Shaking their heads at his words, the couple continued to discuss the man as they drove.? But before they reached their destination, they encountered a wrecked car with a corpse inside.? Because there was no one else around and no way to summon help, they hauled the body to Grand Junction.? Although World War II did not end until a year after the man’s prediction, they still believed him to be one of the Three Nephites.

The wandering Jew. In another story, the mysterious man is claimed to be either one of the Three Nephites or the Scandinavian “wandering Jew,?who also travels the land doing good deeds and has the ability to disappear.?/span>

In this narrative, two men were chopping wood near the southern Utah desert when an elderly man walked up and asked them for bread and fabric to patch his worn clothes.? He said he planned to cross the desert.? One of them said to the man, “Do you know what the desert country is like??You will have to pack water to cross through that country.?Don’t go yet–you have no water.?span style="mso-spacerun: yes">?The man replied that he knew how to get water. They talked, and finally he said he would be going.?As soon he was gone, the men realized the stranger was one of the Three Nephites or possibly the wandering Jew, since part of their conversation was in German.? They rushed ahead eight blocks into town searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

It is rare to find all three Nephites within a single narrative—usually, the storyteller encounters a lone bearded man.?Folklorists speculate that because the Nephite stories are variations of the wandering Jew and vanishing hitchhiker tales, one person travels about doing good deeds rather than three.

Mormon beliefs. The other origin theory relates to Mormon religious beliefs: Christ visited the inhabitants of North and South America after he was resurrected.? He organized his church among those inhabitants, choosing twelve disciples among the Nephites.? When his work on earth was completed, he asked his American disciples what they wanted of him.? All but three immediately said that after they had lived their lives, they wanted to join him speedily in the kingdom of heaven.?Jesus assured them that they would have their wish.