According to the Book of Mormon Nephi ( ), along with his brother Lehi, was a Nephite missionary. His father was Helaman, and his sons include two of the twelve Nephite disciples at the time that Christ visited the Americas. Known genealogy Early life Nephi was the eldest son of Helaman, another Nephite prophet. Little is known about the activities of his early life, beyond his birth year of 54 BC. Except, he is said to have begun "to grow up unto the Lord" in the 48th year of the "reign of the judges", which likely corresponds to 44 BC. This year marked the a turning point in the affairs of the people, as two years of "much contention" "began to cease, in a small degree." In the 49th year of the reign of the judges (c. 43 BC), there was "continual peace established in the land" outside the activities of the Gadianton robbers. The church to which Nephi's father was a prophet saw "great prosperity" in the same year, with tens of thousands being baptized and united to "the Church of God." The next three years (50-52 ROJ, 42-40 BC) also passed in "continual peace and great joy", but the pride of the "hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God" began to grow due to their prosperity. Tenure as Chief Judge In this period of prosperity and pride within the Church, Helaman, died and Nephi began to govern in his stead. He is said to have followed in the footsteps of his father, that "he did fill the judgment-seat with justice and equity; yea, he did keep the commandments of God." Despite his apparent honor in rule, there were contentions among the people and many dissented from the Nephite nation, eventually resulting in war between the Nephites and the Lamanites. By 59 ROJ (33 BC), the Lamanites were victorious in driving the Nephite armies, headed by Moronihah, entirely out of the land southward. Post-judgeship preaching In the same year, 'Nephi delivered up the judgment-seat to a man whose name was Cezoram,' being weary of the iniquity of the people, who consisted more of those choosing evil than those choosing good. He dedicated the remainder of his life to preaching the gospel along with his brother Lehi, being motivated by the preaching of their father that 'it is upon the rock of our Redeemer,