Elijah restored the sealing keys

I felt like sharing this here. I was reading from the Joseph Smith manual just now, “Chapter 26: Elijah and the Restoration of the Sealing Keys,” and came across the following passage:

"It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?"

I know it refers specifically to baptism for the dead, but as I read it I thought of priesthood power in general and what a bold doctrine that is. It brought to mind an experience my great-grandmother Clara Worlton had as a young girl. It's an experience that always makes me feel a little emotional.

Clara, born in 1898, was raised in Salem, Idaho, near Sugar City, just north of Rexburg. Early farmers in the area found that sugar beets grew well in the sandy soil, and Sugar City was incorporated in 1903 to support a sugar factory, which was the focal point of the new city.

Near the end of 1908 the schools at Salem and Sugar city were combined, and children from Salem now walked a mile and a half or so to the schoolhouse in Sugar, which was just west of the railroad tracks. Clara and others often walked to and from school on the railroad tracks because they were dry even though they had to skirt around beet cars, which were left on the track when not in use.

On April 26, 1911, just a few weeks before her thirteenth birthday, Clara and others were walking home from school on the tracks, and they decided to have a ride on one of the beet cars.They all pushed, and after the car got moving, Clara slipped and fell under the wheel. The heavy car crushed much of her body as it rolled over her.

Two men working nearby removed the unconscious girl from under the car, and neighborhood women drove her broken little body home in a bumpy, one-seated horsedrawn buggy. The local doctor hurried over, but after examining the damage said there was no hope for poor Clara. She couldn’t possibly live until morning. Nevertheless, he did set a few of the broken bones. The others were mashed so badly he thought it a waste of time to try, as she would not live.

Clara did regain consciousness that day, and when she did, she immediately asked for the elders (her father had died when she was six, so there was no priesthood holder living in the home). Two worthy men blessed her and promised she would be made well in every way. When the doctor came the next morning, he could not believe she was still alive. Even so, he didn't expect her to live much longer and said that even if she did, she would never walk again and would always be an invalid. Her foot and hand were mashed so badly that none of the bones in either were ever set. The ligaments of her knee were torn, and the knee cap was out of place. Her leg was broken twice above the knee, her arm just above the wrist.

Within three days her leg had turned black, the mutilated flesh detaching from the splintered bone. The doctor said it would have to be amputated at the hip, but Clara’s mother said, “No, wait a little longer.” She remembered the elders' promise. The doctor acquiesced, and someone holding the priesthood stayed with Clara at night to help her rest better. A thin layer of skin was all that covered the the hip joint, causing a new wound where the bone rubbed the skin. This wound was dressed every day by the doctor, who, in doing so, had to move her broken leg repeatedly, a leg which never had a splint.

Three weeks after the accident Clara was lifted to her feet so the doctor could move her leg and see if her knee cap would have to be wired to keep it in place. It turned out to not be necessary, although it took years for the knee to get strong enough that she wouldn’t fall if she didn’t hold it in a certain position.

Clara's family and ward members prayed often for her, prayers and faith that brought much help and miraculous recovery. Over the next year when the pain would get so bad, Clara's mother would call the elders for a blessing, and each time she was blessed she received almost instant relief. Despite the pain and difficultly of recovery, progress was constant. On the fifth of July, just three months after the accident, Clara walked with crutches and went to Parker for a celebration. By September she walked a mile and a half to school and then home again without even a cane. The doctor admitted that a higher power than his had helped her heal.

The elders' promise was fulfilled. In time she could walk and run like everyone else, and one of her favorite things to do a few years later when she started dating her soon-to-be husband was to dance. They attended every high school dance and many at Ricks Academy. And despite the crushed hand, Clara developed an expert ability to sew, making beautifully embroidered pillowcases, dresser scarves, doilies, and baby clothes requiring fine crocheting and tatting. She even made her own wedding dress.

I never met my great-grandmother Clara, and neither did my mother. Clara died in 1943 at the age of 45 due to an infection. However, the 32 years of life she was given between the beet car accident and the time of her death allowed her to marry, bring eight children into the world, and teach them gospel truths. Especially strong was her faith in the healing power of the priesthood. That faith has been passed on to my grandmother, my mother, and me. I hope to pass it on to my own children.

Elijah came to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. While Clara was a faithful member of the Church who didn't need me to do ordinance work for her in the temple, I still feel that my heart has been turned to her. I'm grateful for the sealing power, and I look forward to the day I can meet and talk with her.