Baptism in Mormonism
[3] According to the account in Joseph Smith–History 1:68,[4] the first Latter Day Saint baptisms occurred on May 15, 1829, when Smith and Oliver Cowdery baptized each other in the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania shortly after receiving the Aaronic priesthood from John the Baptist.
"[10]People being baptized or performing the baptism typically wear a "one-piece suit" with "short sleeves, and is lined to the knee."
[11][12][13] Following baptism, Latter Day Saints receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands of a Melchizedek priesthood holder.
[14] The LDS Church practices baptism for the dead "vicariously" or "by proxy" in temples for anyone who did not receive these ordinances while living.
[citation needed] After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, rebaptism became a more important ordinance in the LDS Church, as led by Brigham Young.
Young led his group to the Great Basin in what is now Utah, and most of his followers were rebaptized soon after arriving as a sign that they would rededicate their lives to Christ.
During the "Mormon Reformation" of 1856–57, rebaptism became an extremely important ordinance, signifying that the church member confessed their sins and would live a life of a Latter-day Saint.
In an 1881 letter from apostle Joseph F. Smith, he stated, "all persons whose first baptisms have not taken place within a very recent period must be re-baptized before they receive their recommends to pass through the House of the Lord.
[23][24]: 164 [25]: 261 From the mid-1960s until the early 1970s under church president David O. McKay, Black members of all genders were barred from participating in any baptisms for the dead.
[29][32]: 64 Transgender individuals who are "attempting to transition to the opposite gender" cannot maintain a temple recommends necessary for baptisms for the dead.
The organization, now known as the Community of Christ, occasionally cited its avoidance of rebaptism as proof that it is the true continuation of the original Latter Day Saint church.
