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I presume the doctrine of "baptism for the dead" has ere this reached your ears, and may have raised some inquiries in your minds respecting the same....
I first mentioned the doctrine in public when preaching the funeral sermon of Brother Seymour Brunson: and have since then given general instructions in the Church on the subject. The Saints have the privilege of being baptized for those of their relatives who are dead, whom they believe would have embraced the Gospel, if they had been privileged with hearing it, and who have received the Gospel in the spirit, through the instrumentality of those who have been commissioned to preach to them while in prison.
Source: Documentary History of the Church, 4:226- 232. Date: 19 Oct. 1840.
A little explanation. In the last line Joseph talks about prison. In Mormon belief, if you're not a member when you die, you will spend the time from death to the Millennium in a place called 'spirit prison'. Administering angels will visit you and try to convert you to Mormonism.
In the above statement, baptism for the dead is now a privilege of the Saints, reserved for their relatives. This is a intermediate step in the evolution of this doctrine. It isn't stated whether this practice would have any benefit to the deceased in the afterlife or not.
One year later, the third step in this doctrine is revealed.