Limhi and his people had already desired of Ammon that they be baptized. Ammon had declined. Now that they were in Zarahemla, King Mosiah had clearly given Alma authority under the Nephite government to perform religious rituals. It is therefore Alma who baptizes Limhi and his people, symbolically uniting all that people under their new covenant. Unstated, but important, is that they are also baptized with the new meaning that Alma has placed over the cleansing-from-sin aspect of baptism. It is also now an entry vehicle to the new community of faith. That is the next subject that Mormon addresses.