Mormon Question - Freeper Help, Please.

Looking for help from Mormons or those familiar with Mormon beliefs. Google has been unable to help me with this one.

I have been posed the following claim by an individual, a non-Mormon, speaking of Mormon beliefs:

"Mormons believe that there are three people still alive from the days of Jesus, who walk the Earth this very day."

Can somebody provide me with a either a clarification or debunking on this. Internet research has failed me.

Titans, I’m sorry that this threat degenerated so quickly with reactionary responses.

It’s an interesting question you ask; I hope this answer is helpful.

The following passage, from the Book of Mormon, relates the conversation held between the Savior, when He visited His people in the Americas, and His Apostles that He chose there at that time: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/28

***
1 And it came to pass when Jesus had said these words, he spake unto his disciples, one by one, saying unto them: What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?
2 And they all spake, save it were three, saying: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom.
3 And he said unto them: Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing of me; therefore, after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.
4 And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father?
5 And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired.
6 And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me.
7 Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven.
8 And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father.
9 And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.
***

So, like John in the New Testament, the “Three Nephites,” as they have come to be known in LDS culture, were promised that they would not die until Christ’s second coming; in the meantime, they would labor to bring souls to Him.

Of course, numerous urban legends have arisen in the LDS community regarding the supposed works of these three; but they have evidently never announced themselves to the modern world. Probably a wise decision.

Interestingly, Mormon, the author of most of the Book of Mormon, later in the same chapter expounded on the condition of these three:

***
36 And now behold, as I spake concerning those whom the Lord hath chosen, yea, even three who were caught up into the heavens, that I knew not whether they were cleansed from mortality to immortality—
37 But behold, since I wrote, I have inquired of the Lord, and he hath made it manifest unto me that there must needs be a change wrought upon their bodies, or else it needs be that they must taste of death;
38 Therefore, that they might not taste of death there was a change wrought upon their bodies, that they might not suffer pain nor sorrow save it were for the sins of the world.
39 Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the earth could not hold them.
40 And in this state they were to remain until the judgment day of Christ; and at that day they were to receive a greater change, and to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the heavens.
***

I hope this answers your question. In the LDS Church, we do believe that the three men you cite exist.

Thank you very much, tantiboh.

A civil response from a practicing Mormon was what I was hoping for. Now I better understand. Google was most unhelpful until I learned the term, “Nephite,” from Free Republic in this thread. I don’t recall having heard the word before.

Anyhow, the Mormon scriptures you provide are very helpful, and provide a much less - shall I say, - super-hyperbolistic version than the man who brought it up to me.

May I contact you in the future if I have any other questions? If this thread is any indication, I’m not going to get civil answers from a whole lot of folks. I’d much rather be able to contact someone to give me the Mormon reference point(s) on such questions. Believe me, as a Christian in Chicagoland, I know what it’s like to hear nonbelievers butcher stories from my Holy Book.

It’s always my pleasure to answer honest questions about my faith. You or anybody else can feel free to contact me about such things anytime you like. I’ll do my best to be honest and straightforward.

The term “Nephite” (pronounced “knee-fight”), incidentally, is generally used in the Book of Mormon to refer to the descendants of Nephi, one of the founding fathers of the civilizations portrayed in the Book of Mormon. It’s really a word unique to LDS culture, as we are the only denomination that accepts the Book of Mormon as holy scripture in addition to the Bible.

~”If this thread is any indication, I’m not going to get civil answers from a whole lot of folks.”~

It does frustrate me that you had such an experience; unfortunately, Mormons are attacked by some Christians so often on Free Republic (where a lot of staunch Christians tend to accumulate) that some of us here have developed a knee-jerk negative reaction that’s entirely unwarranted. Pavlov’s dog and all that, I suppose. I also noticed there was more than one poster on this thread that couldn’t help but to take their cheap shot.

Anyway, I’m always happy to help.

The scriptures list the three Nephites and John the Beloved as ministering on the earth until Jesus returns. The scriptures also discuss when a person is "tranlated" and taken up without dying.

The Bible also lists Elijah the prophet as not dying. Then There is Enoch and his city (thousands?) where the Bible explains what it means to be translated. Mormons believe that Moses was also translated. And Alma a Book of Mormon prophet.

GUIDE TO THE SCRIPTURES from lds.org

Translated Beings

Persons who are changed so that they do not experience pain or death until their resurrection to immortality.

Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him, Gen. 5: 24 (Heb. 11: 5; D&C 107: 48-49). No man knoweth of Moses’ sepulchre unto this day, Deut. 34: 5-6 (Alma 45: 19). Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven, 2 Kgs. 2: 11. If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? John 21: 22-23 (D&C 7: 1-3). You shall never taste of death, 3 Ne. 28: 7. That they might not taste of death there was a change wrought upon their bodies, 3 Ne. 28: 38 (4 Ne. 1: 14; Morm. 8: 10-11). John the Beloved will live until the Lord comes, D&C 7. I have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom, D&C 38: 4 (Moses 7: 21, 31, 69). Enoch and his brethren are a city reserved until a day of righteousness, D&C 45: 12. Elijah was taken to heaven without tasting death, D&C 110: 13. The Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up into Zion, Moses 7: 27.

Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Hebrews 11: 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Duet 34:5 ¶ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 7 ¶ And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

Alma 45: 19 Behold, this we know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the Spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto himself; therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial.

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