Introduction: The Making of a Dream  

   One particularly stormy night, I sat on my bed staring at a dark wall, contemplating what I should do. The power had gone out, and my only electronic entertainment was an occasional burst of lightning or clap of thunder just outside my window. I figured my only choice was to read myself to sleep. So I lit a few candles, went to my book shelf, and selected a volume of the Journal of Discourses and the latest Ensign magazine. Why the first selection, of all things? For one, heavy reading is sometimes the best cure for insomnia, and secondly, I had been interested for some time in comparing the messages of early church leaders with those of modern authorities. After reading a sermon or two by Brigham Young, I had just enough energy left for a couple of recent conference talks.

    Toward the end of the second talk, the words began to drag across the page, and soon my mind started spinning and sinking. The next thing I knew, I was standing in the conference center in Salt Lake City. I was all alone, so I walked around for a while, explored the podium, took in the grandeur of the cavernous hall, and imagined the place filled with thousands of faces. From there, I walked across the street to Temple Square where I entered the old tabernacle. I paused there long enough to marvel at its intricate details and the great care, sacrifice, and faith that went into building it. There, too, I imagined thousands of faces – 19^th Century faces. I exited out the east side of Temple Square and made my way to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The next thing I remember I was standing at the head a very large table inside a sizeable conference room. That was where things got really interesting. 

    I wasn’t there but for a few moments, when to my amazement, Brigham Young^[1], himself, walked in, looked me sternly in the eye, and told me he had brought others with him. In walked a stream of general authorities from the earliest days of the Utah church: Heber C. Kimball^[2], Wilford Woodruff ^[3], John Taylor^[4], George A. Smith^[5], George Q. Cannon^[6], Jedediah M. Grant^[7], Orson Hyde^[8], and Orson Pratt^[9]. After they all took their seats on one side of the long conference table, a door opened behind me, through which several prominent, modern apostles and prophets entered. One by one, they each took their seats opposite from the others: Gordon B. Hinckley^[10], M. Russell Ballard^[11], Dallin H. Oaks^[12], Boyd K. Packer^[13], James E. Faust^[14], Neil A. Maxwell^[15], Joseph Fielding Smith^[16], and Bruce R McConkie^[17]. 

    I stood there in astonishment as all eyes were on me, staring in anticipation. I could sense that they were expecting me to address them, but I didn’t know what to say. Frustrated, Brigham Young broke the silence, “We understand you’ve been reading our sermons and addresses, and that you’ve been a little troubled. We know you have many questions, so we’ve come to answer them. What would you ask of us?” Stunned and exhilarated, I awkwardly took my seat, bowed my head for a moment, gathered my thoughts, and with a sudden surge of confidence, looked directly at Brigham Young and said…

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