The dead were asking for baptism years before the Church arrived in Ghana.

A man in Ghana says his dead brother taught him about baptism for the dead years before missionaries arrived. In 1964, a preacher in Ghana named Joseph William Billy Johnson received a copy of the Book of Mormon. As he read it, he became convinced it was truly the word of God. But there was one problem. There were no Latter-day Saint missionaries in Ghana. And because of the priesthood restriction at that time, he and the people he taught could not yet be baptized into the church.

Still, Joseph Johnson believed and began preaching from the Book of Mormon. He went from street to street teaching people about the restored gospel. He helped organize congregations of people who wanted to become Latter-day Saints. But then the persecution began. At one of the hardest moments in his ministry, Joseph Johnson said he received a dream that deeply strengthened him. In the dream, his deceased brother appeared to him.

His brother told him not to worry and then said something Joseph had never heard before. He said he was investigating the church in the spirit world. Joseph was shocked. He had not known that the church extended into the next world. Then his brother told him not to leave the church. And to prove what he was saying, Joseph said his brother sang a hymn from the church. It was, "Come, come, ye saints." Joseph had never heard that hymn before.

Then his brother asked him to make sure he was baptized. Joseph said this was how he first learned about baptism for the dead before he had ever been taught that doctrine. And he said other deceased relatives also appeared to him in dreams, asking him to see that they were baptized. For 14 years, Joseph William Billy Johnson continued to wait. Then one night at midnight, Joseph heard a shortwave radio broadcast from England.

The announcement said that President Spencer W. Kimell had received a revelation and that all worthy male members could now receive the priesthood. Joseph burst into tears. He knew what it meant. The church could finally come to Ghana. Soon after, Joseph William Billy Johnson was baptized. He became Ghana's first branch president, later served missions, and eventually became a patriarch.

For years, Joseph's deceased relatives appeared to him with the same request. See that we are baptized. As Latter-day Saints, we believe the gospel is preached on both sides of the veil, and that those who have passed on can choose to accept the ordinances performed in their behalf. Joseph's story is a powerful reminder that our ancestors may be far more eager for these sacred ordinances than we realize.