Plain and Simple Truth

Some Theorists writing on where Lehi landed, have chosen to take them across the South Pacific, after passing through Indonesia, claiming they stopped at numerous islands enroute, naming their stops Jewish names that survive today in various forms. Despite all the winds and currents to the opposite, they blithely claim Nephi’s ship maneuvered its way through straits so narrow even today with mechanized vessels, is considered extremely dangerous. How Nephi guided his ship “driven forth before the wind (1 Nephi 18:9), that is, a sailing ship dependent on the winds and currents, through some of these remarkably dangerous waters of cross-currents, eddies, shoals, etc., is never mentioned or even considered. They look at a map and simply draw a line across it.

However, the Nephi Colony, totally inexperienced as deep sea mariners, are taken across waters in a direction (west to east) no other weather vessel is ever recorded as traveling against winds and currents. Still, despite all this, these theorists would have us believe that the Lehi Colony stopped in several places to replenish their stores and provisions, without a single word recorded by Nephi. Now, consider the mental makeup of Laman and Lemnuel and the sons of Ishmael, who continually sought Nephi’s life. At one point, tied him up and were going to kill him but relented only because they thought they were going to drown in a storm (1 Nephi 18:15), and “they knew not whither they should steer the ship” (1 Nephi 18:13).

Now, if the Lehi Colony landed on any one of the south sea islands these theorists claim, would not Laman, Lemuel and the other rebellious souls, who then would not need to know “whither to steer the ship,” simply kill Nephi? Or refuse to reboard their ship? Why bother with continuing to a place they knew nothing about when they were in paradise? Throughout the history of Europeans sailing through the South Seas (from east to west), numerous sailors jumped ship to remain in this paradise. The entire story of Captain Bleigh and the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty, typifies this point. Yet, even beyond this, one would think these wayward sons and families would have caused some difficulty for Lehi and Nephi, for they had continually done so over an eight year period of desert travel which was dutifully recorded by Nephi, even to his preaching by the Spirit to his brothers.

Yet, not one word is recorded of any difficulty. No. Not one.

Nephi merely writes: “And it came to pass after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land” (1 Nephi 18:23).

Theorists should stop looking at a map and deciding where the Lehi Colony went because they can draw a pencil line from point to point without any supporting evidence of winds, currents, condition and type of their ship, attitudes of the occupants, and how they could have arrived at their destination. They also should stop thinking that Nephi did not tell us where he sailed from, where he sailed to, and where he landed. It is as plain as can be.

This is the course the Lehi Colony took across the Southern Ocean as shown extensively in "Lehi Never Saw Mesoamerica." This matches all winds, sea currents, and smooth sailing out of the sight of land on a "fast track" of the West Wind Drift and the Prevailing Westerlies to the Land of Promise.