The Other Other Sheep

When Jesus was teaching the apostles in Jerusalem, He taught them that He is the Good Shepherd. He explains how a true shepherd knows his sheep, and they know their shepherd, and they follow him and know his voice. A true shepherd will give his life for his sheep.

While He is teaching them about Him being the Good Shepherd, He explains:

"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10:16)

Later, while Christ is teaching the Nephites at the temple, he tells them that He had said this to those in Jerusalem:

"That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (3 Nephi 15:17)

He said they didn't understand what he meant, but that he was commanded to say no more about it to His apostles.

He went on to explain that the Nephites are those other sheep:

"But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath given me." (3 Nephi 15:24)

He then goes on to explain:

"And verily, verily, I say unto you that I have other sheep, which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister." (3 Nephi 16:1)

So not only are the Nephites the "other sheep" he described in Jerusalem, but that there are even more sheep scattered around and that He would go to them too:

"But I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them." (3 Nephi 16:3)

To be honest, I'm fascinated by this idea. The Book of Mormon is a record of the other sheep, the Nephites and Lamanites, that left Jerusalem and established a people and a civilization. But what about other people? If Christ visited them too, they would have a record of it, right? Wouldn't it be wonderful to have more of that? More of what we have in 3 Nephi, the record of Christ visiting the Americas? I would love that! 

I wonder who those people were, where they got started, and where they lived (according to today's geography). With how "big" the world was at that time (as far as travel and communication, civilizations were generally pretty isolated from each other and things), people could be relatively close to each other and have no idea of each others' existence. In fact, that happened in the Book of Mormon. The people described in the book of Ether, the Jaredites, were brought in barges to the americas. Their people overlapped with the Nephites for a couple hundred years! This means that really, the other sheep Christ told the Nephites about (the "other" other sheep), could have been in other areas of the americas, asia, europe, africa, or the many isles in the middle of the ocean. In fact, there is a record of people leaving the Nephites, led by Hagoth, who sailed off into the sea and were never heard from again. We are told that their descendants are the pacific islanders.

As fascinating as it would be to add to our scriptures the records of diverse other people around the globe that Christ visited, I can do better with what I have. Between the Bible, Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, there is a lot to be learned and studied from these books of scripture already. I can study with more depth and earnestness.

Perhaps some day we will be able to read/hear these other peoples' accounts and we will learn more of them. For now, I am trying to do better with what I already have without adding more to it.