Mormon has painted a very bleak picture of the Nephites. Of course, it was not all bleak, for there were some righteous Nephites remaining. For them, the focal point was Nephi, who had “been visited by angels and also the voice of the Lord.” It is important that Mormon should make Nephi’s spiritual qualifications clear, for it will be Nephi’s eyewitness account of the Savior’s appearance upon which Mormon will base his account.
Nephi is righteous, and blessed with communication with the heavens. This is in contrast to the majority of the people, who had hard hearts and blind minds. Nephi does what a prophet should do. He goes among them to preach, and he preaches with power. Mormon writes: “[He] did minister many things unto them; and all of them cannot be written, and a part of them would not suffice.” Mormon’s task was to abridge, or to make a more concise record. Apparently, he felt that he could not abridge what Nephi had done, and decided not to include all of it. What he will include are the most important events that Nephi witnessed and recorded.
Nevertheless, Mormon gives the very briefest of summaries in verses 18-20.