THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

OFFICE OF THE FIRST PRESIDENCY

47 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84150-1200

October 2, 2019

To: General Authorities; General Officers; Area Seventies; Stake, Mission, District, and Temple Presidents; Bishops and Branch Presidents; All Members of the Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Witnessing Ordinances

Early in this dispensation, the Lord instructed that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (Doctrine and Covenants 6:28). Consistent with this direction, members of the Church are invited to serve as witnesses when sacred ordinances of salvation and exaltation are performed.

We are pleased to announce procedural adjustments for the two individuals who serve as witnesses to baptisms and sealing ordinances. These adjustments are effective immediately in all temples and in all Church units. As invited by presiding authorities:

1. Any member holding a current temple recommend, including a limited-use recommend, may serve as a witness to a proxy baptism.

2. Any endowed member with a current temple recommend may serve as a witness to a living or proxy sealing.

3. Any baptized member of the Church, including children and youth, may serve as a witness to the baptism of a living person (see Handbook I: Stake Presidents and Bishops, 16.1.1).

We trust that you, as individuals and families, will find great joy in your service as you help provide saving ordinances to Heavenly Father's children.

Sincerely yours,

Russell M. Nelson

Dallin H. Oaks

Henry B. Eyring

This letter is being translated and will be distributed to units identified as Albanian, Armenian, Bislama, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Chinese, Chinese (Simplified), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Fijian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kiribati, Korean, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malagasy, Malay, Maltese, Marshallese, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tahitian, Thai, Tongan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. If leaders need this letter in additional languages, they may contact the Area Presidency. Area leaders can forward requests to the Priesthood and Family Department at ext. 2-2933. 17104