{"chapter_no":"24","chapter_title":"Three Dreams","book_id":"3","book_name":"Springville","subchapter_no":"0","page_no":"498","page_number":"1","verses_count":0,"total_pages":5,"page_content":"

 <\/p>

Chapter 24<\/p>

Three Dreams<\/h1><\/p>

 <\/p>

In the weeks that follow his return to Utah, Grant has a series of life-changing experiences—The
night before his homecoming talk in church, he is blessed with three special dreams from the Lord.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

Sitting up on the stand at the start of sacrament meeting, Grant was deep in thought,
momentarily lost from the goings-on of the meeting. He was the featured speaker, expected to
share two decades’ worth of fascinating experiences from his time in Europe. Grant’s own
expectation for the meeting had been much the same. His notes for the talk, prepared during the
past week, were pretty much along those lines. But all of that had changed now. <\/p>

 <\/p>

When Grant awoke earlier that morning, his mind had been filled with the remnants of
several long dreams, ones that had gone on seemingly all night long. Arising from his bed, he
had proceeded immediately to his desk to record all he could remember and piece together a
coherent narrative. The main ideas of the dreams were fairly clear in his mind, but putting
everything down on paper in an organized way took nearly thirty minutes. It was surprisingly
difficult to recollect all the details, but at the same time, it was very spiritually rewarding. The
Spirit was there to help him write things down and understand their meanings, just as He had
been there to reveal each of the dreams to him in the first place.<\/p>

 <\/p>

We might wonder what category of revelation Grant, as a lay member of the Church, and
no longer serving in a leadership calling, was receiving through these dreams.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Was it inspiration? We sometimes use this more innocent word when we are afraid to use
the word \"revelation.\"<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Was it personal revelation? In other words, revelation to help just him in his own life?<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Revelation to him as a father, to help him lead and bless his family? <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Revelation to him as a priesthood holder, to help him better serve both his member and
nonmember neighbors living in his new ward and stake? <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Revelation related to his profession in life, to help him improve or reshape the world’s
financial markets and the management consulting industry of which he was a part? <\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

Revelation from the Lord to him as a citizen, to help him solve critical problems in his
city, state, country, or the world at large? <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Regardless of what category of revelation these three dreams belonged to, to Grant they
could be described by just one word—incredible! <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Even for a man with his vast experience as a leader of the Church, what had happened to
him overnight was still amazing. Revelation from God never gets old, although the experience
itself can sometimes overpower one’s physical frame, exhausting both mind and body. A joyful
lack of sleep is often part of that \"revelation tiredness\" that comes the next morning<\/span>.<\/p>

 <\/p>

As Grant sat in his seat on the stand, details of these three dreams passed through his
mind.<\/p>

 <\/p>

In the first dream, Grant found himself sitting with Carolyn in the front room of their new
home. The doorbell rang; President Chandler was at the front door accompanied by a priesthood
companion from the ward. Grant invited the two men inside. As they passed through the door,
the room immediately filled with light, and Grant felt a powerful manifestation of the Spirit of
God come upon him. All sat down, an opening prayer was given, and then a lesson was taught.
At the close of the visit, Carolyn brought out a large serving plate of homemade apple strudel.
After Carolyn had served up portions of the dessert on dishes to everyone, Grant took a few
spoonfuls to try it out. He found it to be very tasty and up to her usual standards. Afterward, the
two men departed, taking the remaining strudel in tin foil with them. The light in the room then
slowly dissipated.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Almost immediately, however, the doorbell rang again, and the same process was
repeated––Brother Chandler and a companion entered through the front door, the room filled
with light, the Spirit came upon him, a lesson was taught and, afterward, Carolyn brought out an
apple dessert for all to enjoy. This same process was repeated over and over in the dream for
what seemed like hours, except that each time Carolyn came out from the kitchen, she had with
her a different variety of apple dessert to serve to the guests: apple cobbler, apple crisp, apple
bars, apple pie, apple spice cake, apple dumplings, and so on. Additionally, with each new visit,
the light in the room became brighter, the burning sensation of the Spirit manifest inside him
became stronger, and the taste of the apple treat prepared by Carolyn became increasingly better.
The last dessert he sampled, in fact, included apples baked with an incredibly delicious
combination of spices. Never before in his life had Grant tasted anything so good!<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

At the dream’s conclusion, Grant saw a table extending infinitely towards the horizon.
Upon it were arranged many delicious and spectacular-looking foods, the kind of which he
surmised man had not as yet conceived<\/span>.<\/p>

 <\/p>

This was the first dream. <\/p>

 <\/p>

In the second dream, Grant found himself in a Church administrative office somewhere.
He was giving a personal priesthood interview to President Chandler, who was seated before him
on the other side of a desk. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Filling the familiar role of a Church leader, he began the interview.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Young man,” addressing Brother Chandler as though he were a young Aaronic or
Melchizedek Priesthood holder, “please stand up and list for me the duties of a stake president.
And, do this, of course, without peeking at the Church Handbook.”<\/p>

 <\/p>

With a burst of energy, Brother Chandler sprung to his feet and put the handbook down
on the chair behind him. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he then gave his answer.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Okay, Brother Williams, there are many that come to mind, although these will not be in
any particular order....<\/p>

 <\/p>

“That’s fine,” responded Grant. \"Proceed.\"<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Let's see,\" said President Chandler.<\/p>

 <\/p>

\"Be filled every day with the pure love of Christ. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“Love the Lord with all of my heart, mind, and strength, and glorify the Lord in all that I
do.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Show forth great love to my wife and family every day, while also making sure my wife
knows how much I enjoy her special, homemade strawberry ice cream.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Consecrate all of my time, talents, and wealth, and my hopes and dreams, to the work of
the Lord for the next thirty or forty years of my life. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“Begin each day with the fire of the Spirit, having desires to do a marvelous work and a
wonder here in the stake.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Seek to build a prototype of Zion as much as is within my power, working together with
all of the good people around me in this fine spot of land in Springville, Utah. In other words,
follow the concept of continuous improvement and the parable of the five-dollar lawn.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Help lead others to do good. Be a light on the hill.”<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Magnify my office and take upon myself the responsibility, answering the sins of the
members of the stake upon my head if I am not diligent in teaching them the gospel all my days.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Manage my financial affairs carefully. Provide for my family’s temporal needs. Take
my wife out dancing at least once a month.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Choose the right––as in the ring I wore as a child years ago. Be obedient to all of the
commandments of God.<\/p>

“Be extremely concerned about the duration of eternity and the state of the souls of men
after the resurrection and the Final Judgment, that I might quake and tremble and be unable to
bear that any human soul should suffer torment in the eternal world.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Provide Christian service to the people of the stake and to the people of the world.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Love my neighbor as myself.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Be led by the Spirit. Teach by the Spirit.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Offer as a sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“And finally, perform all other duties of a stake president as presently constituted in the
Church Handbook and as prescribed by revelation through the First Presidency, the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles, and the other general authorities of the Church.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Okay, that’s about sixteen that I can think of so far. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“How many of them did I get right?” asked Brother Chandler, his expression curious and
excited, like a young man waiting to see the results of a school exam.<\/p>

 <\/p>

This was the second dream. <\/p>

 <\/p>

In the third dream, Grant saw a passenger train coming down a mountain into the valley
of a Utah town or city. It seemed to be picking up speed; in fact, it was moving a little too fast
for the well-being of the passengers. Nevertheless, it completed its journey without incident and
the passengers made it safely home. Almost immediately, he saw a second train coming down
the mountain on the same track. It was moving even faster than the first one, and he could sense
that the passengers were in danger. The train continued rapidly down into the valley, flew off the
tracks, and crashed. Some on board were killed and many were seriously injured.<\/p>

 <\/p>

As he went to write the words of the third dream later, the Spirit spoke the interpretation
to his mind. The train was a representation of the modern-day lifestyle of Latter-day Saints living
in Utah. The train conductor was the culture of Utah, which has traditionally been a source of
great blessings, building on the pioneer legacy of the 1800s, but which, more and more, had been
somewhat altered by the popular culture of society. In particular, the dream was a reference to
the great wealth had by many rich, upper-class, and even many middle-class members of the
Church in Utah, and the impact it was having upon their spiritual lives and the spiritual lives of
their children. The first train's passengers were the members of the Church of the older
generation––the generation of saints who were now nearing the end of their lives and who had
enjoyed a relatively safe ride down the mountain to reach home. They had been able to enjoy the
prosperity of Utah and still remain faithful in the gospel. The passengers of the second train were
the rising generation of the Church. The second train's conductor, however, had been driving
more under the influence of the popular culture, moving way too fast, and almost out of control.
There was a real danger that many of these of the rising generation might fall away from the
truth of the restored gospel taught to them by their parents. <\/p>

 <\/p>

This was the third dream.<\/p>

 <\/p>

Amidst his pondering, Grant was interrupted by a deacon holding the sacrament tray in
front of him. So deep in thought was he that the deacon had been forced twice already to move
the tray closer, with it now almost touching him on the arm. Smiling at the boy, Grant drew a
piece of bread from the tray and the deacon moved on. Moments later, he was deep in thought
again, but this time he was focused mainly on his talk and what he might say. <\/p>

 <\/p>

The clock was ticking... he had only twenty minutes left to go either with his original talk
or figure out something else to say. He had no pen to write notes, so a new talk would have to be
assembled in his mind. <\/p>

 <\/p>

It’s so <\/i>hard to concentrate! <\/i>There are<\/i> many things on my mind<\/i> today<\/i>! <\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

Much had happened to him in the last two weeks, and much had happened to him even in
the last twenty-four hours. There were the final goodbyes in England, the search for a home, the
start of a new life in Springville, the first day on the job back at the firm, the chance meeting in
the driveway with President Chandler, and then, later, President Chandler's first visit to their
home in which he had shared his vision of Zion; and, of course, there were the three special
dreams from God he had just received overnight.<\/p>

 <\/p>

So<\/i>,<\/i> w<\/i>hat shall I talk about<\/i> today<\/i>?<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

He pondered the matter for a few minutes more, but then his mind suddenly went blank
and he was unable to think of anything. <\/p>

 <\/p>

His time had run out. There was silence in the chapel, and the passage of a few moments
of “dead time” after a speaker is introduced. The stage was set. It was Grant’s turn to stand up.<\/p>"}