Mormon obviously considers that he has the authority to instruct his son about what ought to happen in the church. Most logically, Mormon was an apostle and, in fact, he identified himself in 3 Nephi 5:13: “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people.” Since Moroni has been newly called, then Mormon has not only priority of time and experience, but seniority of position. He writes to his son, not only as a concerned father, but as an apostle who is distant from the problem (and otherwise preoccupied with war), instructing this junior apostle about how to guide the church through a doctrinal perplexity.