Minutes, 22 December 1836

you. And let honorable men be ap pointed, even wise men, and send them  to purchase these lands; and every  church in the eastern countries when  they are built up, if they will hearken  unto this counsel, they may buy lands  and gather together upon them, and in  this way they may establish Zion

In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the work JS was called to do. However, the term Zion was soon used more specifically to describe a community of believers who live in harmony and equality. The Book of Mormon explained...

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.”