The father of Mormon who was a descendant of Nephi bore the same name as his illustrious son. The younger Mormon was born on the Northern Continent (311 A.D.), but when he was eleven years of age his father and he traveled to the land southward, "even to the Land of Zarahemla."
Before his departure south, Mormon formed the acquaintance of Ammaron whose name is the last word in the Book of Fourth Nephi. Ammaron was the brother of the younger Amos, and when Amos died, Ammaron took possession of the Sacred Things which because of the wickedness of the people he had hidden in a hill in the Land Antum. Ammaron perceived that Mormon was a lad of unusual perspicacity and that he was somewhat learned, Mormon himself notes "after the manner of the learning of my people." Impressed by Mormon's soberness and his ability to observe things quickly and accurately, he informed Mormon-then a child ten years old-of what he had done and placed the buried treasures in his charge. He instructed Mormon to go, when he was about twenty-four years old, to the hill where they were hidden and take the Plates of Nephi and record thereon what he had observed concerning the people. The remainder of the Plates, or the Records, etc., he was to leave where they were.