DESERET

“Zion…as the head, the glorious front of the world’s civilization, would arise and shine ‘the joy of the whole earth.’ “ Orson F. Whitney

As Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley he knew that the saints would labor hard and be busy building a Byzantine.  So he sought a symbol, the beehive.  Bees are hardworking, industrious and work together for the common good-a glorious civilization.  He let that symbol fly!  Beehives now colonize the streets and buildings of the Salt Lake Valley and several businesses support the name deseret.  Building the community and working together, by necessity, became the early saint’s mantra.

Build Zion. Build the hive.

 This theme is highly populated in Nephi Anderson’s “Added Upon”, we see this in every section of the book:  In the preexistence, the spirits busy themselves in forming a network with each other, in creating and forming the world.  They assemble.   In earth life, Rupert, like a bee, devotes his life to building.   He sees great pride and necessity in building his rural circumstance, not only for his family but to create a bit of a metropolis, or “oasis in the desert” like the pioneers.  He reflects over his property and the growing colony, noting that by his labor the community flourishes: A glorious front of civilization. He did this again with the Jansons’ property before returning back to the mother hive at Dry Bench.

 Colonize.  Build Zion. Build the hive.

In the Spirit World, he held meetings to gather the people, to build them up to populate heaven.  The Millennium section starts out with the mantra to arise and shine.  The communities are colonized centering on the temple, a Zion-like community. 

Build the temple. Baptize.  Build the kingdom.

And the Celestial kingdom, “on which to build and multiply and spread” is a dominant theme of the last section of the book.

Build the kingdom.  Build Zion.

Hailey N.