"THE FIRST BOOK OF NEPHI

CHAPTER 1

1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days."

I, Tikla, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father and mother; and having traveled many lands in the course of my days and seen some small afflictions, nevertheless, having been blessed exceedingly; yea, having great treasures of knowledge found in the scriptures passed down by my fathers to his seed, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

Nephi: wow what a prophet! Such a humble, faithful, righteous man. It's interesting to see that as John Bytheway frequently points out that Laman and Lemuel both went to get the plates, went into the wilderness, built the ship, etc. it was all in the attitude. Nephi was a "neverthelesser" and Laman and Lemuel were "everthelessers."

One neat thing about this first verse in the book of Mormon is the first thing he mentions is his parents. What a great example of honoring parents. This verse is probably the most read verse in the entire BoM. Every time we start to read the book again we dive in to those words of Nephi, "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents" I know that he was a real person. He really did all the things mentioned in those books. What an inspiration.