At that time the full meaning and glory and significance of this instruction were not understood by the Prophet, although it made a deep impression on his mind. On the 3d day of April, 1836, it was fulfilled, for Elijah the Prophet {85} appeared in the Kirtland Temple to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and conferred upon them this Priesthood and the keys of the salvation for the dead stating that-- "Behold the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to their fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors." (Doc. and Cov. 110: 13-16. History of "Reorganized" Church, Vol. 2, page 47.) Following the bestowal of this Priesthood with its keys, the spirit of salvation for the dead was poured out in abundance upon the heads of the Prophet and his people whose hearts began to turn toward their dead fathers. After the Church settled in Nauvoo, baptism for the dead was instituted, the Lord, at first, permitting the ordinance to be performed in the Mississippi river, but later revealing to the Saints that the proper place for this and other rites for the salvation of the dead, must be performed in a Temple built purposely for such ordinances, and that only in times of their extreme poverty could these ordinances be performed elsewhere by His people. Such a temple the Saints were commanded to build, and on the 21st of November, 1841, baptisms for the dead, which had been discontinued in the river at Nauvoo by command of God, October 3, 1841, were resumed in the font of the Lord's House, which had been dedicated for that purpose. [2] These ordinances continued to be performed until the Temple was completed and the Saints were driven from Nauvoo. The spirit of Elijah's work, which had rested so mightily upon the Prophet Joseph, continued with Brigham Young and the "Mormon" people during their travels in the wilderness, and when they arrived in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, the first commandment to them from the Lord, was to build a Temple to His name, where the ordinances of salvation for the living and for the dead could be performed. This work was done as speedily as possible and from that day to the present the spirit of Temple building and of Temple work for the salvation of mankind has continued with the Church.