Because her mother was ill, the girl walked beside the covered wagon so that the older woman would be able to ride inside to rest.? When the girl reached her destination, her dress clung in shreds to her perspiring flesh.? Another man recalls the story of how his great-grandmother walked barefoot across the plains, carrying her shoes until she reached her new home.

Stories of the hardscrabble beginnings of the West, with primitive terrain, a long journey on foot, and lack of food and water for many days, seem almost incomprehensible to those accustomed to modern transportation methods and the advanced civilization of the United States.?The thought of a supernatural source intervening to relieve the starkness of the experience is comforting to the descendants of the pioneers and, indeed, to anyone hearing the stories.

Many tales of the Three Nephites reflect the character of the West and Mormon culture, and they interpret the needs therein, both present and past. “This cycle of narratives about the Three Nephites tends to persist according to the needs of the people,?says Schoemaker.?“It is a fluid and amorphous body that changes as needs arise within the culture.? For example, in the sixties and seventies, when there was a push for emergency preparedness, one would hear narratives about people who were driving and would see an old hitchhiker who advised them to store food and other necessities in case of an emergency such as an earthquake or flood.?o:p>

Tales of war are not uncommon. In one story, a Nephite leads an imaginary army of Israelis against a force of Arabs.

Crisis management

Many Three Nephite stories take place during times of world political duress–specifically, wars.? Nephite warnings have been heard during the Cold War, the Korean War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Persian Gulf conflict.?

One dramatic narrative relates that during a conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis, the Israelis were outnumbered by thousands–they had only one cannon and ten men, while the Arabs had plenty of men and artillery.? To create the illusion of a vast army, the Israelis banged on cans and moved their single cannon to shoot at various areas of the battlefield to simulate many men and many cannons.?When the Israelis were nearly exhausted from this charade, the Arabs surrendered, throwing down their weapons and flying a white flag.?