Oliver Cowdery tended to mix up things and words. Here the original manuscript clearly reads words (which, except for the r, is extant in 𝓞). Oliver initially wrote things in 𝓟 but almost immediately caught his error, crossed things out, and supralinearly wrote the correct words (there is no change in the level of ink flow). In 1 Nephi 3, he made precisely the same kind of copying error and correction:
For other examples of this usage, see the list under 1 Nephi 3:28.
Summary: Maintain the use of words rather than things in 2 Nephi 6:8; Oliver Cowdery sometimes mixed up words and things.