I love studying folklore and stories, particularly among Latter-day Saints. One reason for doing so is that they reveal information about the core beliefs, cultural values, and lived religious experiences of the communities that share them. Perhaps no folklore cycle illustrates this better than the persistent legends of The Three Nephites, and a fantastic new interview with folklorist Julie Swallow at the Latter-day Saint history blog, From the Desk, digs into this very topic. Based on a recently published book from the University of Illinois Press, the discussion offers a compelling analysis of how these stories, drawn from a vast collection of accounts, serve as a vital expression of a faith that values “quiet miracles” and tangible, everyday service. I wanted to highlight a few insightful sections from that interview and offer some brief commentary on why these narratives continue to hold such power in our collective consciousness.
Julie Swallow introduced some of the background of the Three Nephites during the interview, referencing their origin story in 3 Nephi of the Book of Mormon, but then added information about when the stories began to appear among Latter-day Saints:
Stories about encounters with the Three Nephites don’t begin to circulate within the religious community until after the death of Joseph Smith.
The first mention of them as potential visitors comes in a talk given by Brigham Young in 1852. Young tells church members that, if they are faithful, they will receive help from the ancient disciples.
Other early church leaders began to intimate that previous divine assistance could be attributed to the Three Nephites, such as the miraculous plowing of David Whitmer’s field that enabled him to help Joseph Smith. Once the idea was planted that the Three Nephites could be ministering among the saints, the stories began to increase.
The stories trace their origins to the Book of Mormon through the storytelling of Latter-day Saints in early Utah.
While scholars tend to view these stories as folklore that isn’t historically verifiable, they are very real to many Latter-day Saints who tell stories about the Three Nephites. As Swallow put it, “706 of the original storytellers made statements that clearly indicated they felt they had encountered one (or more) of the immortal beings. 472 people who were sharing stories of someone else’s encounter indicated that they believed the person who told the story had been visited by one or more of the Three Nephites.” On the other hand,
Predictably, there is a range of reactions to Three Nephite stories:
- Outright Dismissal: Some people hear the stories and dismiss them.
- Partial Belief: Others are sure the person telling the story had an experience with the divine, but aren’t certain it’s one of the Three Nephites.
- Complete Acceptance: Others are sure it was an encounter with one of the Three Nephites.
I think one of my personal favorite Three Nephite stories I’ve been told was from my mission in Iowa and Illinois. An elderly gentleman in one of the wards I was stationed in told me about a time when he fell on his back porch and no one was around who could help him. As he lay there, three strapping Latino men pulled up on motorcycles, stopped, came into the backyard, and helped him get situated in the house, called for medical help before they mounted their motorcycles and took off. The man very much believed that these were the Three Nephites. One aspect that I find fascinating about this particular telling is that the appearance of the Three Nephites is Latino rather than northern European. Swallow noted that appearances varied considerably in the storytelling:
Bert Wilson, the American Folklorist who gathered the bulk of these narratives, noted that one of the consistencies of the Three Nephite stories is the inconsistency of the descriptions detailing the Nephites’ physical appearance. They appear in everything from rags to dapper suits, complete with top hat and cane. The description of their ethnicity varies widely; they have been described as Polynesian, Middle Eastern, Native American, and Caucasian.
Some consistency in appearance can be found within a story cycle. For example, in the 1980’s there was a popular story circulating about sister missionaries who were protected from a rapist by three large warriors who are presumed to be the Three Nephites. In contrast, stories set in the Depression era that tell of a man asking for food or lodging who rewards the generous generally feature a man who looks like a stereotypical hobo.
However, if you read the entire collection, you’ll see them described as both tall and short, old and young. They occasionally appear as a dog. And they aren’t always male. I like that one person described the Nephite as being similar in appearance to Santa Claus, and another described him as looking like a vampire. That pretty much sums up the diversity of the descriptions.
They have appeared in the stories in a variety of ways.
One of the highlights of the interview was a particularly interesting story:
In 2007, Robert worked at an electronics shop, and he had colleagues from many parts of the world. A man came into the shop who was able to speak fluently in multiple languages with his colleagues. He was impressed, so he approached the stranger with his limited German, saying, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”
The stranger began to speak in German. Robert admitted that he didn’t speak German, but asked the man how many languages he could speak. The man responded, “I know more languages than you know exist.”
They continued their conversation, and before parting, the man said, “When you go home or get near a computer, look up the word ‘Nephite.’ I’m one of those.”
Robert couldn’t remember the word exactly when he got home. He tried searching for the word Nephemal, but the search didn’t give him any helpful results. He didn’t think much of it after that.
His girlfriend at the time (now wife) was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he was meeting with missionaries. Roberts writes
Part way through the lessons they said something along the lines of “I want you to open up to the book of Nephi” and I stopped him and said “hey, hey, hey… that’s the word, ‘Nephite’!” and they assumed I was referring to the book and said “oh, great, what do you know of the book of Nephi?” and then, I didn’t know they were saying Nephi over Nephite, it sounded the same to me, which somehow triggered my memory… so I told them the story about me working at [the electronics shop] and they had this look of astonishment on their faces.
Robert Mitchell
The missionaries told Robert about the Three Nephites and helped him understand why the person he met knew so many languages.
Robert finishes his story by adding:
I was not Mormon at the time, my wife was, but my understanding of the religion was extremely limited and negative mostly to basically that of what South Park portrayed on TV and the jokes I’ve always heard throughout the years about Mormons.
I think back to it now and wish I would have known even some basic details of the Nephite’s, even not being Mormon at the time, I would have thought to ask something better than ‘do you speak German,’ but as the years have passed and I’ve shared this story with others, I’ve been enlightened to the fact that they are here to plant the seed in exactly the right way to either spark curiosity or land us on the right path.”
Robert Mitchell
I’m grateful that Robert was willing to share this experience with me. I particularly like his assessment of what the Three Nephites are doing and why.
It’s a pretty interesting story.
For more on the Three Nephites, head on over to From the Desk to read the full interview with Julie Swallow. While you’re there, check out the new D. Todd Christofferson quotes page, compiled in honor of his recent call to the First Presidency.
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