The Waters of Mormon was a fountain of pure water in the place called Mormon, a region in the borders of the land that had received its name from the king and was infested at seasons by wild beasts (Mosiah 18:4). Near the water stood a thicket of small trees where Alma the Elder hid by day from the searches of King Noah (Mosiah 18:5).
Believers who had heard Alma teach the words of Abinadi gathered to him at the waters. There he set the terms of a covenant: to bear one another’s burdens, to mourn with those that mourn, to comfort those in need of comfort, to stand as witnesses of God, and to keep his commandments (Mosiah 18:8-10). About two hundred and four souls were baptized in the waters of Mormon and were called the church of God, or the church of Christ (Mosiah 18:16). The account names the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, and the forest of Mormon as beautiful to the eyes of those who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer (Mosiah 18:30).
When the king learned of the movement and sent his army to destroy the believers, Alma and his people, by then about four hundred and fifty souls, took their families and departed into the wilderness (Mosiah 18:34-35). Alma the Younger later recalled the founding of the church in the waters of Mormon when he preached to the people of Zarahemla (Alma 5:3-13).
The land of Mormon adjoined the borders of the Lamanite city of Jerusalem, which the Lamanites, Amalekites, and people of Amulon had built (Alma 21:1-2). At the time of Christ’s crucifixion the city of Jerusalem was sunk and waters came up in its place (3 Nephi 9:6-7). The prophet-historian Mormon was named after the land of Mormon, where Alma established the church (3 Nephi 5:12).