The Factory

The following is a dream the First Elder, David, has Sunday morning, February 17, 2019.

Saturday night, I felt very anxious. I had trouble falling asleep. When I woke up around 2:30 in the morning, something was wrong. I could feel it. But I didn’t know what it was.

I got up. Not able to sleep I worked on a manual for the Priesthood for the Fellowship until about 5:30 or 6am. At that point, though still anxious I was finally exhausted enough to sleep.

Before I went to bed I said a prayer. I asked God to help me. I asked for peace and for answers. I needed to know what was wrong and what to do about it.

I fell asleep nearly as soon as my head hit the pillow. And I had a dream.

In the dream I was working in a very clean factory with the members of the Council of Fifty of the Church of Jesus Christ in Christian Fellowship. I was leading, trying to help, but people were arguing, fighting over differences. When we looked at the project, what we were building in the factory, it made no sense. I had no idea what we were even trying to build. And it seemed, neither did anyone else.

What was worse, people were placing blame on one another. Everyone seemed bent on focusing on their part of what we were building. They would point at other parts of the project and describe how and why they didn’t fit. This led to hurt feelings and defensiveness.

I asked everyone to stop working. I prayed. Then, we all prayed together as one. We asked for divine guidance on how to move forward and fix what we thought was clearly broken.

As our prayer ended, an angel of the Lord descended into our midst. He asked us what was wrong and listened as we each in turn explained our views. Each seemed to think themselves justified in their own doings.

The angel then asked me for my thoughts. I asked why the Lord required this of me when I’m not fit to lead, when I couldn’t get the project moving as it should.

The angel of the Lord told us to come with him and we arose to the highest point of the building, far above what we were building. On the right side of it, he asked us what we saw. It appeared as a puzzle, mismatch and improperly put together. It was as we feared: a mess.

He then took us around the backside, to the left side of the building. He asked us again what we saw. Though it was a different perspective, it appeared the same, though different. It was still a mess, just a different mess, with pieces sticking out as though nothing belonged together.

The angel then took us around to the front. From there, he stated we could see the project the way God saw it. It was perfect. It was beautiful. Everything came together, overlapping to explain rather than hide the overlap—the things we didn’t see as fitting together.

The angel of the Lord then told us, it’s not about conforming everyone to one will or idea, it’s about conforming to one another in spite of our differences. It’s about understanding that there are those that need to see the things we saw as ugly or unnecessary or incomplete or even wrong in order to see the whole or bigger picture.

He then told us to get back to work and not to be bothered by the things that don’t agree, but rather celebrate them. And, build together upon the things we have in common. He then looked at me and said, now see that this work is completed because it’s not your work, but it is required of you.

While I do not see issues in the Fellowship at the moment pulling people apart, I do believe this is a warning not to fall for the traps others have in the past. And, I see this as a reflection not merely of the Fellowship, but of the whole Latter Day Saint restorational movement. The Lord wants us to look past our differences and get His work done.