I personally think Sariah was amazing. The modern-day pioneers who traveled to Utah endured with courage but their journey didn’t last eight whole years in the wilderness—what a difficult thing that must have been for Sariah. When the text mentions that Sariah complained, I don’t fault her for that. This was a terrible trial—not knowing whether her sons were coming back, whether they’d been killed or whether they’d done the right thing leaving Jerusalem. As the absence of her sons stretched on and as she envisioned the task they had been given, it was only natural that her fears would begin to mount. The round trip might have been well over 500 miles and through terrible terrain with dangers lurking in many places in addition to the formidable odds within Jerusalem itself. When she finally says, "Now with a surety I know," that’s the voice of someone who believed and desperately wanted to absolutely know. There is no question that the most important possession for a woman in the ancient world was her sons. Her sons were her social security. They were her status. It was understandable for Sariah to be worried about the loss of her sons—that was really going to the core of who she was. Nephi shows us an unforgettable tender mercy for Sariah that will be an anchor experience for her and her descendants.
Book of Mormon Central, "Were Any Ancient Israelite Women Named Sariah? (1 Nephi 5:1)," KnoWhy 8 (January 11, 2016).