A lesson might be taken from the passenger pigeon, the American bison, and the ring-necked dove.

In the early 1800s passing flocks of passenger pigeons could block out the sun for several days.  The weight of their roosting bodies broke the limbs upon which they rested.  The American bison, or buffalo, was without number upon the plains of the American Midwest.

Our forefathers’ guns decimated the buffalo, and brought them near extinction.  Passenger pigeons were harvested by the barrels-full.  The species became extinct.  The last passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati zoo in 1914.

In contrast is the ringed turtle dove, a close relative of the passenger pigeon.  My 1966 edition of Birds of North America states that the ringed turtle dove “has become a local resident in central downtown Los Angeles, in Tampa and Miami.”  Maybe ten years or more ago I saw the first one here.  Now when I drive down the road I can count a hundred.

They’re like Mormons in the midst of millions.

The righteous will be preserved.  Nephi made that promise seven times in seven consecutive verses in 1 Nephi 22:16-22.  In those same verses the wicked are warned numerous times that they will be cut off and destroyed.

Joseph Smith prophesied that the Church would fill North and South America, and fill the world.  We’re like ringed turtle doves.  It’s happening quietly, but surely.