Under conditions of widespread wickedness, Mormon, at age fifteen, becomes chief captain of the Nephite armies (Mormon 2:1-2). This is the same Mormon after whom the Book of Mormon is named. More to the point, however, Mormon writes the following: "And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus." (Mormon 1:15)
According to Avraham Gileadi, the parallelism of these two statements implies that to know the goodness of Jesus is to be visited of the Lord, to make one's calling and election sure. Gileadi notes that in the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (3:352-53), the term "goodness" is listed as a synonym of covenant blessing and covenant keeping. In the very beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi, the son of Lehi, also comes to know personally the "goodness" and mysteries of God (1 Nephi 1:1). Like Mormon, at a young age Nephi becomes a prophet in his own right--he sees the Lord in a vision, thus making sure his calling and election (1 Nephi 11:7,21,27; 18:3). [Avraham Gileadi, The Last Days: Types and Shadows from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, pp. 216, 232] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 1:1],