“Two missionaries were laboring in the mountains of the southern United States. One day, from a hilltop, they saw people gathering in a clearing far below. The missionaries did not often have many people to whom they might preach, so they made their way down to the clearing.
“A little boy had drowned, and there was to be a funeral. His parents had sent for the minister to ‘say words’ over their son. The missionaries stood back as the itinerant minister faced the grieving father and mother and began his sermon. If the parents expected to receive comfort from this man of the cloth, they would be disappointed.
“He scolded them severely for not having had the little boy baptized. They had put it off because of one thing or another, and now it was too late. He told them very bluntly that their little boy had gone to hell. It was their fault. They were to blame for his endless torment.
“After the sermon was over and the grave was covered, the elders approached the grieving parents. ‘We are servants of the Lord,’ they told the mother, ‘and we have come with a message for you.’”
“As the sobbing parents listened, the two elders read from the revelations and bore their testimony. …
“The elders came as comforters, as teachers, as servants of the Lord, as authorized ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Boyd K. Packer, “And a Little Child Shall Lead Them,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 7).
“All those who believe that man, yes, even newly born infants, are tainted with ‘original sin,’ (in other words the transgression of Adam,) deny the mercies of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible (as well as our modern scripture) teaches that Jesus Christ is in very deed, the Redeemer of mankind from the fall. He paid the debt that mankind became heir to through Adam’s transgression. The mortgage upon our souls was fully paid. It left no hangover penalty which required some act by, or in behalf of, any living creature, to free him from ‘original sin.’ The doctrine that infants come into this world under the curse of ‘original sin,’ is an abominable doctrine in the sight of God, and denies the greatness and mercy of the atonement. (See Moroni Chapter 8.)” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation: A Course of Study for the Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums [1949], 4:99).
“‘Do you believe in the baptism of infants?’ … No. … Because it is nowhere written in the Bible. … Baptism is for remission of sins. Children have no sins. … Children are all made alive in Christ, and those of riper years through faith and repentance” (Manuscript History of the Church, vol. E-1, p. 1666, josephsmithpapers.org, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling standardized).
“Accountability does not burst full-bloom upon a child at any given moment in his life. Children become accountable gradually, over a number of years. Becoming accountable is a process, not a goal to be attained when a specified number of years, days, and hours have elapsed. In our revelation the Lord says, ‘They cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me.’ (D&C 29:47.) There comes a time, however, when accountability is real and actual and sin is attributed in the lives of those who develop normally. It is eight years of age, the age of baptism. (D&C 68:27.)” (Bruce R. McConkie, “The Salvation of Little Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1977, 6).
“We understand from our doctrine that before the age of accountability a child is ‘not capable of committing sin’ (Moro. 8:8). During that time, children can commit mistakes, even very serious and damaging ones that must be corrected, but their acts are not accounted as sins” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Sins and Mistakes,” Ensign, Oct. 1996, 65).