I will address the last part of your question. We are doing proxy ordinances for deceased members who were unable to receive them while in mortality.

Posthumorously?! Well, for crying out loud! Who knew the Mormons had such a sense of humor? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA!!!! Thanks for the great laugh! I had a blast :)

Mr_IT, how do you know that the work has not already been done for these members? Those of their family members who were still members would probably have started doing that work right after they received their own temple ordinances. I know that my BYU Church History professor personally did the ordinances for at least one of these past members whom she had admired even though she wasn't a descendant of that particular member. So, what makes you think that the work has not been done?

The ban was a commandment from God. We are not ashamed of God and wouldn't it be strange to claim his commandments came from some other source, or apologize for keeping them? . We ARE glad it has been lifted, and, as always, are doing all we can to complete ordinance work for ALL who were not able to complete their own in life.

With respect to Gray and Young, I think they’re missing some of the simple facts behind “the ban.” What about all the faithful Fijians, Maori, and Melanesians that were ordained to the Priesthood before the 1978 revelation? It’s all too easy to succumb to the skin-color argument that remains so prevalent, but as we’ve discussed many times, the Church *never* categorically refused to ordain “blacks” to the Priesthood. The revelation Brigham Young alluded to was regarding *Canaanites*, and the general consensus (right or wrong) was most “Negroes” (but not “Negroids”) fell into this category. Now… was there innuendo, folklore, and prejudice among Church members? Of course there was. There still is—just like there is, everywhere else. Furthermore, was President Young incorrect in his understanding that Negroes and Canaanites were essentially one and the same? Perhaps so, perhaps not; I’m guessing now that we’re over thirty years out, no one really cares enough, to find out—nor do I think the Lord would reveal such information, since it really is completely irrelevant to the polity as it stands, today. And finally, as others have already pointed out, we *are* performing proxy ordinances for departed “Negroes,” just like we are, for everyone else. That’s what we do. I’m guessing the bottom line is that the Church doesn’t apologize because there’s nothing beyond certain individuals’ opinions, to indicate that it did anything wrong. (I don’t recall Simon Peter apologizing for not taking the Gospel to the Gentiles sooner, either.) As always, HTH!

this is in responce to the artical in Deseret News on oct.6, 2009. I did not realize Blacks were still having problems with some members. It sadden's me to think members are still so bigoted. The first time i saw a black person in the temple I thanked Heavenly Father that you can injoy the benefits of the Temple. Please keep the faith there are more members that are happy about it than there are not. Some members need to be exposed to other races and religions. May Heavenly Father be with you and your family. Judy S.