A recent church news section had an interesting article about the growth of the Church compared to other Christian denominations in the United States. In the last decade, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been the fastest growing church in the country (based on converts) and is currently the 6th largest Christian denomination in the U.S., as well.
It would be very interesting to know just how fast the church is growing on the other side of the veil, because in that world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church making it possible for people to become members of a church. President Joseph F. Smith saw the spirit side of the veil in a revelation described in the 138th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. He learned from that revelation that when Christ visited the spirit world, (I Peter 3:18-19). He did not personally preach the Gospel of Salvation to them but rather organized the mission on that side of the veil so that righteous saints, who had past on, would be organized and authorized to teach the gospel.
On either side of the veil, not all who hear the Word, will accept it, as agency is an eternal principle and is just as efficacious there as it was for them here.
One might wonder if those who have passed on are joining the church as fast as the saints on this side of the veil are doing the work for them in the temples. Lorenzo Snow, in speaking of whether or not those in the spirit world will accept the Gospel said, “Few, indeed, will not receive the gospel as the circumstances there will be a thousand times better.” Many are waiting and possibly impatiently, having accepted the Gospel and now want to progress but can’t do so until they are members of the church with all of their ordinances in place. With all the new temples recently constructed and those on the drawing board, the work can move along much faster all over the world, if the saints will do their part by attending. Whether doing the work for their own family members or for someone else’s is still helpful and will be counted as a good thing. However, I feel that doing the temple work for a name of someone else’s ancestor is a ‘spiritual’ experience but doing the temple work for your own ancestor is a ‘sacred’ experience. God bless us in catching the spirit of family history and this great temple work for our ancestors.