When they saw that there were only ten Israelis and a single cannon, they were astonished, asking the whereabouts of the rest of the troops.

When the Israelis revealed that the ten men formed their entire company, the Arabs related that they had seen thousands of men just across the hill.? They were led by a man with a long white beard—one of the Three Nephites.

Genealogical research. Another facet of the Three Nephite stories relates to genealogical research.?There are many accounts of their supplying details to genealogical researchers, such as a list of missing names or a newspaper containing crucial information, or telling a researcher, to look in a certain old trunk.? In these stories, the Nephite delivers his message and dramatically disappears, adding credibility to the story.

In one tale, a grandmother was having difficulty locating the names of her ancestors in a particular genealogical line.?She had done considerable research without success.?One evening, while she was in her kitchen and her husband was in the living room, they heard someone typing in the study.? At first, each thought it was the other, but then they realized that neither was in the room with the typewriter.? When they went into the room, they found that the elusive names had been typed into the correct spaces.? Although they saw no men, they firmly believed that this was an act of the Three Nephites.

Rescue from danger. Other stories relate how the Nephites provide assistance or rescue those in danger.?In one very popular narrative, Dr. Babcock, a professor at the University of Utah in the 1920s, was rescued from a mountaintop peppered with loose shale by an old man with a long white beard.?Another story tells of a family surrounded by flames in the middle of a cornfield.? They were certain that they would die until a kindly bearded man stepped through the fire and held out his hand to guide them to safety.

In other stories, the Nephites repaired a broken truck axle, towed a stranded automobile to safety, guided motorists lost in blizzards or in the deserts of Death Valley, kept a long-haul truck driver awake, and pulled people from a flaming pileup on the Los Angeles Freeway.?In Portland, Oregon, a woman took a break in the department store where she worked and forgot to check out at the time clock; a Nephite met her at the foot of the stairs to remind her of her negligence.