Elizabeth Brotherton's Deceased Sister Appears to Her: 'You Have a Work to Do for Me' — Two Days Later the Prophet Preaches on Baptism for the Dead (Nauvoo, c. 1842)
Published September 28, 2026 at 4:32 AM
After Elizabeth Brotherton's father and family apostatized and left Nauvoo for Warsaw, intending to return to England, she felt deeply cast down. One evening as she went to bed, her sister "who had been dead a number of years" appeared to her, called her by name, and said, "Be comforted, you are all right. You have a work to do for me." When Elizabeth tried to ask what she meant, her sister was gone. Two days later, the Prophet Joseph Smith preached on baptism for the dead — and as soon as the Nauvoo baptismal font was ready, Elizabeth officiated for her sister as she had been asked.
In Their Own Words
“I was feeling cast down and my sister who had been dead a number of years came to me and called by my name and said, "be comforted you are all right. You have a work to do for me." I wished to inquire what she meant, but she was gone. In two days after this, the Prophet preached on the baptism for the dead.”
— Elizabeth Brotherton, Autobiography, The Woman's Exponent (1890-91)
Sources & References
Elizabeth Brotherton, Autobiography (1816-1897), The Woman's Exponent 19, no. 12 (December 1, 1890): 94-95 and following installments — full text at http://earlymormonism.com/elizabeth-brotherton-1816-1897/
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