Nephi persuades his brethren to stay the course, exercising faith, so that they might obtain the records for the sake of their posterity. Laman and Lemuel see only the pathway beneath their own feet; Nephi sees the pathway leading forward into the future where countless millions will derive spiritual strength unto deliverance from the word of God. For Nephi, this mission centers on the very souls that the coming Messiah refers to and blesses during His post-resurrection visit to America: “And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant—” (3 Nephi 20:25–26).