Why have member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints felt the need to convert dead Jews?
When a person is Baptized they are making a commitment to keep the commandments of God. We do not believe that a person can progress and become more like God if they do not make this commitment.
When vicarious baptisms are done, it has no effect unless the person who is dead receives it. We believe that the freedom to make your own decisions is a foundation of the Gospel. We came to earth to learn from our own experience (mistakes), and this freedom to choose for ourselves will continue after this life here on the earth is over.
We offer this baptismal commitment to our direct ancestors. We want to unite our families all the way back in time. We volunteer our time to do these ordinances, because we value family. The individuals we do vicarious baptisms for can commit to follow the Lord, but they are not baptized into The Church as many sects do.
