OK these are pretty weird – and not doctrinal in the slightest. But they are interesting. They are interesting because of what Jesus said here – after his resurrection and just before his old-world ascension:





John 10:16: “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.”





other sheep to visit: The people in the Book of Mormon were those other sheep – Christ said so himself . And then he said he had yetsheep to visit:





3 Nephi 16:1: “ 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.”





these other sheep we have no record. Yet. We certainly know they were visited, but do we know who they were? Ofother sheep we have no record. Yet. We certainly know they were visited, but do we know whowere?





No way no how. But here are some interesting legends of Christ visitations. To be sure there are scores of accounts of a ‘light-skinned, bearded God visiting people – especially in the Americas. But that white god is assigned different names. In these next three accounts he is specifically identified as Jesus.





Two of the three accounts here definitely do not show Christ descending arrayed in glory. Instead they show him escaping the resurrection and living out his days elsewhere.





But do these stories stem from accounts that used to be more accurate?





I have no idea!





Japan









“On the flat top of a steep hill in a distant corner of northern Japan lies the tomb of an itinerant shepherd who, two millennia ago, settled down there to grow garlic. He fell in love with a farmer’s daughter named Miyuko, fathered three kids and died at the ripe old age of 106. In the mountain hamlet of Shingo, he’s remembered by the name Daitenku Taro Jurai. The rest of the world knows him as Jesus Christ.





“It turns out that Jesus of Nazareth—the Messiah, worker of miracles and spiritual figurehead for one of the world’s foremost religions—did not die on the cross at Calvary, as widely reported. According to amusing local folklore, that was his kid brother, Isukiri, whose severed ear was interred in an adjacent burial mound in Japan…

“Having run afoul of the Roman authorities, Jesus was arrested and condemned to crucifixion for heresy. But he cheated the executioners by trading places with the unsung, if not unremembered, Isukiri. To escape persecution, Jesus fled back to the promised land of Japan with two keepsakes: one of his sibling’s ears and a lock of the Virgin Mary’s hair. He trekked across the frozen wilderness of Siberia to Alaska, a journey of four years, 6,000 miles and innumerable privations. This alternative Second Coming ended after he sailed to Hachinohe, an ox-cart ride from Shingo.

“Upon reaching the village, Jesus retired to a life in exile, adopted a new identity and raised a family. He is said to have lived out his natural life ministering to the needy.” ( https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-known-legend-of-jesus-in-japan-165354242/ )

I told you it was weird. But did it stem from stories that were more in line with the New Testament and the Book of Mormon? If it happened – were miracles wrought and Beatitudes taught?









India





“I was sitting in Hemis, in Northern India, when the abbot of the Buddhist monastery said to me “You know Jesus studied here…”





“I thought I had misheard the monk. I said “Excuse me? Who studied here?” He clarified. “Issa. You know him as Jesus, we refer to him as Issa. This is the monastery he spent ten years at.” I thought I had misunderstood him until I did the research…





“What makes the “Life of St. Issa” notable (there is a copy in Hemis, the original is in Lhasa, according to a scholar I asked) is that many people have seen it, examined it; it’s a traditional Tibetan text written on blocks of paper, so each story is limited to the characters that can fit on a particular page…





“Later, there are other accounts of this same fellow, post crucifixion making his way back to India. Those accounts include the story of Yuz Asaf “the anointed one” who was traveling with his mother “Mary of virgin birth.” This fellow Yuz Asaf is buried in Srinigar, and a caste of his supposed feet (hard to imagine when that occurred) is next to his tomb and shows someone whose feet had been nailed at some point in that man’s life…





“I am the way and the light.” The Qu’ran mentions that Issa “survived the crucifixion and went to preach in India” - as well as mentioning Issa more often than it does Mohamed. So if that’s news, then I would suggest checking into it further. “Yes, there is a body of evidence that Issa traveled to India, Kashmir and Tibet. There are reports of Yuz Asaf preaching in Persia, where a local King erected a statue to him, with the quoteThe Qu’ran mentions that Issa “survived the crucifixion and went to preach in India” - as well as mentioning Issa more often than it does Mohamed. So if that’s news, then I would suggest checking into it further.

“But anyone who says that there is no evidence of his appearing in India, Kashmir or Tibet hasn’t looked at the books cited above. I include in that canon the “Gospel of Thomas” from the gnostic gospels - where Thomas claims that during his trip to India, he met with Jesus again at a wedding (years later)…” ( https://www.quora.com/Did-Jesus-Christ-ever-visit-or-live-in-India-Tibet-or-Kashmir )

What I like most up there is the line “I am the way and the light.” I like it because it sounds so much like this reference where Christ refers to himself as light in the Bible:





John 9:5: “…I am the light of the world…”





And then Christ and some of his prophets reference him as the light a bunch of times in the BOM:





Mosiah 16:9: “He is the life and light of the world…”

Alma 38:9: …Behold, he is the life and the light of the world…”

3 Nephi 9:18: “I am the light and life of the world…”

3 Nephi 11:11: “…I am the light and the life of the world…”

3 Nephi 18:16: “…Behold I am the light…”

D&C 10:70: “And now, remember the words of him who is the light and life of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God…”





And here’s my favorite – probably because it smells so much more like the 3 Nephi visitation:





Russia





“But I couldn’t take my eyes off of the cover of the phonograph record he had given me as a token of his respect to me for my lecture on free agency and enterprise. The Berlin Wall had fallen, Gorbachev had instituted a radical restructuring (perestroika) and openness (glasnost). As part of this awakening in the USSR I had been invited by the recently retired Deputy Minister of Higher Education to speak some of the leading new businessmen and women in Moscow, Russia.

“To hold that phonograph record and see the painting on the front left me speechless.

““Who painted this,” I asked him.

““A great painter for our church about 1900; Mikhail Nestorov who painted so much canvases of faith,” he smiled so broadly as our translator proclaimed the history. “His Holy Rus is a favorite of all of us and it hangs today in the Russian Gallery in Leningrad.”

““What does it depict?”

““Our Savior visiting ancient Russia or Rus.” The translator didn’t wait for the priest to provide the history. “We all know this story…”





“Later in 1992 I was invited to have lunch with a person they called the Metropole Peterim, the highest authority of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, and chairman of the ruling council of the entire church. This gentleman is similar to president of the quorum of 12 apostles in the LDS church.





“After the lunch and tour of his headquarters, I asked him if he knew of a painting where Christ seemed to be appearing to the ancient Slavic people. He said that he did, that it had been used for a special phonograph record cover and that the original was in their private archives. I asked him where the artist got the idea of such a scene.

“He replied solemnly that it was “inspired by an ancient folk tale that said after Christ’s death he visited the Slavic people, ancestors of the Russians, to bring his gospel. The people who listened to Christ were the humble and lowly in the farms and countryside. They took upon themselves his name which when written phonetically in our characters rather than Cyrillic is Kristiany. The word for peasant in Russian is Kristiany. Those who believed in Him took upon themselves His name.”

“I asked the Metropole if he believed that Christ actually came to the lands of present day Russia and Ukraine. He nodded, stroking his beard.

““It could very well have been…”” https://ldsmag.com/did-jesus-visit-russia-after-his-resurrection/)





Everyone who has ever lived has an equal shot at heavenly redemption. Christ personally taking his gospel to people all over the world is a piece of that. I can’t vouch for these three specific examples – but I’m willing to bet there’s a real written record somewhere.