The doctrine of baptism for the dead is one of the ways we are welded together with our ancestors. Doctrine and Covenants 125–128 contains letters from Joseph Smith to the saints where his mind was on this eternal topic. And the people of the church reacted immediately to participate with gladness in this ordinance.
Segment 1
Scriptures:
D&C 127:6 (Witness and record)
D&C 128:18 (Welding link to our dead)
Hymn:
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.
(“Have I Done Any Good”, Hymns #223)
Translations:
Perfect - teleios = Complete or whole (Hebrew)
Segment 2
Scriptures:
D&C 126:1-3 (Take care of your family)
Study Helps:
Only a Stonecutter (Church Media Library, Story of John Rowe Moyle)
Mary Ann Angell met Brigham Young in Kirtland in 1833. Baptized in 1832, Mary Ann was an early convert to the Book of Mormon. She testified that “the Spirit bore witness to her … of the truth of its origin, so strongly that she could never afterwards doubt it.”1 She soon set out for Kirtland, arriving in the spring of 1833…
Many times she crossed the river “to obtain the barest necessaries of life,” sometimes “in storms that would have frightened women of ordinary courage.” (“Take Special Care of Your Family”, Revelations in Context D&C 118,126)
Segment 3
Scriptures:
D&C 127:2 (Judge ye for yourselves)
D&C 127:11 (The enemy has nothing on us)
Segment 4
Scriptures:
D&C 127:5-8 (Baptism for your dead)
D&C 128:1 (Joseph’s thoughts remained on baptism)
1 Corinthians 15:29 (Paul referencing baptism for the dead)
Artwork:
First Baptism for the Dead by Anthony Sweat
Words of the General Authorities:
I first mentioned the doctrine [baptism for the dead] in public while preaching the funeral sermon of Bro [Seymour] Brunson, and have since then given general instructions to the Church on the subject. The saints have the privilege of being baptized for those of their relatives who are dead, who they feel to believe would have embraced the gospel if they had been privileged with hearing it. (Joseph Smith, Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 December 1840, Joseph Smith Papers)
Study Helps:
On August 15, 1840, shortly after the Saints moved to the future site of Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith preached a sermon at the funeral of Church member Seymour Brunson. Noticing a woman in attendance who had lost her son before he could be baptized, Joseph revealed that the Saints “could now act for their friends who had departed this life” by being baptized in their behalf. He cited the ancient Apostle Paul’s teachings regarding baptism for the dead and encouraged the Saints to rejoice “that the plan of salvation was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements of the law of God.” (Baptism for the Dead, Church History Topics)
Segment 5
Scriptures:
D&C 128:5 (The plan for the salvation of the dead)
D&C 128:15-18 (Complete with our ancestors)
Malachi 4:5-6 (Hearts of the fathers)
D&C 128:19 (Voice of gladness!)
Segment 6
Scriptures:
D&C 128:22 (Prisoners shall go free)
D&C 128:24 (Offering in righteousness)
D&C 13:1 (Restoration of Aaronic Priesthood)
Genesis 29:34 (Jacob’s son Levi)
Translations:
Levi = to be joined or attached (Hebrew)
Quotes:
Those on the other side of the veil are very much alive, and not all that cheerful about being called “dead” [and] they are eager—no, actually they are desperate—to make covenants with God, and to receive their essential ordinances by proxy, and to be freed from spirit prison! (Wendy Watson Nelson, “…My soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord”, delivered on April 30, 2015 at BYU Women’s Conference)
View transcript here.