Dreams and Visions

I have had many dreams in the past. Dreaming is one of my favorite things about human existence. Most of my dreams in the past have been diffuse, nonlinear, jumbled images put together to form a scene you would expect to see in an indie film. I can testify that I have had 1 vision in my life back in 2009. The contents of that vision did not include the Savior, but led me to the answer that I was seeking from the Lord. It was as clear as if I had lived it, and I awoke from the dream as if I had been awake the whole time. There was no grogginess, no sloughing off the sleep of the night. Upon “awakening”, I immediately knew the meaning of the vision and though I misinterpreted a portion, the answer was still resoundingly clear. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, has seen fit to fulfill that vision in my life in 2014.

Why bother telling you the vague details of a self-proclaimed vision that supposedly came to pass 5 years after the fact? Why even mention such an experience that occurred 7 years ago? I feel it is important to explain to you that I can discern between a dream and a vision. As recent as 4 years ago, I began to have dreams again. They began as diffuse, non-linear, jumbled images of fancy and fun. Sometimes I would fly, other times I would pole vault over mountain tops. I began writing my dreams down in a journal and when I read them, I can still picture those dreams in my mind. It is rather like watching a movie and then reading the book in which it was based off of.

Then I began to have more spiritual dreams. Dreams in which I was no longer the important subject, the star of my dreams if you will, but dreams filled with symbolism. I would awake, write down my dream and after some pondering have meaning made known unto me. Less than a month ago I had a dream that was rich in symbolism and upon awakening I could not remember the dream at all, but rather, only the meaning of the dream. As I wrote down the meaning, the imagery of the dream came back to my remembrance. This was an altogether different experience than I had ever had before.

Throughout my life I have desired to have my own “Tree Of Life” vision. I have read the account of Lehi and Nephi and like Nephi have had a desire to behold the Tree Of Life. Several weeks ago, I poured out my heart unto the Lord in solemn prayer asking him to send me a dream of the Tree Of Life. The following is the dream that I had that night.

I was standing at the pulpit of the Conference Center. The building was empty. I looked over and saw my sister. She was teaching a small group of children how to perform magic. They all had wands and were weaving spells into the air, the effect of which produced colors and sparkles. I turned around and Thomas S. Monson was walking onto the stage. Suddenly, he grabbed his chest and fell to the ground. I rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. I told him, “You’re having a heart attack. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to go get some help.” He then became angry. He punched me in the face which knocked me back. He stood and raised his hands in the air.

The Conference Center was now filled with people who cheered much like a sporting event at the height of a victory. I then grew angry and punched him in the face, twice. My punches did not faze him in the least. He motioned for his security and they grabbed me by the arms and pulled me off stage. They escorted me to a room in the back where Thomas S. Monson and several others were now seated upon red couches in an “L” formation.

I have provided the following image to give you reference only. I apologize for my lack of artistic skills. The black box was a concrete column, the red blocks represent couches upon which sat several couples. Thomas S. Monson sat closet to the column. I was standing next to the column as indicated by the lonely “X”.

As I looked upon these people, their skin was sallow and spotted. Their appearance disgusted me as they appeared to have deteriorated well beyond normal human age. I pushed my brown leather bound quad-scriptures at Thomas S. Monson and said, “Here are the words of the Lord. Contained within are His revelations to the world as revealed by His prophets. Where are your revelations?” He simply motioned for his security and said, “Get him out of my sight.” The same two men came and grabbed me by my arms and I watched, from a third person perspective, as they escorted me down a hallway and out of the building. I was fighting against them the whole time. I watched as I screamed out, "You won't get away with this!" and as I watched them pull me around the corner, I knew in my heart that no matter of legal power could touch these men, for they were protected by legions of lawyers.

Next, I found myself at home. A package had come for me which my father handed to me. I opened it to find my quad. As I opened the scriptures, I found that they had been marked all over with random notes and references. I flipped to the front of the cover and found the following written:

I hope that you can one day find God.

Thomas S. Monson

D&C 10:10

In my dream I turned to Doctrine and Covenants 10:10. As I read the scripture in my dream, the verse did not make sense to me and I knew that it was only a part of the whole message. As I read the next few verses, the meaning became clear to me.

Then I woke up. The first thing I did after waking up was grab my phone and look up D&C 10:10.

“And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands.”

I then remembered that in my dream, verse 10 was not enough and that I had to read the next few verses to get the whole meaning. D&C 10:10-12.

“And, behold, Satan hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands. And behold, I say unto you, that because they have altered the words, they read contrary from that which you translated and caused to be written; And, on this wise, the devil has sought to lay a cunning plan, that he may destroy this work.”

3 verses. 10 being part of a whole. 3 is the symbolic meaning of all. The beginning, the middle, the end.

I then proceeded to write down every detail I could remember about the dream. I told my wife about this dream. We were both confused as to what this dream meant and why God would send me this dream when I asked for a dream of the Tree Of Life. I then called my closest friend, the one man I trust with my life. After recounting my dream he thought for a moment and then asked how Lehi’s dream of the Tree Of Life began.

1 Nephi 8:4-8

“…methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness. And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me. And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him. And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste. And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.”

After we discussed this, he then asked me how Nephi’s vision of the Tree Of Life began.

1 Nephi 11:1-5


“I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot. And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.”

After we discussed this, he asked me how these two accounts differ. We then ended our conversation as both of us had to go about our work life. As I thought about these two different beginnings and my dream, I came to the conclusion that Lehi followed a man and was led to a dark and dreary waste. He then had to pray to the Lord for mercy to be saved. Nephi, on the other hand, began his vision with the Spirit of the Lord present. Why?

Lehi had seen the pre-mortal Messiah by this time and had been led out of the land of Jerusalem. Perhaps he still had doubts about whether what he was doing was correct. He had, after all, lived in the land of Jerusalem and was a Jew.

Even though he followed the Law of Moses and knew the scriptures, he knew to whom they pointed. He had heard the prophets prophesying and calling the people to repent which led him to pray for the people at Jerusalem. Perhaps he was still considering the words that the High Priests, (who by this time were corrupt and living lives of idolatry), had spoken against these “so-called” prophets. Perhaps he was still conflicted inside because what he was doing, (leaving the faith and basically starting his own sect of Judaism), was in direct conflict with what the leadership of the church had forbidden. They were the High Priests, the sons of Levi, the sons of Abraham, the Chief Priests and such. They were the chosen vessels through which God revealed the Law. Who was he? Some obscure merchant on the outskirts of the city.

As such, in order for Lehi to have a vision representing the Love of God (Jesus Christ), he had to first understand the consequences of following after a man, even if he is dressed in white robes.

I don’t know if anything is going to happen on 10/10. I have come to find out some things about 10/10 as the details of my dream have come to mind again and again over the past few weeks. I was born in 82. On 10/10 there are 82 days left in the year. This year (2016) 10/10 falls on a Monday and is the day on which the US celebrates Columbus Day. Throughout my life I have, almost to the year, called my father on 10/10 to wish him Happy Birthday. Although this might not seem strange to you, it becomes a little confusing as my father’s birthday is the 5^th of October.

Before ending, I wanted to note something which you may or may not have noticed in my dream. It started out with my sister performing magic tricks. What is the symbolism or significance of that? The next morning as I was working, my sister called me. This is not something that happens with some regularity. I asked her if she had dreamed of me the previous night. She had not and thought my question was a bit weird. I told her that I had dreamed of her the night before and so I thought it was a perfectly acceptable question. She asked me for my help with her website and I performed a bit of "computer magic" to solve her issue. I don't really believe that the "magic" part  is legit, just a funny play on words. Later that day the words of Joseph Smith came to my mind.

“A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.” (History of the Church, 3:381).

I’m not sure if my dream means anything. I want you to know that I pray for the leaders of the LDS Church. I pray that they might seek the Lord diligently, hear his voice, and be inspired to lead the Church. I don’t know if my dream is anything more than a dream, but I have felt compelled to record it in public. Perhaps the Lord will make it known unto me at some future time as to why.