I've always wondered (even when I was an LDS) why, if there were 3 Nephites who would never die, then why did the plates have to be buried and why did the American Church which was supposedly established by Jesus in AD 33, die off completely? What have these Nephites been doing all this time? Hiding in some cave protecting the holy grail?
And if these guys held the priesthood from then until now, then what was the need for a restoration of the priesthood from heaven? Didn't these living Nephites have the authority to pass the priesthood down according the the mormon theology?
Just wondering.
Well........maybe living forever is a curse. As someone who is saved and knows where I'll go after I die (with assurance), I'd have to say it definatley IS a curse.
Those three Nephite dudes must have done something very, very bad...Jehova (Jesus, who is not the same as Elohim, God) must have caused a cloud upon their minds so they couldn't remember where the blasted Hill Cumorah was, and obviously they lost the priesthood because they fell into evil.
BUT WAIT....the Church never published an "official" statement that the three Nephites actually exist....OR that the Apostle John is still wandering the earth, never to die. : )