Gathering

Again, a commandment I give unto the church, that it is expedient in me that they should assemble together at the Ohio, against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall return unto them. Doctrine & Covenants 37:3

Individuals and nations are scattered when they reject the true Messiah and forsake his Church and doctrine. Conversely, they are gathered when they come unto Christ by covenant, accept his doctrine, and congregate with the faithful. The gathering is first to Christ, the Person, and second, to a place, a location. That is, first we are gathered spiritually and then temporally. Once we have been baptized into the true Church, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and are thereby qualified to associate with the household of faith, we then prepare to participate in the final phase of gathering. “What was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the world?... The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation” (Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 307—8). (Robert L. Millet and Lloyd D. Newell. Draw Near Unto Me: Daily Reflections on the Doctrine and Covenants. 97)