1 Nephi 1

The first line of the Book of Mormon is iconic: "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father..." Right off, we learn our guide's name and a bit about his family history. For a church that emphasizes the role of the family so much, it's fitting that the opening chapter of its distinctive scripture concerns not the narrator or even God (directly), but family, specifically Nephi's father Lehi.

Lehi is a prophet; Nephi gives an account of (what appears to be) how Lehi gained this mantle. I find the successive order of Lehi's prophetic events interesting (verses 6-12):

Hears prophets preaching repentance -> prays -> sees/hears much from a pillar of fire -> returns home -> is overcome with the spirit -> sees a vision (of God, Jesus) -> receives and reads book -> overcome with the spirit.

Two intriguing things: first, Lehi is not overcome with the spirit until after the meeting with the pillar of fire and he returns home. Second, he is overcome with the Spirit again after reading the book--which tells of the redemption of the world (v19). What does this say about how the Spirit works (or worked in this specific case)? It says to me: the Spirit is cumulative--it doesn't say/imply that Lehi lost the power of the first Spirit-experience before the second. It says that the Spirit doesn't necessarily come during (what we can assume to be) very explicit spiritual experiences...like talking to a pillar of fire. Lastly, the Spirit is felt when knowing of the Savior and redemption of the world.

Afterwards, Lehi testifies of three things to Jerusalem, for which they revile him: the wickedness of the people, the things he'd seen and heard (i.e. the destruction of Jerusalem), and the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of the world. Nephi tells us (v20) that he will tell of the tender mercies of the Lord and how the Lord spared Lehi and his family.

--
Nephi tells us (v1) why he is writing this account: he has seen many afflictions, he has been highly favored by the Lord, and he has great knowledge of the goodness and mysteries of God. Interestingly, while it gets more explicit later, there isn't anything here directly about creating the record for salvation or redemption. Implicitly, maybe; it seems like Nephi is not so much making an argument for why the plates were written as he's explaining why he's the one doing it. And then, it basically comes down to: he knows what he's talking about.

[[Complete 1 Nephi 1.]]