A woman can be sealed to multiple men

[_DarkHelmet]

I recently watched the LDS film 17 Miracles. It was your typical LDS cheesefest. But one storyline was interesting. A young couple, Sarah Franks and George Paddley, were engaged to be married and planned to marry in the temple when they reached Zion. George Paddley died during the trek. At the end of the movie it said Sarah married and had several kids and lived a long and faithful life. I decided to google her and read more about her life. I found a web page about her and this part was interesting:

She [Sarah Franks] was taken to the home of Thomas Mackey where she was nursed back to health. She eventually became the third plural wife of Thomas Mackey. She raised a wonderful family and was an obedient and faithful member of the church for the rest of her life.
That was the end of the story for almost 138 years until one day President Lorimer and his counselors of the Riverton Stake had a special visitor. President James E. Faust visited Martin’s Cove and was told the story of Sarah and George. Tears rolled down President Faust’s cheeks as he listened to their story, they just wouldn’t stop. Finally he asked, “Did you seal Sarah Anne Franks to George Paddley?” The said no, they couldn’t. She had been sealed to Thomas Mackey. She had children with him and they were sealed to her. President Faust said, “You go back to the Logan Temple and seal Sarah Anne Franks to George Paddley. You give her a choice.” At that time, this kind of thing could not be done without special permission from the 1st Presidency. A woman could only be sealed to one man. It has been changed since then for certain situations. They went back and she is now sealed to both men. We don’t know how this will all work out in the eternities. President Lorimer said that he knows that Sarah Anne Franks loves George Paddley and that he loves her and her children. He knows that the only reason they were not sealed for eternity was because George gave his life to save the lives of other people in his company.

http://lakemeadtrek.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... ddley.html

Of course the movie never said she became a plural wife in Utah. I find it interesting that Faust would so easily allow this exception. Why does Sarah Franks get a choice but not other women in similar situations? How does the choice work? She has to choose between the man who was her husband for decades and fathered her children, or the man who she was supposed to marry but died crossing the plains. How does a woman make that choice?

[_Fence Sitter]

That movie should have been named "17 Really Bad Decisions".

[_Madison54]

How does the choice work? She has to choose between the man who was her husband for decades and fathered her children, or the man who she was supposed to marry but died crossing the plains.

It doesn't work. Not when there are children involved and not if you try to make any logical sense out of it. If she chooses to be sealed to the man who isn't the father of her children, are the kids still sealed to her? If so, are they still sealed to their father too or the man she's now sealed to? What a mess.

When I was divorced this whole issue was agonizing for me. My SP reassured me that my kids would remain sealed to me (as long as I stayed worthy) and that the kids always stayed sealed to their mother. Well, guess what? My ex's SP told him they'd remain with him and that the kids always remain with their father. In other words....no one knows what the H-LL is going on.

None of it makes sense and luckily now I don't care because I no longer believe any of it.

[_Maureen]

...Why does Sarah Franks get a choice but not other women in similar situations? How does the choice work? She has to choose between the man who was her husband for decades and fathered her children, or the man who she was supposed to marry but died crossing the plains. How does a woman make that choice?

Actually the LDS church has had a policy for many years now, where a woman who is deceased can be sealed by proxy to all the husbands she had been married to in life; and of course all her husbands would have to be deceased also. The question is, would members of the families do it; especially when this meant that your mother (grandmother) could now be sealed to your step-father (step-grandfather) also?

M.