“Zion is Zion because of the character, attributes, and faithfulness of her citizens. Remember, ‘the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them’ (Moses 7:18). If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. It will be necessary (1) to become unified in one heart and one mind; (2) to become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and (3) to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Come to Zion,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 38).
“Let Israel gather to the stakes of Zion in all nations. Let every land be a Zion to those appointed to dwell there. Let the fulness of the gospel be for all the saints in all nations. Let no blessing be denied them. Let temples arise wherein the fulness of the ordinances of the Lord’s house may be administered. But still there is a center place, a place where the chief temple shall stand, a place to which the Lord shall come. … And that center place is what men now call Independence in Jackson County, Missouri, but which in a day to come will be the Zion of our God and the City of Holiness of his people” (Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 595).
“To envision what is meant by [New Jerusalem], we must know these five facts:
“1. Ancient Jerusalem, the city of much of our Lord’s personal ministry among men, shall be rebuilt in the last days and become one of the two great world capitals, a millennial city from which the word of the Lord shall go forth.
2. A New Jerusalem, a new Zion, a city of God shall be built on the American continent.
“3. Enoch’s city, the original Zion, ‘the City of Holiness, … was taken up into heaven.’ (Moses 7:13–21.)
“4. Enoch’s city, with its translated inhabitants now in their resurrected state, shall return, as a New Jerusalem, to join with the city of the same name which has been built upon the American continent.
“5. When this earth becomes a celestial sphere ‘that great city, the holy Jerusalem,’ shall again descend ‘out of heaven from God,’ as this earth becomes the abode of celestial beings forever. (Rev. 21:10–27.)” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary [1973], 3:580–81).