Back in Mormon 5:1, after he had moved the records, Mormon said, “And it came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites and I did repent of the oath which I had made.” He had previously sworn an oath that he would not lead the Nephites in battle anymore. He was planning to stand by as an idle witness. In order to break that oath, he had to retract or redeem his vow, and doing that in ancient times would have required him to seek the approval or forgiveness of the Lord. He had sworn to God that he would no longer lead them, and even if it was for what he now thought was a more righteous need, Mormon was still needing to rescind his previous oath.
Now, in a parallel text in Moroni 9:6, Mormon wrote, “Notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay.” Mormon was talking about his spiritual decision to repent of his oath. He was essentially saying, “Well, we are still here. God has spared our lives. As long as we are alive, he expects us to be working. We must carry on with the responsibilities that he has given us.” Again, the history and the letter carry parallel information. Plainly, Mormon’s letter here is describing the same conditions and events as are reported in the historical records in Mormon 4 and 5. These details securely place the letter in Moroni 9 in the same context as Mormon’s previous historical writings.