The Dream (and the hack)

I had this oddly beautiful dream last night, and I probably would have forgotten about it if a mission buddy of mine didn't get his facebook account hacked this morning.

THE DREAM
So... I still can't remember what happened in the whole dream. I just remember the last few scenes before I woke up. I was in the mountains. Not sure where, I was just living in a beautiful middle of nowhere. In my dream, I was on my way to church and I was feeling kinda ticked; I was on-edge. It was a small ward with a few people my age, but mostly old folks and their families. Actually, it was a lot like the Stanley, ID branch in the summer. Anyways, I remember walking out in the middle of church because I felt so bothered. I felt people there were judging me because I had this cranky attitude. They were also judging me for not being married. I walked out and looked at the sun gleaming over the mountains for a only a couple minutes and I sudden felt complete; happy, whole.
I walked to the back of the church where some toddlers were playing with playground equipment. There was this little girl on a swing set (in my dream, she was relative; perhaps a niece or cousin) staring at the same scenery I had been looking at. She pointed at it. She said something ridiculously cute like, "Look at that, Scott. Is that Jesus?" I stood there trying not to laugh and I answered, "Yeah, sure... I mean, yes, of course it is!" I then found myself laughing and she started laughing too. I was so happy, I started crying, and her being a crazy little girl, she tackled me to the ground. And I just looked up at the sky, laughing and crying while this little girl was wrestling me on the grass. (There was gorgeous background music to this-- it had the opening chords to "This Is the Christ," and the clarinet part to Antony Haggerty's "Cut the World.")
Then I woke up.

THE HACK
I am Scott Hall after all, hence I logged onto facebook merely minutes after waking up. On my news feed, I noticed a mission buddy commented on another mission buddy's photo. The photo was 2 years old and kinda looked like this:

Not the actual picture. I feel that would be inappropriate.

The only reason my mission buddy Elder Kearl "commented" on this was because his account got hacked. I suppose there's no other real reason for him to have looked at someone's 2-year-old pictures, right? The hacked version of Elder Kearl didn't just comment on any missionary's picture. It was Elder Thomas Olsen.

Elder Olsen (that's what I knew him as) passed away about 2 months ago. I was in a couple districts with him out in the mission field. I knew enough about him to know he had a loving heart and a firm testimony. And this picture he posted on facebook 2 years ago- a photo of a river in the woods- had the following words written in the description:

"FISHING IS WHERE GOD IS"

THE PRINCIPLE

Now- I don't fish. But this made me smile real big. The fact that people out there can find a connection with God doing something as common and simple as fishing- or in my dream, the little girl associating deity with the sunshine on the mountains- it's a heartwarming thought. I can honestly admit to having spiritual moments with nature. 

Elder Olsen isn't living on this Earth anymore. But I have a hunch he's in a place where he can do something similar to fishing. Perhaps in the Spirit World, preaching the gospel to those who aren't aware of it. After all, Christ does say in Matthew 4:19, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

At the end of the day, the entirety of my dream may have not meant anything (because it was, after all, a dream). But there's just too much to interpret. That little girl asked if the sun was Jesus. Jesus himself says in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world." So I guess she was right. As Matthew 19:4 confirms her point, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." In addition, the light I saw helped me pass through a hard time.

I do believe in a Father in Heaven, I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe in the Holy Ghost. I don't say that aloud very often, so I have a mild commitment to leave you with. I invite you to get in touch with your innocent side and/or to turn off your phone and find some time alone with nature. 

Maybe you could do some fishing.