The Three Nephites
edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 2001
edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 2001
According to the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi, 28, ch. 28), a book given scriptural status by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Jesus Christ appeared to the inhabitants of the western hemisphere immediately following his death and resurrection in Palestine and promised three of his New World believers that they would never taste of death. The following stories are typical of the numerous accounts recorded by faithful Mormons of appearances by one or more of these three deathless saints, known as "The Three Nephites."
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It was on a hot summer day in the year 1874 at WaWa Springs in the state of Utah.
The springs being an oasis in the desert and nothing only sage and bunches of grass and hot sand it was here in a little lumber shack on their homestead Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Squires lived with their 3 small daughters. They owned horses and cattle and Mr. Squires had 2 or 3 men hired to help take care of these.
And it was on this day in 1874 they had gon on a round up leaving Mrs. Squires and the children a alone and they were miles from any one else and her husband had told her he would be back at a certain time and to have dinner ready for them And from the house they could see for miles in any derection.
And it being about time for them to come she went to the spring for water and look in ever derection to see if they were coming but there was nothing in sight and she took the water in and set it down and turned around and there to her amazement was a man standing in the door and he ask her if she would kindly give him a bit to eat and altho she was frightened she set the table it was humble but good meal.
I remember there was cheese bread butter cold milk and an apple pie and she told him to eat he was welcome and he did eat as though he was hungry. And while eating he conversed with her and said Sister you are not well and she said No I have had a pain in under my shoulder. Which bothered me a great deal and he said that is your liver but you wont be bothered any more with that. Then he got up and started off and thanked her for her kindness and fine meal and said Got bless you sister You will never want for any thing you will always be blessed with plenty and he left. As soon as she thought he had had time to turn the corner of the house she went out to see in what direction he had gon and there was no sighn of him where. This worried her more than ever. She went back in the house and to her suprize the table was just as she had set it And she had seen him eat and drink the milk. But it was there and she then thought how he looked and he was dressed so neet and his eyes were so bright and just twinkled when he talked and he had long white beard his hair was gray.
She was still worring when her husband and the men came and she ask them if they had seen him but they hadent. She told them the story but she couldent get it off her mind and it went on for about 3 months and her Mother Mrs. Abigal Abbott came to make her a visit and she told her the story and she smiled and said Why Lyda hove you forgote your Patriochal Blessing. You was promised that one of the Three Nephits would dine at your table thats who it was.
Well, she never had any more trouble with her liver lived a good old age and always had plenty and her husband died first and when she died she left a good start to her children and we have right here in our town a family of grand-children there mother being a daughter. And dieng before her mother her children got her share and it set them all up in business.
When she died she was 89 years old.
This story was told to me by my mother it was her fathers sister and she heard her till it and also Mr. Bowman he is the father of the family here in our town a son in law of Mrs Squires. A he also tell the same story.
This story came from Clyde Trammel, of Grand Junction, and I haven't had an opportunity to check with him about it, but it seems that a friend of his and his friend's wife were driving by truck from Montrose to Grand Junction when they picked up an old man. They hauled him for a long was and he seemed to be very much read-up on the current events; he knew a great deal about the war, and he talked very interestingly. They came to a long, desolate stretch of road, and the old man wanted out, and they tried to dissuade him and told him that he should go on down to more civilization, but he insisted on being let off. And they let him out on this long stretch of road. As he got out of the truck he thanked them, and he said, "On your way back you will be hauling a dead man." And then he says, "I suppose there's something you want to know?"
"Well, maybe the end of the war."
He said, "The war will end in August." This was in 1944.
Well, they went on, and they talked about the old man. And on the way back they picked up a dead man from a car wreck. There had been a wrecked car, and one of the fellows was killed, and they hauled the corpse back into Grand Junction. And of course it lent more credence to the old prediction of the end of the war. But August, '44, came and went, and the war still didn't end. However, in August, '45, the war ended, and they decided that the old man had been a Nephite.
Q: They didn't decide that he was a Nephite until after the end of the war?
A: Oh, yes. When they hauled the corpse back, they decided that he must have had some foreknowledge; and some of their friends had told them about the Nephites, and so they made up their minds that he was a Nephite. However, they began to doubt it when the war didn't end in August.
Q: When did you first hear this story?
A: This spring, 1946. And I heard it from Mrs. MacDougall, of Green River, Utah.
Q: Was Mrs. MacDougall one of the persons concerned?
A: No, she had heard the story from Clyde Trammel, who is a railroad man. And he, himself wasn't concerned in the story. It was some friends of his that had had the experience.
I used to know a woman who knew she had seen the three Nephites. That was old Sister Ashby. She was living alone at the time. They were all alone and the baby was awfully sick, and she couldn't get help of any kind.
She said these three men came into the room. They didn't open the door at all, but just appeared in the room. And they administered to the sick child and prayed with her and helped here there a little. And then they left the same way. She was sure they were the Nephites, and I've heard her tell it.
Q: And there were three of them all together?
A: Yes, all three of them.
Q: Where did this take place?
A: That was in Holden. Of course Mrs. Ashby has been dead a long time now, but she told me about this herself.
Seems like I did hear a story about one of the Nephites once. Don't know if I can remember it or not, though. It was along time ago when I heard it. It was out there on the road between Lyndal and Delta. You know what kind of country that is -- just flat desert for about forty miles. Well, this feller -- I think it was old John Rogers -- was goin' along and he saw an old man on the road. So he stopped and asked him if he wanted a rid; but he said no, he didn't want any ride. And seems like they talked there for quite awhile, and when old John Rogers had drove off -- maybe forty yards down the road -- he looked around and couldn't see the old feller nowhere.
Q: Did the old man give him any advice or help or did he prophesy anything?
A: Seems like he did. I think it was my Grandmother Melville told the story a long time ago. Maybe it was in church. Seems like she said he predicted something, but I can't remember what. Maybe it was that Delta would have the third largest population in the state. And when you count Topaz [Japanese relocation center] that almost makes it come true.
Q: Did Rogers think it was one of the Nephites?
A: Oh, yes. He said he was sure it was.
The story concerns some people who were driving on Highway 91 from Nephi to Cedar City. They picked up an elderly man who was hitchhiking. He rode in the back seat and conversed with them. Somewhere near Parowan they turned to speak with him but he had disappeared from the back seat of the car, which had not been stopped. They inquired about him a Parowan and were told that a person of the same description had previously appeared from nowhere and asked a lady for food and then had disappeared in open country when anyone might easily have been seen. It was thought by some that he was a Nephite.
Revised April 8, 2001.