Mormon’s feelings run over onto the letter. Verses 11–14 need to be read as a single idea, a single sentence. The phrase “how can a people like this“ is not resolved until verse 14, where the conclusion is: “How can we expect that God will stay his hand in judgment against us?” Verse 12 is marked in parenthesis to note that it is an inserted idea into the sentence. It is Mormon noting the contrast between the current state of the people, and a people that only a few years prior were “a civil and a delightsome people,” but are now “without civilization.”