Nephi has spoken about his tears watering his pillow by night, praying over his people, he is greatly concerned for them. "And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day." Salvation is open for all people, "And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come." And, of course, to those who will not partake, "I bid you an everlasting farewell." But Nephi is very optimistic that "if ye believe not in these words, believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."
Those are Nephi’s final words of testimony, encouragement and optimism. He is realistic; he is plain that we have got to do the things that we are now clearly instructed to do, but if we do so, he is confident that many people will be there together in the Kingdom of God.
I love this man Nephi. He is one of the great souls raised up to stand at the head of this very important group of Israelites who have been led out of Jerusalem, protected and brought to the New World, so that they could be a righteous group of people to whom the resurrected Lord could appear. This group of people had a very unique and important mission to perform. Even if Nephi knew that his people would ultimately be destroyed, he knew that that would not happen until the Savior Himself had appeared to them. That was their special blessing and mission, so that they could be a people of witness, witnessing to all the world, to members of the House of Israel, to Gentiles, to everyone, that Jesus is the Christ. Without a man like Nephi standing at the head of that tradition, it may not have happened. But Nephi was called, he magnified his calling, and we are the beneficiaries of all that he did.