President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “Great are the promises concerning this land of America. We are told unequivocally that it ‘is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ’ (Ether 2:12). This is the crux of the entire matter—obedience to the commandments of God” (“Times in Which We Live,” 73).
Where is the choice land and for what purpose did God choose it? (13:2–3) “The eventful destiny of America has also been revealed to God’s prophets. To Joseph Smith the Lord revealed that ‘the whole of America is Zion itself from north to south.’ … Further, the Lord decreed this land to be ‘the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, … the holy sanctuary of the Lord’ (Ether 13:3). To serve God’s eternal purposes and to prepare this land of Zion, God ‘established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom [He] raised up … and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood’ (D&C 101:80)” (Benson, “A Witness and a Warning,” 31).