It is fascinating to think that the sole survivors of the Jaredite and Nephite civilizations were both prophets of the Lord.  Why was that so?

It was not accidental.  It was by design and was orchestrated by the Lord.  It was done so that a record could be left as an aid and a guide for future generations.

Ether and Moroni were the last ones standing of the millions that were their contemporaries.  It would have been an eerie feeling to be all alone facing a future of unknown length and loneliness.  What would you do?  Where would you go?

Were Ether and Moroni the only ones to be the sole survivors of their societies?  Were there others?  Is their survival a pattern showing how the Lord deals with decadent societies?

The answer is yes.

What about Noah?  How about Lot?  What about Lehi and Omer?  All four of these individuals, with their families, were taken to safe places while their societies were left to be destroyed.  In each case the prophets warned the people of their impending destruction, but the prophets were rejected, the prophets were removed by the Lord, and the people were left to their fate.

Noah and Lehi were prophets.  They were directly told by the Lord what He was going to do.  Lot and Omer were not prophets, but were good men.  Lot was warned by two angels (Joseph Smith Translation says three) and was told to leave Sodom.  Omer was warned in a dream, and was told to take his family and to flee.

These four men had families who believed their husbands and fathers, fled with them, and were saved.  The families' belief did not come easily, nor did the entire family follow.

Noah was 600 years old when he boarded the ark.  He left behind many, many children and grandchildren who refused to listen to his warnings  He tried to tell them what was coming, but they considered him deluded and deranged.  How reasonable was it that this old man should be building a giant boat up on a mountain in the timber?  Of Noah's very numerous family only his wife and three sons believed him  They, with their wives, pitched in and helped.  When the rains descended and the door of the ark was shut, an apocryphal story says that those aboard the ark heard people outside banging on the sides of the boat pleading to be let in.  Were those Noah's children?  How hard it would have been to leave them to their unbelief!

The same thing happened to Lot and his wife.  The angels plainly told them that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to imminently be destroyed.  Lot went to his sons-in-law and told them to flee the impending destruction, but "he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law."  (Genesis 19:14).

Lot and his wife knew what was going to happen, but were reluctant to leave without their children and grandchildren.  They lingered and hesitated.  The angels had to take them by the hand, led them out of the city, and told them not to look back.  (Genesis 19:15-17).  Lot's wife did look back.  She wasn't being disobedient, and wasn't longing for her old life so much as she was longing for the daughters and grandchildren that she was leaving behind.

Sariah was a devoted wife who was willing to follow her husband, but she wasn't convinced that he was a prophet.  She probably reluctantly left her comfortable home and all of her possessions to follow her husband into the wilderness and into an unknown future.  She was sure that her sons had been killed when they went back to Jerusalem, and it wasn't until they successfully returned with the brass plates that she was convinced that her husband was a prophet and had been commanded to flee.  (1 Nephi 5:8)

Nephi already knew that his father was a prophet because Nephi had put forth the effort and had exercised the faith and done the work necessary to gain his own testimony.  He was then able to likewise convince his older brother, Sam; but Laman and Lemuel, however, were like the sons-in-law of Lot and Noah.  Their father, in their myopic sight, was a silly old man believing in supposed visions and dreams.

Where are you in these pictures?  Are you a Nephi with a hard-earned, burning testimony of the prophet?  Are you a reluctant follower, or are you a non-believer?  Would you follow him into the wilderness?  Would you get out of the city?  Would you help build the boat?

Are you helping to build the kingdom?  Are you serving in your calling?  Are you listening to President Nelson?  Are you reading your Book of Mormon daily?  Are you doing what is necessary to have the Holy Ghost as a daily companion?

President Nelson has said that "in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost."  (General Conference, April 2018).

On December 26, 2004 there was a powerful undersea earthquake off Indonesia.  Because of the sudden subsidence of the sea floor, water drained out of the bays along the coast.  People walked out into the drained bays to collect sea shells and fish.  When the waters returned, they came as a giant tsunami, a series of them.  Two hundred thousand people were killed as entire villages were swept away.

In one village, however, not a single life was lost.  There was an old man there whose ancestors told of a "laboon," a man-eating wave which would be preceded by a sudden draining of the bay.  When the old man saw the bay drain, he shouted for everyone to run for high ground, a giant wave was coming.  His own daughter called him a liar, but he was so insistent that everyone obeyed, and not a life was lost.

There is a "desolating scourge" on the horizon.  (D&C 5:19).  Lehi's descendants will soon be like young lions going through the cities and laying waste.  (Micah 5:8-14; 3 Nephi 16:10-15; 20:15-17; 21:11-21; Mormon 5:21-24).  Boston, New York, Albany and western Missouri all have prophesied destructions awaiting them.  Where will you be when the prophet says to leave?  What will you do?  Will you linger?  Will you mock?  Will you prepare?  Will you instantly obey?  Are you watching?  Are you listening?  Are you daily reading your Book of Mormon so that the Holy Ghost can be operative in your life?

Pay attention to the prophet.  If you're listening and obeying, the next time a desolation occurs, the prophet won't be the last one left standing.  You'll be standing with him.