Chapter Twelve - Jesus Christ Comes to America

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jesus Christ Comes to America

3 NEPHI 1–30

The signs begin.

A new star appears.
The night comes, but it stays bright.
No darkness.
Just light.

The prophecy is fulfilled.
Jesus is born. Far away, in another land.
But the heavens speak and the people here see it.

Many believe.
Many still do not.

Time passes.
Decades.
The people grow wicked again.

Prophets cry out.
They’re silenced.

Then, without warning, destruction.

Storms.
Lightning.
Fires.
Earthquakes.

Cities are sunk into the sea.
Others burn.
Mountains crumble.
Highways break apart.

Tens of thousands die.
In a single day.

Then, silence.

Three days of darkness.

No light.
No fire.
No sun.
Just blackness and weeping.

A voice from the sky speaks:

“I am Jesus Christ.
I created the world.
I came to my people.
They rejected me.
Now I come to you.”

He names the cities destroyed.
He tells them to repent.
He says He has gathered them, like a hen gathers her chicks, but they would not.

The voice stops.
The light returns.
The survivors stagger forward.

Then, sometime later, He comes.

At a temple, a crowd gathers.
They hear a voice. Soft, yet piercing.

It speaks three times.

Then He descends.

A man. Glorified. Wounded. Radiant.

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified would come into the world.”

He invites them to touch His hands.
His side.

One by one, they come.
Hundreds.
They see.
They feel.
They believe.

He teaches.
He gives them the Sermon on the Mount, with a few changes.
He blesses the poor, the meek, and the merciful.
He warns against anger, lust, and false oaths.
He tells them to love enemies.
To pray in secret.
To forgive.
To build on rock, not sand.

He chooses twelve disciples.
He gives them power to baptize.
He heals the sick.
He raises the dead.
He blesses the children, one by one.

Angels surround them.
Fire encircles them.
The heavens open.

He brings bread and wine, miraculously.
They partake.

He quotes scripture.
He preaches unity.
He warns against pride.
He promises to return.

Then He ascends.

Peace follows.

For almost two hundred years, the people live without war, without poverty, and without division.

No “ites.”
No Nephites or Lamanites.
Just one people, followers of Christ.

But it will not last.