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Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (10th prophet):
One of the most important events connected with the restoration and consummation of the purposes of the Lord in the last days is the coming of the Prophet Elijah with his message and authority, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest the Lord come and smite the earth with a curse.
Just what is meant by Malachi, and how it is to be accomplished, has been one of the outstanding mysteries of Bible prophecy. Some commentators have thought that this prophecy was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist in the meridian of time, but a careful reading will soon dispel such a thought. The days of John, and those which followed during the ministry of Jesus Christ and his apostles, were not the days of vengeance and burning in which the wicked would be as stubble and the earth would be cleansed from all its iniquity.
This day of preparation by turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and of the children to the fathers, it is very evident from the context, is reserved until the last days, or the day of restitution of all things. It is an event to take place, according to the plain prediction, shortly preceding the great and dreadful day of the Lord. The great and dreadful day of the Lord, this prophecy proclaims, is the day of the coming of our Lord in the clouds of heaven in great glory and when he shall take vengeance upon the ungodly. It is to be a day dreadful to all who are unrepentant and full of sin, but to the just it shall be a day of peace and salvation. However, before it comes there is to be some mighty work performed by the restoration of Elijah's authority, which is so potent that it will save the earth from destruction, or from being smitten with a curse.
One of the doctrines peculiar to the Latter-day Saints, and to them alone, is the doctrine that Elijah has already come, and that he has restored his keys and has turned the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers in preparation for the coming of our Redeemer in power and glory to reign on the earth.
Moreover the Latter-day Saints are the only people on the earth who have a clear understanding of the meaning of this prophecy and can knowingly apply it. this comes to them by revelation. It was on the third day of April, 1836, that Elijah came to fulfill this prediction, and on that date he bestowed upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the keys of his priesthood and said unto them: "Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."
It has been a mystery to many members of the Church why this important mission was reserved for Elijah and why these authorities could not have been bestowed by some other prophet, or prophets, presumably Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of authority in the days of the dispensation of the meridian of time. Without question Peter, James, and John could have bestowed this authority, if they had been commissioned; so could Adam, for he held the keys of all the dispensations. The reason why Elijah was reserved for this mission, according to the Prophet Joseph Smith, was that:
"Elijah was the last prophet that held the keys of the priesthood, and who will, before the last dispensation, restore the authority and deliver the keys of the priesthood, in order that all the ordinances may be attended to in righteousness. It is true the Savior had authority and power to bestow this blessing; but the sons of Levi were too prejudiced. . . . Why send Elijah? Because he holds the keys of the authority to administer in all the ordinances of the priesthood; and without the authority is given, the ordinances could not be administered in righteousness."
Source: McConkie, Bruce R., ed. Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. 2. 112 - 114. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1955.