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The idea that the "other sheep" refers to Gentiles is false, because the Gentiles were to be converted through the ministry of His disciples, who were of the tribes of Israel. Jesus Himself was not sent to the Gentiles.

For this to be "so", John, would mean that you deem the Gentiles as having some other shepherd than Jesus Christ (your claim that "Jesus Himself was not sent to the Gentiles").

So, you not only buy into Joseph Smith's revelation that the Smith-church was...
..."the only true and living church on the face of the earth" [D&C]...
...oh, & btw, tell us John, which church is that? the Mormon version, the fLDS version, the RLDS, the CoC which emerged from the RLDS, or any of the restorationist offshoots?
...but you are now claiming that Gentile Christians have a shepherd other than Jesus because He wasn't sent to us, eh?

First, your Joseph Smith attacks us as having an implied false & dead church; and you've said "Amen" to that along with Normandy all your Smith-discipled lives...now you personally attack all Christians (especially on this thread) as being shepherdless Jesus Christ-wise.

And you've got some nerve & some gall accusing others on this thread of attacking Smith's disciples.

It MUST be the Book of MORMON!

All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few, except the elect have seen it or at least taken the trouble to read it.

I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me. It is such a pretentious affair and yet so slow,

so sleepy, such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print.

If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle. Keeping awake while he did it, was at any rate.

Mark Twain

And you've got some nerve & some gall accusing others on this thread of attacking Smith's disciples.

No need to get riled.

They are MORMONs.

That's what they DO!

...but you are now claiming that Gentile Christians have a shepherd other than Jesus because He wasn't sent to us, eh?

Classic misrepresentation. I made no such claim. I was merely stating what is obvious from the New Testament itself. The Acts of the Apostles is the record of a major shift in missionary outreach from the descendents of Israel (to whom Jesus Himself ministered) to the Gentiles (to whom the disciples of Jesus eventually ministered). When Gentiles become Christians, obviously Christ becomes their shepherd as well. Duh!

In Matthew 15:24 we have Jesus teaching: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So I was true to the New Testament when I interpreted the "other sheep" of John 10:16 as predicting a future appearance to decendants of the house of Israel. The Book of Mormon records less than a hundredth part of His Mesoamerican ministry, but those passages contain some unfragmented glimpses of a ministry that even in words only are stunningly beautiful. Thank you, Jesus, for allowing us to have an account of what some of that was like. May we soon become worthy to receive the remainder of the records of Your Mesoamerican ministry!