With all due respect to our Catholic friends and their doctrine it is not our doctrine to pray for the dead. The Catholic Mass for the dead is intended to pray people out of Purgatory.

We believe that “they who keep their second estate (meaning our mortal life) shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:26). We also believe that “the dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God” (D&C 138:58).

Those who are faithful to the restored gospel in this life are heirs of the Celestial Kingdom. Their test is over at death. Those who would have received the restored gospel with all of their hearts in mortality if they had received that opportunity will also be heirs of the Celestial Kingdom since they will accept the restored gospel in the spirit world.

There is no second change in the spirit world. The same person that is here is the same person there. There is no bonus for dying. A rebel here is a rebel there. An honest in heart person here is the same there.

I enjoyed this article very much. My best friend is preparing to go to the temple be sealed to her deceased husband who wasn't a member and prays continually that he is ready and happy this work is being done for him. She prays that her grandparents have listened to the gospel and accepted the work she is preparing to do for them but as for myself being of pioneer stock doesn't think to pray for my precious grandparents and those that sacrificed greatly for the life I now live.
Thanks for the reminder that our deceased family needs our prayers as much as our earthly family.

thank you for some fine advise

Our doctrine is eternal progression. The atonement is as effective in the after-life as it is now. It may be harder to repent, as some have suggested, but it must be possible or all progression would be halted. Our ancestors are interested in our lives, prompt us where to look to find their mortal records, sometimes let us know that they have accepted the saving ordinances and can even signal us that they will be waiting to welcome those who are dying. I pray for them and I believe they pray for me.

I defy anyone who has ever done temple ordinances for ancestors to say they have not found themselves in fervent prayer for that individual while they preformed the ordinance. True, prayer will never overcome an individuals agency, but if we believe in praying to the Lord to soften the hearts of our enemies on Earth do you not believe he can have that same effect on the hearts of those in the spirit prison, especially for those who never had an oppertunity to accept the gospel in this life?

If all is over at death, then why is the gospel preached after they arrive there? How do WE know who accepted the gospel or who had the chance in this life? Therefore, prayer for the dead is not lost on them. I think you have your doctrine a little mixed up.

President Hinckley's expression that we have more in common than draws us apart with others is very true. As a teenager, I had the privlege to read Dante's Inferno, as well as his writings Paradise and Purgatory. These books helped me to understand early Catholic doctrine of moving your way forward as you learn the lessons that you did not learn in life, and about repentance. These books helped me to want to understand more clearly doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, like the Atonement, repentance, baptism, and faith. Having witnessed the death of my husband's parents, who are Catholic, you can learn to love the diversity of cultures and faiths. This article is spot on, I think all people contemplate the afterlife and what happens to those who have left us here on this earth. I agree with those above, no one can do temple work without having a sincere prayer for those in the spirit world. We all want to be together again, no matter what faith you belong too.