Because the Melchizedek Priesthood is “without beginning of days or end of years” (Alma 13:9; D&C 84:17; see also Hebrews 7:3), those who obtain the priesthood on earth continue to exercise it even after death. Thus, holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood who die righteous “become high priests forever” (Alma 13:9).
President Harold B. Lee recounted an experience, explaining that every priesthood office a person holds in this life will have an effect in the next world:
“I had reorganized the presidency of the Ensign Stake. We had named the bishop of one of the wards as stake president. …
“Six weeks after they were sustained, the stake president suddenly passed away.
“Then I began to receive a barrage of letters. Where in the world was the inspiration for you to call a man whom the Lord was going to let die in six weeks? They invited me to talk at his services, and some seemed to be expecting me to try to explain why I had appointed a man that the Lord was going to take home in six weeks.
“President Joseph Fielding Smith sat on the stand and heard my attempt to satisfy these people, and he said to me, ‘Don’t you let that bother you. If you have called a man to a position in this church and he dies the next day, that position would have a bearing on what he will be called to do when he leaves this earth.’
“I believe that. I believe that every President of this church, every apostle of this church, every bishop, every stake president, every presiding position will have a bearing on what one is called to do when he leaves this earth” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1972, 129–30; or Ensign, Jan. 1973, 107).