Verses 11–26 constitute Mormon’s personal introduction, which I posit is different from the introduction that I hypothesized he would have recorded early in the book of Lehi. (See commentary accompanying Words of Mormon 1:3.) This particular personal introduction comes very late. For most of the text as we have it, Mormon simply assumes that we know who he is and what he is doing. Surely in the original (and now lost) book of Lehi, he would have made a more formal introduction.
If I am correct about that earlier introduction, then why does Mormon include this second introduction? I read it as an introduction from Mormon the apostle, not Mormon the editor. As Mormon prepares to tell the story of the Atoning Messiah’s appearance, he declares its truth by his own apostolic witness. Mormon may be taking his account from other records, but he is acting here, not as the editor but as an apostle of the Savior, a personal witness to the Messiah’s divinity.
He describes two essential pieces of autobiography. First, he is the editor who is making the record on plates. Verse 11 suggests that Mormon physically made the plates in addition to writing on them. In this way he is like the first New World prophet, Nephi, who also wrote on plates made by his own hands.
Second, he underscores the theme of historical connections in the next verse where he links his name to the beginnings of the Nephite church with Alma1 at the waters of Mormon. Naming was an important and meaningful act in the ancient world. Helaman2 told his sons (Nephi and Lehi) that he named them for the early prophets to remind them to be righteous (Hel. 5:6). This attempt to influence the character of the descendants by giving them a significant name is also part of Mormon’s message. His name links him to a foundational event in Nephite history. He is an apostle in this church that was originally established by the waters from which his name was taken. Thus, his name, and perhaps his character, and surely his remembering, are all linked to the person of Alma1, the event of the establishment of a church, and to the method of entering that church—the waters of baptism.