A thoughtful new book about establishing Zion was published in 2021 by Patrick Q. Mason and J. David Pulsipher titled Proclaim Peace: The Restoration's Answer to an Age of Conflict.
There's a lot to like about the book, particularly the chapter titled "Just Ward Theory." I'll discuss that more in upcoming posts, but here we'll look at the authors' explanation of one aspect of how to Zion.
This is one of the best summaries I've seen yet.
p. 198. A person can believe in God as an isolated individual, but building Zion happens only in community. Zion doesn't face inward. The goal is always to gather as many as will come--the whole world if they will put down their arms and heed the call. Zion is an aspirational community that is not yet fully present but is nevertheless attainable, to one degree or another, to anyone who seeks it with purity iof heart. As a work in progress, Zion is as much process as product. What it envisions and entails, however, is nothing short of a global revolution of nonviolent love.
"I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world," Joseph Smith audaciously proclaimed. "It will not be by sword or gun that this Kingdom will roll on," but by "the power of truth." Zion cannot be established with violence or coercion, "only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned."