This part of the record is copied from Alma’s personal record. Even though Alma recorded it, Mormon still had to decide to put it into his record. This chapter is a discourse that Ammon gave “to his brethren.” It was given to more than his brothers, as he begins “My brothers and my brethren.” Ammon is speaking to some gathered group of Anti-Nephi-Lehies, as well as to his brothers. He reflects on the results of the brothers’ mission to the Lamanites.
Their mission was far more successful than they could have imagined, and Ammon notes that when he states: “could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?” Few of us are able to see God’s full plan for us before it completely unfolds. Small events, and what appear to be simple circumstances, can add up to major changes in our lives, and we can recognize God’s hand only in retrospect.
One of the reasons that Mormon includes this particular discourse is that it allows him to provide confirmation for his theme that the Lamanites are redeemable and can become very righteous. This is confirmed when Ammon notes that the Lamanites “were in darkness,” but were “brought to behold the marvelous light of God.”
Alma 23:9–12 listed four named lands and three named cities which had been converted. Now, in verse 4, we are told that “thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.” It is unlikely that there had been a distinct count, but if that many cities and lands had every inhabitant converted, we would expect perhaps tens of thousands, rather than only thousands of converts. There were clearly a very large number of converts, but likely less than all the inhabitants of those lands and cities.