Digital Only: Come, Follow Me
Ask Them about Your Dream
Regardless of how Heavenly Father communicates with us, it’s important to remember that He wants to.
Photograph of the Salt Lake Temple by Kimberly Willett Hayes
When Cecilia Betancourt began meeting with the full-time missionaries in Tijuana, Mexico, she wasn’t really interested in their message. Rather, she wanted to prove them wrong.
“I was going to prove my point of view—that I knew what I believed and that whatever they were going to teach me was not correct,” Cecilia says. She was so intent on proving her point that she didn’t learn much from the first three discussions.
“But what I do remember is the fourth lesson,” she says. “That fourth lesson was the one that changed my heart.”
That discussion, which centered on keeping the commandments, introduced Cecilia to temples and the doctrine of eternal marriage and families. 1
“When they were showing me a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, the Spirit whispered and said, ‘Ask them about that dream you had when you were small.’” Remembering a room she had seen in her dream, Cecilia asked the missionaries, “Are there chairs in a certain order inside the temple?”
“Yes,” the sister missionaries answered.
“Is there a cushion or something that someone stands behind?” Cecilia asked.
The missionaries, wondering how much information they should share, looked at each other curiously and said, “Yes.”
“Do people dress in white in the temple?” Cecilia asked.
“Yes,” the missionaries said.
Then Cecilia asked, “Behind the person standing in the middle of the room, is there something bright and white that I cannot enter?”
“Yes,” the missionaries answered again.
“At that moment,” Cecilia said, “something told me, ‘This is the place you saw in your dream.’ Then I started crying. I couldn’t hold it in. One of the sisters said, ‘Cecilia, will you prepare to be baptized?’ The Spirit was so strong that I said yes.”
Night Visions
Most dreams, obviously, are not as significant or as life changing as Sister Betancourt’s childhood dream. But dreams, as the scriptures show, are one way that Heavenly Father prepares, warns, and reveals information to His children.
For example, when Joseph of Egypt was a young man, he dreamed that his parents and brothers “made obeisance to [him]” (Genesis 37:9). That dream was fulfilled in a marvelous way after Joseph, through “the Spirit of God” (Genesis 41:38), interpreted Pharaoh’s dream of plenty and famine (see Genesis 41), became a ruler in Egypt (see Genesis 41:40–43), and saved his father’s family (see Genesis 45).
Other scriptural examples include Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which came to Daniel “in a night vision” (Daniel 2:19). Daniel told the king, “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days” (Daniel 2:28).
In the New Testament, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him, “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 1:20). In a subsequent dream, the angel told Joseph, “Take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him” (Matthew 2:13).
After the Wise Men had worshipped the Christ child, they also were “warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod” (Matthew 2:12).
In the Book of Mormon, Lehi told his family, “I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision” (1 Nephi 8:2; see also 1 Nephi 1:16).
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Revelations are conveyed in a variety of ways, including, for example, dreams, visions, conversations with heavenly messengers, and inspiration.” 2
Elder Richard G. Scott (1928–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said dreams that include inspired communication are generally accompanied by a sacred feeling.
“The Lord uses individuals for whom we have great respect to teach us truths in a dream because we trust them and will listen to their counsel,” Elder Scott added. “It is the Lord doing the teaching through the Holy Ghost. However, He may in a dream make it both easier to understand and more likely to touch our hearts by teaching us through someone we love and respect.” 3
Regardless of how Heavenly Father communicates with us, it’s important to remember that He wants to.
President Russell M. Nelson reminded us: “One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.” 4