The propriety of a group of Nephites returning to inhabit the land of Lehi-Nephi, whence their fathers had fled at the Lord’s direction at the time of Mosiah I, is questionable. There is no suggestion in the scriptural text that the Lord approved of this venture. Indeed, so bad was the spirit among those in the first group attempting to recolonize the land, that when Zeniff suggested that they make a treaty with the Lamanites rather than attack and kill them, an attempt was made to kill him. This divided the would-be colonizers into two warring factions and resulted in the death of the greater part of their number.
Returning to Zarahemla, Zeniff recruited another group to attempt this venture. These, we are told, “were smitten with famine and sore afflictions” (Mosiah 9:3) because they were slow to remember God, and they and their families were to know little but bondage, death, and difficulty until the time of their repentance and their return to the land of Zarahemla. Nothing in their experience suggests that their efforts had any claim to the kind of protection accorded the Lord’s people when their course is approved by him. See commentary on Mosiah 10:3.