In some ways this next chapter is one of the most depressing episodes in the Book of Mormon, especially if you think of these destabilizing events through the eyes of Nephi and Lehi, the leaders of the Church, and of General Moronihah, who was commander in chief of the Nephite armies.
As you might suspect, during this interlude of war, apostasy and defeat, the spiritual climate among the Nephites was virtually sub-zero.