Brigham Young

“ I have Zion in my view constantly. We are not going to wait for angels, or for Enoch and his company to come and build up Zion, but we are going to build it. We will raise our wheat, build our houses, fence our farms, plant our vineyards and orchards, and produce everything that will make our bodies comfortable and happy, and in this manner we intend to build up Zion on the earth and purify it and cleanse it from all pollutions. Let there be an hallowed influence go from us over all things over which we have any power ”

“ The Lord brings forth all those temporal blessings precisely in the same way in which he will build up Zion. He will build our houses, tabernacles, and temples, make our farms, raise our wheat, meat, and fruit, make our spinning-wheels and looms, and weave our cloth, while we remain in a state of complete inactivity, just as much as he will bring again Zion without our co-operation. ”

“ It is for us, as children of our heavenly Father, to arise and assume the right the law of the Holy Priesthood gives us, and organize the elements for a Zion, and bring it forth, no matter where we are. I would not give much for a religion that is not thus practical. Some Elders have in a manner to convey the idea that the practical part of our religion is only manifest here. ”

“ Those who are capable of contemplating upon and realizing the relationship of mankind to the Heavens, the object of their existence here, the common salvation that is provided for all who have lived, now live, and will live upon the earth, and the power that is given to each person to preserve his identity to an endless duration, must be aware that there is a great deal to be said and done by those to whom are committed the Priesthood of the Son of God and the management of his work upon the earth in the last days. ”

“ Then if we wish to raise Toas wheat, we sow the seed that will produce it, and proceed in like manner with whatever we desire to produce from the ground, for every seed will produce its kind, and with care and watchfulness the husbandman will reap an abundant increase. Thus it is plainly manifest that we have the laws of nature and of God by which we can build up Zion. ”

“ The elements are here to produce as good a Zion as was ever made in all the eternities of the Gods. Here are the elements to produce grain which is good for the food of man, as also the fruit of the vine, and that which yieldeth fruit; whether in the ground or above the ground. Nevertheless, wheat for man, corn for the ox, oats for the horse, and rye (not for whisky) for fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals and for mild drinks, as also other grain. ”

“ We hope that God our Father will make us noble and good, but he will only direct and aid us in making ourselves righteous. He has formed us, and in his providences brought us forth upon this earth, but, he without our efforts will not make anything of us. What we shall be, depends upon ourselves. ”

“ When we conclude to make a Zion we will make it, and this work commences in the heart of each person. When the father of a family wishes to make a Zion in his own house, he must take the lead in this good work, which it is impossible for him to do unless he himself possesses the Spirit of Zion. ”

“ He will build up Zion upon the same principle that he raises grain, flax, silk, wool fruit, &c., &c. There is not one thing wanting in all the works of God's hands to make a Zion upon the earth when the people conclude to make it. We can make a Zion of God on earth at our pleasure, upon the same principle that we can raise a field of wheat, or build and inhabit. ”

“ There has been no time when the material has not been here from which to produce corn, wheat, &c.; and by the judicious management and arrangement of this ever-existing material a Zion of God can always be built on the earth.
Man is the offspring of God. Who can fully realize this? Our Heavenly Father orders all things that pertain to this earth and to multitudes of worlds of which we are ignorant. We are as much the children of this great Being as we are the children of our mortal progenitors. ”

“ For you to be perfect, in one sense of the word, is to be prepared to inherit eternal glory in the presence of the Father and the Son. Should any mortal attain to this state of perfection, he could not longer remain among his fellow mortals. ”

“ The Lord has done his share of the work; he has surrounded us with the elements containing wheat, meat, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify and glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mould these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the Heavens through our faithfulness In this way will the Lord bring again Zion upon the earth, and in no other. ”

“ We have certain laws to observe in order to obtain wheat. We do not sow wheat on a bare rock, for we have learned by experience that it will not grow there. We do not sow onion and carrot seed in the middle of the street and expect to reap a bountiful crop, for our experience teaches us differently. ”

“ We are flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone, and the same fluid that circulates in our bodies, called blood, once circulated in his veins as it does in ours. As the seeds of grains, vegetables and fruits produce their kind, so man is in the image of God. ”

“ Let us then take advantage of the laws and of the blessings which God is willing to pour upon us, and cultivate and subdue the ground, sow the good seed, fence it in that the enemy cannot come and sow tares, and bar up the gates and keep the watchman there to watch day and night. ”

“ Instead of doing this, we observe the laws in nature which govern the productions of the earth, as our fathers before us have done, and prepare the ground properly, subduing and enriching and cleansing from it every obnoxious weed. ”

“ Were we to send a hundred families of Saints into a valley not yet inhabited, being acquainted with its climate, soil, and general capabilities for productiveness, in the vision of our minds we could see in the future comfortable and commodious houses for the people to dwell in, buildings for religious worship and education ”

“ We can improve this organization and bring it back to its original purify and goodness, by faithfulness to the will of Heaven, and by daily adding to the intelligence we now possess until we are prepared to stand in the presence of our Creator. ”

“ He has placed within our reach everything necessary for food, raiment, houses, and possessions, and for beauty, goodness, excellency, exaltation, life, glory, and bliss. The Lord would clothe these naked Indians, for they are of the house of Israel, if he would clothe us. ”