The Hearts of the Fathers

I've thought about the Prophet Joseph’s epistle to the Saints concerning baptism for the dead in D&C 128 and how the Book of Mormon doesn’t speak directly on this subject.  But I realized that while ordinance work for the dead is not specifically mentioned, the book is in fact a great fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy that the hearts of the fathers would be turned to their children and the hearts of the children turned to their fathers.  We see throughout the Book of Mormon that the writers are intensely concerned about their posterity—not only the generations immediately following them but the generations of our day.  Nephi sees visions of his posterity in the latter days; Moroni tells us that he saw our day specifically and was writing for us.  Enos prayed that the record of the Nephites “would be brought forth at some future day” after the Nephites should be destroyed (Enos 1:13).  Mormon tells us that one of the reasons he made his record was that “the prayers of those who have gone hence, who were the holy ones, should be fulfilled according to their faith” (3 Nephi 5:14).  In other words, many of the Nephite prophets looked forward to the day when their words might go forth to their posterity in the distant future.  So the Book of Mormon itself is an example of fathers turning to their children, but the title page also tells us that one of its purposes is to turn the children to their fathers: “To show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord has done for their fathers.”  Mormon likewise tells us in his last words: “Know that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers” (Mormon 7:5).  We are turned towards the generations that proceeded us—and the covenants of the Lord concerning them—as we read and ponder the Book of Mormon.