The Prophecy of the Scriptures from the Lost Tribes.

 In 2 Nephi 29:12-13 Nephi gives a prophecy that three different groups of people will write scripture that will eventually be known to all three groups.

"For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth, and they shall write it.

And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and Jews."

It is pretty clear that the words of the Jews is the Bible, and the words of the Nephites is the Book of Mormon, but there has been much speculation about the words of the lost tribes and how they might be discovered and distributed to the other groups. The podcasters I listened to this week alluded to some future day when the records of other people Jesus visited will be revealed and how wonderful that would be. That might be how this prophecy is fulfilled but I had another idea that I haven't really heard put forward before. 

What if this prophecy was fulfilled by Joseph Smith?  In my mind Joseph Smith's revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants meet all the requirements of this passage.  Was Joseph Smith from one of the lost tribes?  Yes, he, like the majority of modern American members of the church is from the tribe of Ephraim, which is one of the lost tribes. Did the Lord speak to him?  Yes, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus in his first vision and then received many revelations from Jesus throughout his life. Did Joseph Smith write the words that he received and are they now available to the descendants of Lehi, to the Jews, and to the whole world?  Yes, the words Joseph Smith received that have been canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants are now available world wide wherever they are allowed to be published and in many languages. 

The scripture ends with the promise, "and I will speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it."  As time goes on and the general leadership of the church becomes more diverse, this part of the prophecy is also fulfilled.  Right now in the the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, we have members from North America, Europe, and South America.  We have other general authorities from Asia and Africa and Australia that speak at conference and their words are written and made available freely to the world through the church website. 

I don't think we need to wait for a day when some long-lost ancient civilization is discovered that has records of Jesus visiting them in the meridian of time.  We just need to study the standard works and listen prayerfully to General Conference.