What is baptism by immersion for the remission of sins?

Re: 2 Nephi 31:7 & 13, President Boyd K. Packer has explained that baptism in water “is a symbolic witness” (August 2006 Ensign).  President Hinckley said that baptism in water is “in symbolism of the death and burial of Jesus Christ and His coming forth in the Resurrection” (April 2005 CR).  For those who have sinned, baptism in water is also “symbolic of the death of a person’s sinful life and the rebirth into a spiritual life, dedicated to the service of God and His children” (“Baptism,” www.lds.org.).

Re: 2 Nephi 31:17, Joseph Smith said: “Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost…. The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire … is of no use.” (TPJS, 314, 360.)  Citing this teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith …

… President Packer has said, “[T]here are two parts to baptism--baptism by water and baptism by fire.  If you separate the two, it is but half a baptism.” President Packer said to “every member,” including “missionaries” and “parents,” that every time we teach or talk about baptism we should “always” include both parts, even, whenever possible, “in the same sentence.” (August 2006 Ensign.) 

… President James E. Faust said, “Baptism by immersion in water is ‘the introductory ordinance of the gospel, and must be followed by baptism of the Spirit in order to be complete’ [see Bible Dictionary, 618] ...  ‘then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.’” (April 2001 CR.)

… Elder David A. Bednar has said, “We must be baptized by immersion in water… We must also be baptized by and immersed in the Spirit … ‘and then cometh a remission of sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.’” (April 2006 CR.) 

President Joseph F. Smith said of “the influence and power of the Holy Spirit” he felt when he was baptized:  “The feeling that came upon me was that of pure peace, of love and of light…. I felt as if I wanted to do good everywhere to everybody ... I felt a newness of life, a newness of desire to do that which was right. There was not one particle of desire for evil left in my soul.” (April 1898 CR, 96, quoted in Teachings of the Presidents: Joseph F. Smith, 59, and in Family Home Evening Resource Book, www.lds.org.)

            President Lorenzo Snow said, “[Several] weeks after I was baptized [in water], one day while engaged in my studies, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained [the baptism of the Holy Ghost] … and I began to feel very uneasy…. At length, realizing that the usual time had come for secret prayer, I … knelt as I was in the habit of doing…. I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than … the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O the joy and happiness I felt! … It was a complete baptism--a tangible immersion in the [power of] the Holy Ghost.” (Quoted in April 1971 CR; Dec 1977 Friend; Dec 1986 New Era; May 1993 Liahona; Mar 2004 Ensign.)

Elder Joseph B.Wirthlin told of a member friend who “had prayed often and long” to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and had nearly given up on receiving it. “One morning, while pondering the scriptures, he felt something surge through his body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. ‘I was immersed in a feeling of such intense love and pure joy,’ he explained. ‘I cannot describe the measure of what I felt at that time other than to say I was enveloped in joy so profound there was no room in me for any other sensation.’”(April 2003 CR.)

Elder D. Todd Christopherson has said the “process of cleansing … through the baptism of the Holy Ghost can be continued weekly as we worthily partake of the sacrament... The emblems of the Atonement, the bread and water, become symbolic … of our renewed covenant, similar to the symbolism of [baptism in] water.”(June 2001 Ensign, 18.)   President Henry B. Eyring has said that we must “receive the Holy Ghost not once but continually in our daily lives”(Oct 2007 CR). Elder Bednar has said that “steady, sustained, and complete immersion” in the Holy Spirit is necessary before we can inherit the Celestial Kingdom (April 2007 CR).

A commitment to obey God and forsake sins is symbolized in the baptism of water.
The remission of sins is received through the baptism of the Holy Ghost.