The gospel of Jesus Christ is more than a set of teachings. It’s a community of real people living in real places.
In the early years of the Church, during the 1800s, the Latter-day Saints gathered in one spot to build a spiritual community. They often called it Zion. Emigrating from North America, Europe and the Pacific isles, these converts left everything familiar for the rocky climes of Utah. Together they forged a new home but never lost sight of their own native lands. An old Mormon hymn captures the feeling:
O home belov'd, where'er I wander,
On foreign land or distant sea,
As time rolls by, my heart grows fonder
And yearns more lovingly for thee!