The Prophet’s Last Dream – A View of My Old Farm

We’ve been talking about parables, symbols, and what the Lord has to unveil to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Joseph Smith had this dream the night before he was martyred. What do we learn from the Prophet’s dream? What do the symbols reveal?

“Joseph related the following dream which he had last night: I was back in Kirtland, Ohio, and thought I would take a walk out by myself, and view my old farm, which I found grown up with weeds and brambles, and altogether bearing evidence of neglect and want of culture. I went into the barn, which I found without floor or doors, with the weather-boarding off, and was altogether in keeping with the farm.”

What does Joseph’s old farm represent? What does the barn symbolize? Who is supposed to be taking care of the farm?  What do the weeds and brambles that are permitted to grow signify? What do the floor, doors, and weather-boarding suggest? Who removed these items? Why is the removal of these things significant?

"While I viewed the desolation around me, and was contemplating how it might be recovered from the curse upon it, there came rushing into the barn a company of furious men, who commenced to pick a quarrel with me.”

When Joseph sees the condition of his farm, what are his first thoughts? Is Joseph blaming anyone? Or is he simply observing the situation and considering possibilities to improve its condition? Why is the farm cursed?  Why does a company of furious men meet Joseph in the barn? Why not outside, in the house, or elsewhere? Who are these furious men? Why do they pick a quarrel with Joseph? Why do they initiate the quarrel?

"The leader of the party ordered me to leave the barn and farm, stating it was none of mine, and that I must give up all hope of ever possessing it.”

Why does the leader order Joseph to leave the farm? Who cleared the ground, built the barn, cultivated the fields, and cared for the farm? Does the party recognize Joseph as the rightful owner? Why are these imposters so possessive of the disorderly barn and farm?

"I told him the farm was given me by the Church, and although I had not had any use of it for some time back, still I had not sold it, and according to righteous principles it belonged to me or the Church.”

What makes Joseph the rightful title-holder of the farm?  Why has Joseph been away for some time? Where has Joseph been? Who has usurped Joseph’s position?

"He then grew furious and began to rail upon me, and threaten me, and said it never did belong to me nor to the Church.”

Why is this leader so furious?  Why does the leader rail, threaten, and lie? Why does this bunch of hooligans claim that Joseph was never in the picture and definitely want him out of the picture now?

"I then told him that I did not think it worth contending about, that I had no desire to live upon it in its present state, and if he thought he had a better right I would not quarrel with him about it but leave; but my assurance that I would not trouble him at present did not seem to satisfy him, as he seemed determined to quarrel with me, and threatened me with the destruction of my body.”

Why doesn’t Joseph want to live on the farm in its present state? Why doesn’t Joseph quarrel about the leader’s right? The leader told Joseph to leave; Joseph is willing to leave. Why doesn’t this satisfy the leader? Why is Joseph’s presence threatening? Why is the leader still determined to pick a fight with Joseph? Why is Joseph’s life threatened?

"While he was thus engaged, pouring out his bitter words upon me, a rabble rushed in and nearly filled the barn, drew out their knives, and began to quarrel among themselves for the premises, and for a moment forgot me, at which time I took the opportunity to walk out of the barn about up to my ankles in mud.”

Who is this rabble?  Do we use the tool of contention? Do we fight with one another? Where will this approach place us? Who will be forgotten? Who may walk out and leave unnoticed? How is Joseph’s life preserved? What does the mud represent? Why is the mud up to his ankles and thus covering his feet?

"When I was a little distance from the barn, I heard them screeching and screaming in a very distressed manner, as it appeared they had engaged in a general fight with their knives. While they were thus engaged, the dream or vision ended." TPJS 393-394

Who is participating in the fight? Who is going to be screeching and screaming in a very distressed manner in the Day of Judgment? Do we want to join the brawl? What other options do we have? Why was this Joseph’s last dream before he died?

Tree House Under Construction

One afternoon this last week, I got bombarded with questions from the boys. One shouted with excitement, “Dad, can I use a hammer?” Another cried, “I need a saw.” “By the way, do you have some nails?” “Oh, we need some boards too.” “Can you help us?” As others heard about the adventure, they joined in. Of course to be an official contractor, they each needed their own hammer, saw, tape measure, and a tool bag full of nails. That’s just how it has to be, ya know?

I soon discovered they were planning to build a tree house. They had the perfect tree all picked out and were so excited to get me involved and illicit my help. Showing me the tree, they described their dream. It really did sound great.

Over the next few days we talked, made some plans, and gathered the tools we would need for the project. Some of them used their savings to purchase a few new tools. Of course, there are usually plenty of nails and screws available in dad’s collection of stuff. We went up to our pile of scrap lumber and picked out some boards.

They were thrilled to have some supplies to work with. Joshua and Jonathan were the ones that came up with the idea. When Jared saw what they were doing, he was very eager to join in and take over. We had a little discussion about this, and peace was restored. Jared, Joshua, and Jonathan are very capable and things moved forward. They quickly finished their schoolwork, so they could spend the rest of the day working on the tree house. Even though Joseph wasn’t a big help, he still liked being with the boys.

After the project was well under way, Rachel and April asked for tools so they could help. Crystalynne and Marianne enjoyed just playing around the construction site. The children worked well together most of the time, but once in a while there was a disagreement between the boss and the foreman because nobody really knew who the boss was. They each had their own ideas about how it should work.

This has been their project. They were the designers and creators. Dad was just there to help. He reassured and complemented them on their good work. They called Dad the “saw man”. Children who were up in the tree would call down measurements. Dad would saw the boards according to their instructions and hand them up. They did the assembling and nailing. Once in a while they made an error and had to revise.

What a great team. At this point, their tree house has three levels, and there are steps connecting the different floors. Railings have been added in some places. The dream is coming together and everyone is having a blast!

Dreaming and Creating

Last week some of our children were doodling on paper and began drawing houses. Soon a group gathered around the kitchen table to see what was going on and a conversation began. Each child piped in, shared their ideas, grabbed a pencil and paper of their own, and started drawing their individual dream homes.

Excitement was in the air, and their dreams were being expressed on paper. They started drawing bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, kitchens, and playrooms. Soon sketches of furniture, appliances, and decorations appeared.

As things began to unfold, it was obvious that they had little working understanding of what “to scale” means. Their toilets were nearly as large as their three-car garage and the oversized chairs appeared about five times larger than the doorways.

Earlier this week, I recognized that they needed a little help and guidance on the project. I spent a morning with the children teaching and demonstrating the meaning of “to scale”. I took a minute to sketch a simple 5’x 8’ bathroom “to scale” (1/8” = 1’) and proceeded to explain what I was doing.

Just a few moments later, after seeing the sketch, little eyes began to light up. Understanding started to materialize, and they got the idea. They could see that a standard tub/shower size is 2’6” x 5’0” in real life, and it is possible to draw a smaller scale of it on paper. They realized that a toilet, sink, and tub all nicely fit in a 5’x 8’ bathroom, and it’s “to scale”. It even looks proportionate on paper. They were excited and impressed with this new understanding.

I gave them about ten homework problems scaling down different lengths (1/8”=1’). They did a great job and qualified to receive their 1/8” square graph paper and become an apprentice architect. They were so excited to start putting their dreams on paper. As their homes began to take shape, the children were delighted to see how professional their drawings appeared when they were drawn “to scale”.

During their free time, they have carefully designed, re-designed, changed, and added to their dream homes. They seem to be very satisfied with their creations in progress.

Along the way, I have been giving helps and tips but have insisted that they find answers that they’re capable of finding on their own. The most common type of question raised is “How wide is a dishwasher?” or “How deep is a closet?” I simply gave them a tape measure and replied, “Go find out.”

Over the last few days, they have measured almost every part of our home and have discovered the sizes of appliances, rooms, hallways, doorways, etc. The children have enjoyed this activity and are excelling. With significant effort and time, they have drawn some pretty nice floor plans, learned a lot in the process, and have had a bunch of fun. They are still in full swing and excited as they continue dreaming and creating. I am proud of them all.