is what I understand the doctrine to be. I’m sure Dr. H would know exactly how to answer those questions!

Benjamin Tingey