After declaring his spiritual lineage through the connection of his name, he declares the important information about his current position. It is one thing to be well-related, but quite another to fulfill the promise of his naming. Mormon declares simply and powerfully that he is “a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” He further notes that he has a direct commission to “declare his word among his people.”
It is this commission to declare the word that Mormon discharges through the writing of this text. We have the Book of Mormon because Mormon was faithful to the Lord’s command that he declare the word. In Mormon’s battle-torn world, there was little preaching that didn’t come at the blade of the sword. Nevertheless, Mormon’s impact as a preacher of the word is perhaps greater than any other prophet who has written. No prophet has provided a larger, longer, or more complete testimony of the Savior than Mormon.