True Apostles existed, but they were in the Eastern Hemisphere, where Jesus has personally ministered, and there can be only twelve Apostles at any one time. The twelve whom Jesus chose among the Nephites had special divine authority from God to lead the Lord’s church in America among the Nephites; but thy would have come under the jurisdiction or authority of the Twelve whom Jesus chose in Palestine. Whether they actually communicated with each other in some way or not, I don’t know. Obviously they could not have communicated normally, because modern means of communication between the two continents did not exist at that time. But by the power of the Spirit, or by angelic ministration it would have been possible. But the fact of the matter is that there can be only twelve Apostles at any one time, and since there were already the Twelve ordained in Palestine, there could not have been the same Twelve ordained among the Nephites.
You ask, how could the church in America function without the Twelve Apostles, if they are requited for God’s true church to exist? The answer is that the church of the Nephites would have been regarded an extension of the one true church on earth, headed by the Twelve in Palestine. Today’s Church is headed by Twelve Apostles whose offices are located in Salt Lake City, but they have jurisdiction over the Church world wide. We don’t need another set of Apostles in London, Paris, or Jerusalem to take care of the Church in that part of the world. Actually, for administrative purposes, the Church is divided up into geographical units called stakes, and each stake is modelled as a miniature church. Each stake has a stake presidency, which is modelled after the First Presidency, and a high council, made up of twelve high priests, which is modelled after the Twelve Apostles. The Nephite church seems to have been organized along similar lines.
zerinus
