Description

The doctrine of gathering was first revealed through Joseph Smith. Building temples was one of the primary reasons for the gathering, building Zion was another. In 1847 the Salt Lake Valley was appointed as the place of gathering and refuge. It was not enough for the Saints to gather, they had to also bring the poor. The Perpetual Emigrating Fund was started to assist the poor in coming to Zion. The PEF would function for 40 years and assist more than 100,000 saints to emigrate. The gathering would cause a great generational uplift and betterment of the Saints. It was not just the poor who gathered with the Church but largely the middle class. The skilled and educated came, and many of those from the British Isles.