We know from later writings that it was not easy to inscribe on metal plates. Yet Nephi worked at it earnestly because his whole intent was to “persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.” Nephi followed the example of the great patriarch Abraham, who noted in his own writings, “I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me” (Abraham 1:31).