Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Thirty-One
Keys that Open the Heavens for Eternal Families and for Rain
The use of the keys of the sealing power – There are men in every temple who hold the sealing power, but only the Prophet, the senior apostle on the earth, can exercise the priesthood keys and direct how they are used. The most important and common way the sealing keys are used is to authorize sealing of families, both living and dead, in all temples throughout the earth.
In the scriptures there is another use of the sealing power and keys – “Elijah held the keys of the sealing power in ancient Israel (D&C 27:9), as did Nephi the son of Helaman among the Nephites (Helaman 10:4-10)” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 412). Elijah sealed the heaven with no rain for three- and one-half years. The head note to Helaman 10 states: “The Lord gives Nephi the sealing power.” The Book of Mormon account in Helaman 10 continues:
“Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou has not feared them, and has not sought thine own life but has sought my will and to keep my commandments.
“And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and indeed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
"Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people" (Helaman 10:4,5,7).
Like Elijah and Nephi our living prophet holds and uses the keys of the sealing power (See D&C 110:13-16) What the Lord said about Nephi he could say about all of his latter-day prophets who have served for decades as apostles with “unwearyingness”.
In our dispensation the power of all previous dispensations has again been revealed (see D&C 112:31-32). I believe that if circumstances required it, like Nephi, the Lord would give His prophet “power among this people” as set forth in Helaman 10:7-10. This would include power to open and close the heavens with rain as set forth in Helaman 11. For certainly his prophet will “not ask that which is contrary to [the Lord’s] will” (Helaman 10:5).
We know that President Lorenzo Snow promised the saints in St George that if they repented and paid a full tithing it would rain. Like the people at Nephi's time, they repented, and it rained. (See Helaman 11:1-18) In the western United States we are in an extreme drought. In the small farming community of Oakley, Utah we have good and righteous friends who are hard working farmers. They have testified to me that the Lord opens the heavens for rain just at the right time so they can good harvest. This is a common pattern that takes place throughout the earth. President Nelson prays for rain, and he has asked members of the Church to do the same. I believe that the keys of the sealing power that President Nelson holds has an important role in this, and that the Lord honors these keys today as He did with Elijah in the Old Testament, with Nephi in the Book of Mormon, and with President Snow in St George.
Testimony - The power to control the elements is remarkable, but it is not as important as the power to create eternal families. The sealing power is used to create eternal families in temples throughout the earth almost every day. Even though this is commonplace, we should always remember that creating eternal families is the primary reason that the keys of the sealing power are on the earth today. Furthermore, we know that eternal families are an essential part of eternal life, which “is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (1 Nephi 15:36).