Mormon tells us that “I have seen [these three men] and they have ministered unto me.” Mormon also states that the Three Nephites “will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not” (3 Nephi 28:27). “They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not. (v. 28). They will be “as the angels of God” (v. 30).
Many stories are recorded in family histories about deeds of ministry by the Three Nephites. These accounts were particularly prevalent during the early pioneer period of Church history in the 19th century. These stories normally involve the Three Nephites helping build God’s Kingdom on earth or helping people survive by constructing a needed dwelling or providing food at an opportune time. There are also stories of these Nephite men accompanying missionaries on their travels.
My wife, Jeannie, found such an account in her family history. Her ancestor was one of three women to journey with the Mormon Battalion. This woman recorded the miraculous delivery of an important letter a thousand miles away. Absolutely nobody knew who delivered it or how it could possibly have gotten there. The only thing they could imagine was that they had been helped by the Three Nephites.
Joseph Smith had an encounter on the way from Harmony to Fayette that may have been one of these people. It was just one man who appeared and asked where Joseph and his companions were going. Joseph Smith noted that the man did not look like Moroni. The speed with which the man vanished was remarkable.
On another occasion, the Whitmer family’s field was ploughed by three unknown men during the night so that David Whitmer could bring his horses and wagon to Harmony to assist Oliver, Joseph, and Emma move to a safer location where they would be free from threats and could work without interruption, in order to complete the translation of the Book of Mormon.
Hundreds of stories of encounters with the Three Nephites have been collected through interviews by archivists at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library. Some of the accounts are first-hand stories and others are related as third- or fourth-hand accounts—so some are more credible than others. These interviews were collected because they not only tell us about the Three Nephites and what they may be doing, but also because they reveal something about the faith of these people themselves and how they understood these events.
Book of Mormon Central, “The Simple Miracle that Helped the Whitmers Further the Book of Mormon (Alma 37:6),” KnoWhy 488 (November 27, 2018).
“Fellow Servants,” in Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, online at churchofjesuschrist.org.
Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, p. [8], bk. 8, The Joseph Smith Papers, online at josephsmithpapers.org.