The Jaredites Cross The Ocean

In the Book of Mormon in Ether chapter 6 the Jaredites enter into the eight barges which they had built to begin their journey to the Americas.

The Barges They Built

The properties, dimensions, and construction of the barges is described in Ether 2:16 - 17, 20.

"16 ...And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water.
17 And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish."
"20 ...make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air..."

The Journey To The Americas

In Ether 2:23 the Lord informed the Jaredites that they were not to take fire with them. For light they have two stones (Ether 3:1,6) per barge that give light because the lord touched them. Final preparations to depart and their departure are recorded in Ether 6:4-5

"4 And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them - and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.
5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind."

This journey lasted three hundred and forty and four days according to Ether 6:11.

A few thoughts I have had about this journey are as follows. It seems to me they very likely had to practice some form of composting on their vessels to keep the stench of their waste down and because they were in constant motion they may have had little or no opportunity to open the door and discharge waste.

Furthermore along with the food they must have had enough water for the entire journey or a method of converting sea water to drinking water for them and all the animals that were with them.

The barges had no steering so they were completely dependent upon the Lord to get them where they needed to go and keep the eight barges together such that when they landed they were all together. This must have required great faith on their part. And if there were any who lacked faith once the journey had begun, it was too late and they were stuck for the remainder of the journey since they had no way to control where they went.

The light in their barges from the stones prepared by the Lord I view as a symbol of the light of the gospel shining upon them for the entire journey.

There is no record if they knew how long the journey would take and their main indicator would have been if the Lord had told them exactly how much food to take with them. If that is not the case then I doubt they knew how long it would take. In any case the amount of food remaining toward the end of the journey would be dramatically less than when they started after consuming food for over three hundred days. Again this would test their faith that they would arrive at the promised land before their supplies ran out.

They shed tears of joy (Ether 6:12) before the Lord upon setting foot on the promised land.

Three Nephite Disciples Will Not Taste Of Death

In 3 Nephi 28 there is recorded an  extraordinary event which I will portray here.

Jesus, robed in white, is talking with his twelve disciples and asks them "What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?" I will here focus on the three disciples who did not immediately give Jesus their answer and so in verse 4 Jesus repeats the same question. When they still don't reply Jesus tells them he knows their thoughts and tells them what they want and grants it unto them.

They wanted to continue to bring souls to Jesus until his second coming. This would mean they would have to not die. They knew the implications of this. What I suspect they didn't realize is everything else that would come with such a request. The experienced a change that meant they would not taste of death until Christs second coming.

What they were granted that they may not have realized would be granted is that they would no longer suffer pain nor sorrows except for the sorrow for the sins of others. This means no more broken bones for them, no more getting sick, and quite likely no more aging.

Furthermore Jesus told them Satan could no longer tempt them. From that moment on, most, if not all of their mortal test ended. They saw marvelous things in heaven which they could not tell others.

They could not be burned, prisons could not hold them, wild beasts would not hurt them, pits they were thrown into could not hold them, and in fine all manner of ways people could and would use to bind them or punish them would no longer work against them.