Coincidences from the Book of Mormon

I'm currently taking a class to finish getting my professional teaching license. It's entitled, "North Slope Inupiaq History, Language and Culture." We are studying some of their creation stories and other legends. One of them is particularly interesting.

Over the course of their oral history, they have legends of four major disasters. The first of these occurred at the end of a paradisaical period. The climate was much warmer and people didn't have to work for what they had. There was one boy who grew up and was the perfect child. He was helpful, kind, and thoughtful. Everyone loved him.

One day, as he was thinking near a pond, he heard a voice calling him. He looked around, but didn't see anything. The voice called again, but again there wasn't anyone. After a third time, he saw a man unlike anyone he had seen before with a long, white beard and hair. He was afraid because he had never seen anyone like that before, although people lived to see the 5th and 6th generations of their descendants. The man told him he was a prophet who had chosen this boy for his goodness to warn his people of a destruction to come.

He told him that to begin with, there would be great earthquakes. People wouldn't die from these. However, they would warn of things to come. Soon after, the sun would be eclipsed by the moon for three days and a nearby mountain would erupt. After that, all but very few people would be dead and the climate would change so that the people would have to wear warm clothes, deal with winter hardships, and be industrious.

The boy warned the people and they were responsive, but even so most of the surrounding populations of people were wiped out.

This story, and others of interest, can be found in the book, "People of Kawerak."