Mormon declares that the particular dispute is over the baptism of little children. That will be the subject of the letter. It is interesting that the content of the letter explains the reasons for his views concerning infant baptism; he does not simply respond to the question of infant baptism with a simple yes or no.
As with other examples in the Book of Mormon, the language and vocabulary used sound similar to discussions over infant baptism in Joseph’s day. However, the histories created for many Mesoamerican peoples suggests that they had a similar rite, one that was sufficiently similar: Spanish Catholic priests declared that washing and cleansing of the newborn was considered a baptism.
The fact that the later Spanish fathers’ might have seen this rite and associated it with baptism similarly suggests how the influence of the practice could have entered Nephite practice. There were elements that were similar, and many that were not, so we do not have a case where there was a remembrance of baptism in the later native cultures, a position that several Spanish priests advocated.
Nevertheless, the idea of washing and cleansing was sufficiently similar, that shifting the timing of the baptism to an earlier point to coincide with a known cultural rite would not have been unusual. Indeed, it likely provides a mirror to the same process in the Old World, where the earliest indications of baptism required a conversion and confession that certainly implied that accountability was necessary prior to baptism.