According to Jerry Ainsworth, Mormon 2:1 offers confirmation that Mormon had not been raised among the people of Zarahemla but was essentially from a different land, the land northward. Mormon says, "the people of Nephi appointed me that I should be their leader, or the leader of their armies" (emphasis added). Had Mormon been reared among these Nephites, he certainly would have referred to these armies as our armies. However, after serving as leader of the Nephite armies for one year, Mormons states, "the Lamanites did come upon us with exceedingly great power, insomuch that they did frighten my armies" (Mormon 2:3; emphasis added). [Jerry L. Ainsworth, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, p. 158]
Mormon 2:2 I [Mormon] did go forth at the head of an army of the Nephites (Major Nephite Leaders) [[Illustration]]: The Major Leaders During Nephite History. [Church Educational System, Book of Mormon Student Manual: Religion 121 and 122, 1989, p. 160]