D&C 128:18
#1 - “Your deceased ancestors live in a place called the
spirit world. There they have the opportunity to hear and accept the gospel of
Jesus Christ. However, they cannot receive the ordinances of the gospel for
themselves, and they cannot progress until others provide these ordinances for
them.
“Your privilege and responsibility is to give your ancestors
this gift by identifying them and ensuring that ordinances are performed in
their behalf in the temple. They may then choose whether to accept the work
that has been done” (Member’s Guide to Temple and Family History Work [2009],
2)
#2 - Joseph Smith: “Those Saints who neglect the doctrine of
salvation for the dead in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the
peril of their own salvation” (Teachings of Pres. of Church: Joseph Smith 2007,
471–72).
#3 - President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “If there is not
a welding link between the fathers and the children—which is the work for the
dead—then we will all stand rejected; the whole work of God will fail and be
utterly wasted” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:122).
#4 - Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
taught: “The eternal family is central to the gospel of our Savior. There would
be no reason for Him to return to earth to rule and reign over His kingdom
unless the eternal family unit has been established for our Father in Heaven’s
children. When we understand the eternal role of the family, the nourishing and
developing of strong family ties take on even greater significance” (“Youth of
the Noble Birthright,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 74).
