The four years of peace in the church (v. 38) were not maintained throughout the whole land. The fourteen-year war with the Lamanites continued in various places.
There are several lessons about death given by Mormon as he abridges the record. Those who firmly believed in Jesus Christ and went out of the world rejoicing (v. 39) reminds us of the Lord’s declaration to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them” (D&C 42:46). The fevers causing death because of “the nature of the climate” gives us a second lesson. God had prepared many plants and roots to remove the cause of disease (v. 40; italics added). This writer has walked the medicinal paths of Guatemala and heard the guides’ explanation of various cures for diseases from items grown therein. The practice of natural medicine seems to be one reason at least for retaining the traditional medicine man among the modern tribes of Native Americans today. Again, we turn to modern revelation. Those who “have not faith to be healed, but believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild food, and that not by the hand of an enemy” (D&C 42:43). There is a place for both faith and medicine in the Lord’s eyes. The third lesson concerning death is to the aged. “Those who died in the faith of Christ are happy in him” (Alma 46:41). The Lord instructs us to “weep for the loss of them that die, but more especially for those that have not hope for a glorious resurrection” (D&C 42:45). Those we love are missed, but the knowledge of their happiness should make us happy as well.