**All Must Be Saved.** Temple work rests on the principle of the Great Plan that all must be saved, or at least given the opportunity of salvation. Persons who have been unable to accept the Gospel ordinances on earth, are not necessarily denied the privileges of membership in the Church or refused the blessings which come to those who accept the truth. For such dead persons vicarious work must be done in all the essential ordinances of the Church. Vicarious work is not new, for it has been practiced in various forms from the first day. In common daily life, a man is given authority to do official work for another, when a "power of attorney" is conferred. The work of Jesus Christ was essentially vicarious, for he atoned for the act of Adam.
**Earthly Ordinances.** Great, eternal truths make up the Gospel plan. All regulations for man's earthly guidance have their eternal spiritual counterparts. The earthly ordinances of the Gospel are themselves the reflections of heavenly ordinances. For instance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and temple work are really earthly symbols of realities that prevail throughout the universe; but, they are symbols of truths that must be recognized if the Great Plan is to be fulfilled. The acceptance of these earthly symbols is part and parcel of correct earth-life, and being earthly symbols they are distinctly of the earth, and can not be performed elsewhere than on earth. In order that absolute fairness may prevail and eternal justice may be satisfied, all men to attain the fulness of their joy must accept these earthly ordinances. There is no water baptism in the next estate, nor any conferring of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of earthly hands. The equivalents of these ordinances prevail no doubt in every estate, but only as they are given on this earth can they be made to aid, in their onward progress, those who have dwelt on earth. For that reason those who have departed this life without having accepted the earthly ordinances, which constitute in part the conditions of entrance to the Church, must have that work done for them on earth. By proxy they must be baptized by water, receive the laying on of hands and accept of the temple ordinances. By this method the path to eternal life is invariable; in fairness and without discrimination, all must tread it. Were there any departure from this order, it would be a short time only until men might take upon themselves the authority of devising various methods whereby eternal joy might be obtained. This would be unnatural, because definite order prevails throughout nature.
**A Work of Love.** To do work for the dead involves much sacrifice on the part of the living. Genealogies must be collected, exact information concerning dates of births and deaths and other fundamental data must be obtained, and the better part of a day is required to take the endowments for each dead person—and all this, usually, for a person long dead, of whom the worker may have no definite knowledge beyond name and time of his life. It follows that only by love for one's fellowmen can the work be done. Young and old may do work for the dead in the temples; and young and old are, indeed, engaged in it. Especially in the evening of life, when time is more plentiful for such work, do many persons give themselves fully to this labor of love. As a result of temple work for the dead, to which thousands of people give their time and means, a great flood of love for humanity is poured out upon the people.
**The Need of Records.** Before the earth passes away into its next stage of existence, work must be done in the temples for all the living and all the dead. Only when this is done, will the curtain be rolled up, and the vision of complete existence given to man. To do work for the dead, who in life did not accept the Gospel, will require complete genealogies of the human race. To secure these is a gigantic task. The diverse conditions of human life, and the vicissitudes of the race have been such that frequently genealogies have not been written and often have been lost. The most careful search of man will not reveal them all. However, as has been explained, in an intelligent universe, nothing is wholly lost. The record of every man exists and by some means will be found before the work on earth is completed. Meanwhile, no external power will come to man's aid, until he has used his own efforts, and therefore it becomes necessary for men to search out existing genealogies of the human race. When that has been done, in the years to come, man may rest secure that the gods who direct our earth, will come to the rescue of this important part of the work of salvation.
Consequently there is intense interest in the Church in all genealogical matters. Every person is on the lookout for his own genealogy; when that is completed, he searches for those of others. Such work intensifies family loyalty and devotion, from which virtues proceed. It follows, also, that the Church records and preserves with utmost care the genealogical histories of its members. Sacred history shows that at all times, when the Church has been on earth, genealogies have been carefully kept and recorded.
**The Result.** Work for the dead has far-reaching results. First of all, it establishes a close communion among those who have lived and who are living on earth. The hearts of the children are turned to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers are turned to the children. This, indeed, is the vital principle of the Great Plan—that all may work together to the ultimate good of each.
The principle of infinite, loving brotherhood among men, as exemplified in the work for the dead, may be applied in the daily lives of the living. If so much work is done, so much time and energy expended and so much care bestowed upon the salvation of the dead, how much more should we help and support and love the living. The living must always be man's first concern. This principle, carried into our daily lives, means that we must continually and at our own sacrifice help each other. Then only will the sacrifice for the dead not be in vain.
Work for the dead is no doubt symbolic of the great universal law that things of the universe move onward together, not singly. So great is this principle in its application to daily life, among the living, that it rises to be one of the mightiest principles that contribute to human brotherhood and brotherly love.