The purpose of the scriptures is to reveal the word of God, teach the truth, and testify of divine principles so that people might be persuaded to believe in Christ. The Book of Mormon offers insights into the lives of prophets of God, such as Nephi, who respond to the Lord’s will by preserving for posterity the truths of salvation revealed to them through the Spirit.
Nephi records on the smaller plates that which he believes to be “sacred” (1 Nephi 19:6)—things that have a tendency to turn the hearts of the people toward the Savior, “that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer” (1 Nephi 19:18).