Enos was a grandson of Lehi, a son of Jacob, and a nephew of Nephi. He, along with the other Nephites of his time, must have wondered why the Lord had directed them to a place where they were very isolated—a place where it was difficult to converse with and understand the native people of the new land. However, Enos and his direct line of descendants knew that they were serving an important purpose because they had the oral and written history of Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob. They were told that someday their records would serve a crucial function in gathering and reestablishing Israel. Even though it might take a long time, with many generations of Nephite scribes scratching their history on plates, they knew that someday, somehow, the Lord was going to make use of their work. This would have been a very powerful and sustaining motivator for them.
Enos is best known for spending a whole day and well into the night crying unto the Lord to know personally concerning eternal life, the joy of the holy saints, that his sins were forgiven, and that he would be blessed by the Lord (Enos 1:5). When he asked how this could be done—perhaps wondering how that atonement could be made when he had not offered any sacrifices in that regard in his father’s temple in the city of Nephi—Enos was told, it is "because of thy faith in Christ" (Enos 1:8). As soon as he heard those words, he offered an intercessory prayer, first for his people, the Nephites (1:9), and then for the Lamanites (1:11). Being deeply concerned about the eternal welfare of others is a profoundly righteous feeling. Enos was personally assured by the Lord that the Nephite records would eventually be brought forth unto the Lamanites (1:16).
Book of Mormon Central, "Why Is It Important to Keep Records? (1 Nephi 9:5)," KnoWhy 345 (July 28, 2017).
Dennis L. Largey, "Enos: His Mission and His Message," in Jacob Through Words of Mormon: To Learn With Joy, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, Volume 4, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 1990), 141–156.