This is not possible in the condition in which they are placed, but the Lord has provided means. He has revealed that living, men and women can be baptized for those who are dead. If a man's father died in ignorance of the Gospel, the son can be baptized for and in behalf of the father. If a woman's mother never heard the Elders or never obeyed the Gospel in the flesh, she can go forth and be baptized in the temple for and in behalf of her mother. Hands can be laid upon the head of the living person, and he or she can be confirmed and the Holy Spirit be sealed upon them for and in behalf of the dead.
The Lord has taught that this can be done under proper circumstances in the temples which may be erected in Zion or in any of her Stakes. Therefore in the Temple at Salt Lake as well as in the other temples, there is a font resting upon twelve oxen, three looking to the north, three to the south, three to the east and three to the west, and in this font the holy ordinance of baptism can be administered to living people for and in behalf of their dead relatives and ancestors. This is one of the purposes for which temples are required, and not only are baptisms and the laying on of hands administered for the dead, but other ordinances are also administered, it being just as necessary that those who have died and have not received these ordinances should receive them as it is that the living should receive them. It requires the same obedience and submission to the laws of the Lord on the part of one class as on the part of another. If any one could have been saved without obedience to these principles, surely our Savior, the Son of God, could have been. He had committed no sin, and it might be asked why should He be baptized, for baptism is for the remission of sins. But the Savior respected the law of the Gospel and obeyed the ordinances thereof, and when John, feeling his own unworthiness, remonstrated with Him about His coming to be baptized, Jesus replied: "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
We shall of necessity be a temple-building people, because there is an immense work to be done for the redemption of the dead. Millions have been born and have died between the time the Gospel was taken from the earth and the time of this restoration in these days. These millions will have to be officiated for, and this will doubtless form one of the chief labors of the people of God during the thousand years of peace which we are approaching, when Satan will be bound and righteousness will reign throughout the earth. We are on the threshold of that great era, and we have every assurance that that blessed period is not far distant. The prophet Malachi in speaking of the latter days, makes the following prediction:
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
The angel Moroni in speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith in reference to this prediction of Malachi's uses a little different language. He quotes Malachi as saying:
"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole world would be utterly wasted at his coming."
Now as soon as the people hear the Gospel preached by the Elders, they naturally inquire, "What has become of my father and my mother? They were good people, but they died without being baptized. What will be their fate?" In this way they fulfill the words of Malachi.
That spirit has filled the hearts of all the Latter-day Saints, that is, of all who are true Latter-day Saints. They want to have their ancestors saved as well as themselves. Their hearts naturally, therefore, turn to their kindred who are dead, and in the temples now built they can officiate for them as fast as they can obtain their names. In this way they become saviors as the prophet Obadiah said they should.
And there can be no doubt concerning the heart of the fathers being turned to the children. It is easy to imagine that the spirits who hear and accept the Gospel when it is preached in the spirit world by men in authority are exceedingly anxious to receive the blessings bestowed upon those who obey baptism, laying on of hands and other ordinances. Therefore their heart turns to their children, and thus the words of the prophet Malachi are fulfilled.
The prophet Elijah has appeared, as Malachi said he should, and fulfilled the prediction upon that point. In Section 110 of the Book of Covenants the record is to be found concerning his appearance in the Temple at Kirtland. He came to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in that temple, and used these words: