The small plates contain a record of the spiritual ministry of the Nephites. “Nephi’s descendants are remarkably obedient to his instructions. A comparison of the small-plate material (1 Nephi-Omni) with that which remains of the large plates (Mosiah-4 Nephi) shows that the large plates contain a tremendous amount of material on wars and contentions, virtually none of which appears in the small plates. The truly historical information contained in the small plates is limited to 1 Nephi, where it provides the framework for the more important spiritual story, and Omni, where the historical data explains why Nephi’s descendants relinquished the records. In between, they record almost exclusively things of the spirit (or, as in Omni, their lack of relevant spiritual experiences to record)” (Gardner, Second Witness, 1:139).