the sealing authority

Gordon B. Kinckley: I never confer the sealing authority upon a man that I do not think of the wonder of it all. Endowed with the keys of the holy priesthood and all of the powers of that priesthood, we confer the only authority on the face of the earth which reaches into the world beyond. No king, no president of a nation, no official of any entity in the world of which we are a part has any authority over matters beyond the grave. Everyone is helpless before the reach of death, but the humblest, good, righteous high priest who has received the sealing authority may bind in the heavens that which is bound on the earth. There is nothing else like it.

(Temple Presidents Seminar, August 22, 1996, quoted in
book: "Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley," 1997, p. 639)