In the book "Holy Places, True Stories of Faith and Miracles from Latter-day Saint Temples" by Chad Hawkins, it is a collected beautiful miracles from temples around the world. The book is full of inspirational stories that remind us of the hand of God in the details of these special buildings. The Houston Texas Temple dream is one of those stories that makes you feel good, knowing that God uses us to help with His work.
The account of this powerful miracle comes from a man named Richard Gieseke, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Richard lives in Houston and owns a landscaping nursery in the area. One night Richard Gieseke had a special dream, where he dreamed of the gardens adorning an unknown temple. He said "the dream was so vivid". Richard said “that I awoke and wrote a letter to the First Presidency of the Church and filed it for later use. The unusual dream was of a beautiful temple with lovely gardens in special arrangements. From the dream I knew the Lord wanted me to begin growing plants at my nursery for the temple.” This dream occurred months before the announcement of the Houston Temple.
The story gets even more incredible because six months before Richard had the dream he had unexpectedly acquired 100 four-year-old oak trees. Richard could not explain but he decided to plant the trees in containers larger than usual. After the special dream, Richard knew the importance of the trees and he designated the finest of the oaks and the best of his other plant materials exclusively for the future temple grounds.
On many occasions he had opportunities to sell the trees to fill orders that were otherwise unfillable, but he remained firm in his decisions that these plants were for the temple. In retrospect, Brother Gieseke recognizes how he and his nursery business were blessed during this several-year period. Just before he had his dream, his nursery had consisted of six acres. Within a few years he had the opportunity to acquire a prosperous 40-acre nursery and a 50-acre tree farm. He said "Because of the Lord's blessings, a six-acre nursery, too small to accommodate and donate all the temple plants, tripled its volume and became a 96 acre business. It is true the Lord will open the windows of heaven to pour out His blessings. I have seen this firsthand. I have been blessed many times over the dollar amount donated to the temple, I continue to be in debt to the Lord."
Three years after his dream, the plant stock Brother Gieseke nurtured for the Lord’s house finally had a permanent home on the grounds of the Houston Texas Temple. The special trees stand at the front of the temple’s entryway, and his flowers provide the perfect contrasting color against the exterior.
Bro. Gieseke said "I feel that this experience has been the highlight of my career. I thank God that He gave me a special dream that empowered me with the desire to get involved in an eternal undertaking."
The Lord often directs us on a certain path well before we can see the whole picture. He asks us to simply listen to the promptings in our mind, and take steps forward. It is usually looking back that those small steps make sense. What a blessing to know the Lord is in control of our lives, and we will help His work go forward by listening to the good feelings and promptings we receive.
Refereces:
"Holy Places, true stories of Faith and Miracles from Latter-day Saint Temples" by Chad Hawkins p.105-107