Trying to find a couple quotes

[kpomeroy]

I am trying to find a couple quotes an I was wondering if there was someone here that could help me. Here they are:

1. There is a quote, that is attributed to an early Church leader, possibly Brigham Young, that goes something like this: The day that the Church is accepted by the world, that we know that we aren't doing what we should as Saints.

2. A quote by Joseph Smith that talks about the ultimate purpose of the Church on the Earth is to establish Zion. This has been true of every other dispensation as well.

If someone could give me the exact quotes for these and give me a reference I would greatly appreciate it.

[pam]

I'm looking through my vast collection of quotes. Both of them sound very familiar.

[volgadon]

The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory, "the dispensation of the fulness of times, when God will gather together all things that are in heaven, and all things that are upon the earth," "even in one," when the Saints of God will be gathered in one from every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue, when the Jews will be gathered together into one, the wicked will also be gathered together to be destroyed, as spoken of by the prophets; the Spirit of God will also dwell with His people, and be withdrawn from the rest of the nations, and all things whether in heaven or on earth will be in one, even in Christ. The heavenly Priesthood will unite with the earthly, to bring about those great purposes; and whilst we are thus united in one common cause, to roll forth the kingdom of God, the heavenly Priesthood are not idle spectators, the Spirit of God will be showered down from above, and it will dwell in our midst. The blessings of the Most High will rest upon our tabernacles, and our name will be handed down to future ages; our children will rise up and call us blessed; and generations yet unborn will dwell with peculiar delight upon the scenes that we have passed through, the privations that we have endured; the untiring zeal that we have manifested; the all but insurmountable difficulties that we have overcome in laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory and blessing which they will realize; a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight for generations past; that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets; a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family. (May 2, 1842.) DHC 4:608-610.

[pam]

“We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object. … The time is soon coming, when no man will have any peace but in Zion and her stakes” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 160–61).

[pam]

Hugh Nibley actually said something more closely with what you mentioned:

The Establishment of Zion: Our Greatest Object

The fact that we have the responsibility to call God’s children to Zion suggests that we, individually, must first become Zion people: “Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.” Hugh Nibley reminded us that a primary purpose of the Church [the kingdom of God] is to prepare a people to become Zion: “[We] work for the building up the Kingdom of God on earth and the establishment of Zion. The first step makes the second possible.”