Zion is a way of living, but for Latter-day Saints, it's also a specific place, Jackson County, Missouri.

When members of the church living in Missouri faced mob violence and intimidation from their neighbors in the 1830s,

Joseph Smith received a revelation instructing him to,

as it says in the revelation in an elaborated upon by Matt Godfrey in a Revelations and context essay,

recruit as many as 500 of the strength of the

Lord's house, young and middle-aged members of the church, to go to Zion where they would

reclaim the Lord's vineyard.

The military expedition did not recover the Latter-day Saints' land or property.

However, the camp of Israel, as it came to be known, marched from Ohio to Missouri, and included

a group of 85 men and boys, and at least a dozen women and several children. They learned valuable

lessons from their expedition. The track became a time when some increased in their faith and loyalty,

while others struggled and lost their faith. The thing about refiners' fires, if conditions

aren't perfect, it can cause

damage to the material that is being refined. Many more, though, had a positive experience.

Brigham Young later recalled, I have traveled with Joseph a thousand miles as he led the camp of

Israel. I have watched him and observed everything he said or did. For the town of Kirtland, I would not give the knowledge I got from Joseph from this journey.

This was the starting point of my knowing how to lead Israel.

The saints never reclaimed Jackson County.

Joseph Smith received a revelation, now known as Doctrine and Covenants Section 105,

that told the saints that they were no longer required to redeem Zion at that time,

emphasizing that God would fight Zion's battles and that the elders of the church needed to be

endowed with power before Zion's redemption could occur. The revelation also reassured participants

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