No offense taken at all, Ugzugz- I'll try my best to answer your questions, though i doubt I'm really qualified to do so.
Yes- we believe Jesus, after the ressurection, proclaimed "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" That's from John 10:16, posted above.
The Book of Mormon would definentley be your best bet in undertsanding what went on when Christ visited them. To give you a very brief account: He spent time with many of them, blessed the children, performed miracles, prayed with them, appointed 12 Apostles to lead the church in America. You are correct in describing them as descendants of Lehi and Nephi (called Nephites usually)~ however......
There is around 3 parts in the Book of Mormon where ancient missionaries were sent to preach the Gospel, and found either a destroyed civilization, or other people with strange languages. So yes, I'm guessing there was other people there when they arrived, and we know of course that more people arrived after the Nephites.
--The Book of Mormon is rather a compilation of records- much like the Bible, except it was translated directly through Joseph Smith. Mormon, rather than the author, was an abridger- and one of the last of the righteous Nephites. There is a record of the Brother of Jared- who's record says they built boats and came from the land of the Tower of Babel.(that would explain the strange languages I guess)
About the boats- it would not be hard to believe at all, if you believe in Noah and his ark- however, if you don't believe in that-- it would be a hard thing to do- without the help of the Lord, that is. We do know from a description of the Brother of Jared's boats that they were small, compact, only one entrance that was sealed during the voyage, and he also had stones that had been touched by God to light the boats.
Your last question about the different tribes is hard for me to answer, for some reason.... Many of these tribes could probably be called "Nephites", while others could not be related... as I stated above, The Book of Mormon ends in A.D. 421, consequently that is when Christ's church left the american continent (left as in... all the believers dieing). Also, many of the places in the Book of Mormon tend most to believe most of the events to have taken place in southern modern Mexico, and into South America. So i guess it wouldn't even be that wierd to think they never saw the North American Tribes.
I'm used to ridicule, as most Mormons are-- but your questions didn't come across like that to me. you can email me if you want more info or some cool websites, Ugzugz--
monkeeboi10@yahoo.com
-again, there is lots more to explain, and I am not so good at it... i would reccomend reading the Book of Mormon, you would undertsand alot better hehe.
