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April Young-Bennett
April Young-Bennett is the author of the Ask a Suffragist book series and host of the Religious Feminism Podcast. Learn more about April at aprilyoungb.com.

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128: “A Voice of Gladness for the Living and the Dead”

A Voice of Gladness

In Doctrine and Covenants 128:19-23, we read from a September 1842 letter from Joseph Smith to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) some of the most joyous, exultant and downright perky verses in our canon:

Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of agladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of btruth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great cjoy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the dfeet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the edews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!

And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from aCumorahbMoroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the cbook to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to dbear record of the book! The voice of eMichael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the fdevil when he appeared as an angel of glight! The voice of hPeter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the ikeys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!

And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old aFather Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of bGabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers cangels, from Michael or dAdam down to the present time, all declaring their edispensation, their rights, their fkeys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, gprecept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hhope!

Brethren [and sisters], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. aCourage, brethren [and sisters]; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into bsinging. Let the cdead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the dKing Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to eredeem them out of their fprison; for the prisoners shall go free.

Let the amountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid brocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the cmorning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and dimmortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!
D&C 128:22-23

  • What was Joseph Smith so excited about in these verses?
  • What excites you about the gospel of Jesus Christ?

What does that metaphor about the dews upon Mt. Carmel refer to?

There are places in the world where it seldom rains. One that has been known for thousands of years was written about in the Bible. The Bible in the Old Testament says, “As the dews upon Mt. Carmel….” The dews at Mt. Carmel in the Israel, Palestine area are produced by moist air from the Mediterranean which comes in almost every night. The air is cool over the mountains. It does not rain or create fog very often, but heavy dew forms on the side of that mountain. The dew supports a heavy vegetation for an arid area which does not have rain. In some accounts, all moisture that would ever accumulate was dew up until the time of Noah and the Ark. Then it started to rain and flooded them. That was the first rain known, by some accounts, in that part of the earth. The dew had kept the vegetation alive.
Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy, “Dew”

  • What does it mean for the  “knowledge of God” to descend “as the dews of Mt. Carmel”?

Going Forward, Not Backward

In the recent General Conference, Elder Alfred Kyungu of the Quorum of the Seventy quoted this scripture:

In modern scripture, we read the inspired words of the Prophet Joseph Smith reflecting the Lord’s encouragement to us: “Brethren [and sisters], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren [and sisters]; and on, on to the victory!” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22). Let us have the courage to do what is right even when it is unpopular—the courage to defend our faith and to act by faith. Let us have the courage to repent daily, the courage to accept God’s will and obey His commandments. Let us have the courage to live righteously and to do what is expected of us in our various responsibilities and positions.
Elder Alfred Kyungu, “To Be a Follower of Christ,” October 2021

  • According to Elder Kyungu, how do we “go forward and not backward”?
  • Why does it take courage to do these things?
  • How do we build our courage?
  • How do you find motivation to go “forward and not backward” in the cause of Christ?

Swimming in Deep Water

In another letter written in September 1842, Joseph Smith discussed adversity he was experiencing but maintained the same joyful tone:

And as for the aperils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the benvy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was cordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God dknoweth all these things, whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in etribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Let all the saints rejoice, therefore, and be exceedingly glad; for Israel’s aGod is their God, and he will mete out a just recompense of breward upon the heads of all their coppressors.

And again, verily thus saith the Lord: Let the work of my atemple, and all the works which I have appointed unto you, be continued on and not cease; and let your bdiligence, and your perseverance, and patience, and your works be redoubled, and you shall in nowise lose your reward, saith the Lord of Hosts. And if they cpersecute you, so persecuted they the prophets and righteous men that were before you. For all this there is a reward in heaven.
D&C 127:2-4

  • How  would you summarize Joseph’s attitude toward his challenges?
  • What do these verses teach us about how we can face personal trials?
  • What do these verses teach us about God?
  • Have you ever felt like you were swimming in “deep water” in your own life? How did the Lord sustain you?

Baptisms for the Dead

In both of these letters, in D&C sections 127 and 128, Joseph Smith discussed baptisms for the dead, a doctrine that brought great joy to early members of the Church.

In August 1840, a grieving Jane Neyman listened to the Prophet Joseph speak at the funeral of his friend Seymour Brunson. Jane’s own teenage son Cyrus had also recently passed away. Adding to her grief was the fact that Cyrus had never been baptized, and Jane worried what this would mean for his eternal soul. Joseph knew how she felt; he had wondered the same thing about his beloved brother Alvin, who also died before being baptized. So the Prophet decided to share with Jane, and everyone else at the funeral, what the Lord had revealed to him about those who had died without receiving the ordinances of the gospel—and what we can do to help them.
Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128

The manual quotes several church members who shared their feelings about this new doctrine:

Phebe and Wilford Woodruff

Phebe Woodruff was living near Nauvoo when Joseph Smith began teaching about baptism for the dead. She wrote about it to her husband, Wilford, who was serving a mission in England:

“Brother Joseph … has learned by revelation that those in this church may be baptized for any of their relatives who are dead and had not a privilege of hearing this gospel, even for their children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. … As soon as they are baptized for their friends they are released from prison and they can claim them in the resurrection and bring them into the celestial kingdom—this doctrine is cordially received by the church and they are going forward in multitudes, some are going to be baptized as many as 16 times … in one day.”

Wilford Woodruff later said of this principle: “The moment I heard of it my soul leaped with joy. … I went forward and was baptised for all my dead relatives I could think of. … I felt to say hallelujah when the revelation came forth revealing to us baptism for the dead. I felt that we had a right to rejoice in the blessings of Heaven.”2
Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128

Vilate Kimball

Like Sister Woodruff, Vilate Kimball heard about baptism for the dead while her husband, Heber, was away preaching the gospel. She wrote to him:

“President Smith has opened a new and glorious subject … which has caused quite a revival in the church. That is, being baptised for the dead. Paul speaks of it, in first Corinthians 15th chapter 29th verse. Joseph has received a more full explanation of it by Revelation. … It is the privilege of this church to be baptised for all their kinsfolks that have died before this Gospel came forth; even back to their great-Grandfather and Mother. … By so doing, we act as agents for them; and give them the privilege of coming forth in the first resurrection. He says they will have the Gospel preached to them … but there is no such thing as spirits being baptised. … Since this order has been preached here, the waters have been continually troubled. During conference there were sometimes from eight to ten Elders in the river at a time baptising. … I want to be baptised for my Mother. I calculated to wait until you come home, but the last time Joseph spoke upon the subject, he advised every one to be up and a doing, and liberate their friends from bondage as quick as possible. So I think I shall go forward this week, as there is a number of the neighbors going forward. Some have already been baptised a number of times over. … Thus you see there is a chance for all. Is not this a glorious doctrine?”3
Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128

Come Follow Me: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128: "A Voice of Gladness for the Living and the Dead”
Sketch of Nauvoo Temple Baptismal Font

Phebe Chase

Once the baptismal font was completed in the Nauvoo Temple, baptisms for the dead were performed there instead of in the river. Phebe Chase, a resident of Nauvoo, wrote to her mother about the temple, describing the baptismal font as the place where “we can be baptised for our dead and become saviors on Mount Zion.” She went on to explain that in this font, “I have been baptised for my dear father and all the rest of my dead friends. … Now I want to know what your father’s and Mother’s names are so that I can release them, for I desire to relieve the Dead. … The Lord has spoken again and restored the ancient order.”4
Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128

(Note that the requirement that people be baptized for the dead of their same gender was not in place at that time.)

Sally Randall

In writing to her friends and family about baptism for the dead, Sally Randall recalled the passing of her son George:

“Oh what a trying time that was to me and it seems yet that I can not be reconciled to have it so, but … his father has been baptised for him and what a glorious thing it is that we believe and receive the fulness of the gospel as it is preached now and can be baptized for all of our dead friends and save them as far back as we can get any knowledge of them.

“I want you should write me the given names of all of our connections that are dead as far back as grandfathers and grandmothers at any rate. I intend to do what I can to save my friends and I should be very glad if some of you would come and help me for it is a great work for one to do alone. … I expect you will think this is a strange doctrine but you will find it to be true.”5
Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128

  • How an we maintain this enthusiasm for baptisms for the dead now that it is not a doctrine that is new to us?

The Effects of Slavery on Redeeming the Dead

At the same time early LDS church members were celebrating the opportunity to connect with their deceased family members through baptisms for the dead, black families were being torn apart through slavery, which continued to be legal in the United States of America for another quarter of a century. Even after slavery was abolished, its legacy had long-term impacts on African-American families, including LDS families who wished to perform baptism for the dead for their deceased family members.

For LDS Church members who are more melaninated than others, family history can be extremely daunting: colonization, forced migration, and (for many of African descent) slavery have had a devastating impact on records about our ancestors.
Sister Bryndis Roberts, “Genealogy: Melaninated Style,” January 2017, Sunstone 

In spite of these barriers, Sister Roberts went to great efforts to trace her family tree and succeeded in identifying many of her ancestors.

Recognizing the significant challenges to family history for African Americans, in 2015, the LDS Church partnered with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society to index the digitized records of the Freedman’s Bureau. The Freedman’s Bureau, organized under an 1865 Congressional order at the conclusion of the American Civil War, offered assistance to people freed from slavery and kept records such as marriage registers, hospital or patient registers, educational efforts, census lists, labor contracts and indenture or apprenticeship papers and others. (See Freedmen’s Bureau Project: Connecting African Americans With Civil War–Era Ancestors)

I witnessed the healing and joy that African Americans experienced as they discovered ancestors for the first time in those records. Today I am humbled once again to be part of a historic announcement that can, on paper, potentially reunite the black family that was once torn apart by slavery.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, June 2015, Freedmen’s Bureau Project: Connecting African Americans With Civil War–Era Ancestors

Watch Freedmen’s Bureau Broadcast, Time Stamp 11:53-17:35, to hear from African-American genealogists about the importance of this project.

  • What stood out to you from these testimonials from African-American genealogists about the importance of family history?

A Bold Doctrine

It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a adispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in bauthority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great cJehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?
D&C 128:9

  •  How is the doctrine of salvation for the dead a bold doctrine?

And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their asalvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made bperfect.
D&C 128:15

  • Why do you think our ancestors’ salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation”?
  • Why can’t we without our dead be made perfect?

And again, in connection with this quotation I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the arestoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6thBehold, I will send you bElijah 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.

I might have rendered a aplainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a bcurse unless there is a welding clink of some kind or other between the fathers and the dchildren, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the ebaptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the ffulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the gfoundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto hbabes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times.
D&C 128:17-18

  • In what sense might the earth be cursed if there is no “welding link … between the fathers and the children”?
  • Why would Joseph Smith call baptism for the dead the “most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel”?
April Young-Bennett is the author of the Ask a Suffragist book series and host of the Religious Feminism Podcast. Learn more about April at aprilyoungb.com.

One Response

  1. I appreciate that you include how not everyone’s experience with family history is the same, particularly for people whose ancestors may have been slaves. This is important to remember when teaching about family history in church.

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