The Gathering

In the early days of the church, the members were asked to move in order to be near each other. At first, the members moved to Ohio. Later, the members moved out to Utah and created towns throughout the western United States.

This gathering of saints so many years ago has greatly altered my life today. The members were first asked to move to Ohio because it helped make the church more unified and brought enough people into the same area that it was possible to build a temple. Today, there are temples all over the world, but a temple cannot be built until the LDS population is high enough. In the early days of the church, it was unlikely that any one city would have enough members to have the resources to build a temple. They were asked to gather so that there were enough people. This allowed them to build the first temple and today there are over a hundred temples that I can go to.

When the saints moved out to Utah, they spread throughout the state and into others. The LDS population was so high that it was possible to start a school intended for the members where religious learning and secular learning could be combined. This school slowly developed into a great university. This university attracts thousands of members from all over the world. This is where my parents met. So, although the members are no longer being asked to gather in Utah and although I have never had to move for my religion, the gathering that occurred in the past affected my life so dramatically that I wouldn't be here otherwise.