Moroni 3

Moroni 3, 4, 5, 6: (Moroni’s Reason for Inclusion of These Chapters)

Jerry Ainsworth notes that before writing his book, he had always wondered why Moroni chose to include chapters three, four, five, and six in his book. Given the historical nature of the accounts of him and his father, and considering the circumstances he faced at the time, these chapters always appeared out of context to him. He writes:

It wasn’t until I understood the mission of Moroni during the thirty-five years after Cumorah, that I began to appreciate what he had written and why. The seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters of Moroni make it clear that he, and to some degree his father, ministered to and established the church among people in the north countries. That ministry appears to have focused on the development of new branches of the church, baptizing new members, ordaining priesthood holders, and instituting the sacrament among these new converts. Moroni, having performed these fundamental ordinances of the church across the width of the north countries, would naturally write those ordinances. . . . Moroni would have traveled from village to village teaching the gospel, baptizing converts, ordaining priesthood holders, and conducting sacrament meetings under the direction of the Holy Spirit. ¹