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Thanks for your email.
In order to live with Heavenly Father, you and I as well as your uncle must:
1) Have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ enough to;
2) Repent of our sins,
3) Be baptized for the remission of sins,
4) Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands and,
5) Endure to the end.
Baptism and the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost must be performed by someone that holds the true Priesthood. We believe that the true gospel, the true Church, the true ordinances such as baptism and the Priesthood to perform these ordinances has been restored to the earth in these latter days under the personal direction of the Lord.
In other words, to live with God and Christ in the eternities, we must be his true followers. It is clear that to follow Christ, we must live his commandments including being morally clean. The Church’s position is that regardless of ones sexual orientation, he or she must remain chaste or morally clean. If your uncle did not have a chance to understand and accept the true gospel here, he will have a chance to hear it and accept it or reject it in the world of spirits where he and the spirits of all who die await the resurrection and judgment.
Ours is the only Church as far as I am aware, that teaches that the gospel will be taught in the world of spirits though it is quite plain in the Bible: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:18 - 20) “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:6)
Of course the work of salvation for the dead is what the huge program of genealogical research and proxy temple work is all about. As you may know, our Church has the largest genealogical library in the world and we spend much time and money collecting names and dates of ancestors who lived before the gospel was restored. These names are taken to the temple where the earthly ordinances such as baptism are performed for them. This was also mentioned in the Bible: “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Corinthians 15:29) Most do not understand this passage, but the Lord revealed this principle and all that is involved in the teaching of the gospel to the dead and proxy ordinances in the temples when the gospel and church was restored. It must be understood that though a baptism and the other ordinances of the gospel are performed in the temple on behalf of an ancestor that has passed away, they are ultimately the ones who must receive the gospel and accept the ordinances performed for them.
Your uncle may be a candidate for this and you can find out how to go about submitting his name at your ward meetings. Just ask the Bishop how this is done and he will explain all about it to you.
I wish you the peace and joy that will come to you as a true disciple of Christ.
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
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