Sealing is not a pronouncement.
It depends on at least 4 things:
1) Grace proportioned by Jesus Christ
2) Priesthood authority restored by Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith, delegated by his successors
3) Obedience to the covenant itself
4) Willingness to continue in the relationship
To make sure I have the basics down, in the LDS church, you can skip a traditional marriage and instead get sealed in a temple, thus the two will be married for eternity after you die, juxtaposed to a plain wedding / marriage (that you can still do in the LDS church) wherein you are married just for this life. Is this correct? Also do I have the nomenclature correct? EG both are marriages, both are a type of wedding.
Mostly. We're married (sealed) for time and all eternity or married for time. In the early days of the LDS Church people were sealed for eternity.
When sealed married and in the future you have children, this seals you to your children for eternity, no additional steps / sealings needed, is this correct?
Steps 3 and 4.
I know someone who married a gal who had been previously sealed to someone else, for this question I'll just be addressing the relationships in that first marriage. A. The second couple got married in a regular LDS service, thus she was still sealed to her first husband for eternity should any one of the original two die, is this correct?
Kind of. Adultery would invalidate the covenant. See #3 and #4 (the nomenclature is 'cancellation of sealing.')
EG no temple divorce is allowed after one of them die.
I think a cancellation of sealing is possible after death.
B. There was a temple divorce, due to husband #1's infidelity. If it was finalized before or after marriage #2, I don't know. Thus the first couple are no longer joined for eternity is this correct?
Kind of - see #3 and #4.
C. However while sealed to husband #1, they had adopted some kids. Did they need to get a different sealing since it was an adoption juxtaposed to a biological children, to be a family for eternity?
Great question. I don't know how that works.
Or does the first sealing at the "wedding" seal them to the adopted kids?
I'd go back to #3 and #4. The purpose of sealing (according to Brigham Young - and this is one of the most exciting things he taught) is that it creates a chain linking all mankind. Ostensibly, by the end of the millennium, we'll all be sealed to one another.
D. Does the temple divorce nullify spending eternity together for the kids with their adopted parents?
I don't think so.
Note she doesn't want anything to do with husband #1, kids in general don't want anything to do with husband #1, but are they still stuck with him for eternity, due to his right to be with his family for eternity?
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Or does it depend on if there was a second sealing for him and his adopted kids?
No.
OR just because you are sealed as a family for eternity, doesn't mean you actually have to spend eternity together. E. Can children get a "family divorce" of some sort, to separate themselves from a singular previously sealed to parent?
The sealing is conditional on obedience and willingness. It can end with one word.
F. Husband #1 while sealed to wife, had an affair and resulted in a child. Can that child at some point ask to be sealed to his/her biological parents?
Yes.
Thus would husband #1 have two co mothers for eternity?
I'm not sure.
Further would adopted kids be somehow sealed to their biologically born sibling (even if they've never met, and there is no marriage to the birth mother)?
They could be. Genealogy is awesome.
Ok same wife from question #3, onto her relationship with husband #2: A. At first they married in a LDS church wedding, plain wedding no sealings, again I don't know if temple divorce was final. (I assume it wasn't). Is this typical to allow a new marriage while still sealed to someone else?
Yes.
B. Wife's temple divorce came through at some point. Now while married to husband #2, this happy couple now decides to get sealed married. Now is husband #2 sealed to her adopted children, or is husband #1 sealed to the children for eternity?
Husband and wife are sealed to each other. Kids are sealed to 1st set of parents.
C. If second marriage / sealing does not seal husband #2 to kids, can he get a sealing to kids, or does there need to also be like a "family temple divorce" for husband #1 to kids?
Great question. I have no idea. I suspect it'll be sorted out in the millennium - which will, for many people, be 1000 yrs of dating and/or family/marriage counseling. Seriously.
D. Assuming husband #1 is still sealed to his adopted kids, and husband #2 gets sealed to the same kids by either the marriage or a sealing specifically to her adopted children. Does this mean husband #1 and #2 technically are co dads for eternity?
It depends. I have an Earthly Father and a Heavenly Father.
Thus spending eternity together via the kids regardless if wife and #2, HATE #1?
No.
Different couples now entirely: husband and wife have biological children, and are of course sealed for eternity from the beginning. The parents drift apart and get a civil divorce but are still sealed for eternity, after all there are no true bad feelings, just couldn't get along. There is no temple divorce here. A. are they still considered married in the church, but not civilly?
Yes.
Remember there is no temple divorce. B. should they reconcile, can they have sex with each other since they are still sealed and thus married for eternity?
Sex is ok if they're married civilly and in the temple.
If they're only sealed and had a civil divorce then sex is off the table.
Or no they are divorced to each other while on earth and thus immoral unless they get remarried? (I am considering this a one time hook up it has not happened)
Yep.
C. again should they reconcile and wish to be man and wife together again, would they need to get remarried, or not needed as they are still sealed? OR resealed?
That's a great question. They would need to be remarried civilly. I don't know if there are temple implications if they haven't had a sealing cancellation.
Same couple as #5, but now they are firmly not interested in each other for life. BUT still sealed for eternity and sealed to their biological children for eternity. A. Does the LDS church recognize a divorce carried out on a civil level, or does the LDS church require some sort of paperwork or ceremony or something to recognize that two people are no longer married during this lifetime?
The LDS Church recognizes civil divorces and civil remarriage but requires a cancellation of sealing to end temple marriages.
B. Are they allowed to remarry someone else in the church for life, just not allowed to get a marriage sealing because no temple divorce?
They can get remarried but they'd need a sealing cancellation prior to being sealed.
As I understand he has remarried, but I don't know if it was a civil wedding or LDS wedding. C. Lets say husband remarries someone else (wife #2) normal LDS wedding for life. This second marriage goes bad and they divorce never to see each other again in this life. He remarries to wife #3 again normal LDS wedding for life. Can this happen or is there a limit to how many times you can get married in the LDS church while ex are alive. (EG. some churches only allow like 2 marriages total for a person)
No limits.
D. Lets say husband has kids with wife #2 and wife #3. Can he get sealed to the kids? Can wife #2 and #3 get sealed to their respective kids? Does this mean Husband can be sealed to all kids for eternity and thus tied to wife #1, #2 and #3 for eternity via sealing to his kids?
Great question, I have no idea.
While I'd imagine no one knows what life is like after we die, like do we sit around on clouds playing a harp, is it one big feast, do we go around act like guardian angels to those living, no one really knows.
Mormon theology tells us two things:
1) "that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" - so we'll hang out with our loved ones, learn stuff, do meaningful things, worship, do kick flips and sweet jumps, hunt wolverines, grow food, develop your talents, make love to your spouse, clean your home, bake goods, make and enjoy art, etc.
2) we'll partner with our Father in Heaven to fulfill his purpose - which is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." I have radically different ideas about what that means at this stage of my life than I did when I was younger. Then I thought it meant something like I would live on a planet made of ice cream with a colorful candy crust. Now I think it means I'll use the talents I have now and the ones I hope to develop to help other people and to receive help from other people as we work to make something meaningful from our lives and existence that transcends how we currently see space/time. And I'll do it working with my faithful ancestors and descendants.