Our Story: Again With First Choice's Perpetual Money Problems, But This Time a Dream, Revelation, and Promptings

 As has frequently been the case, it seems like we just have not had enough money to go around at work. We’ve had enough to scrape by, and there’s always been some kind of miracle that has seen us through, whether it’s the country going into a pandemic, our last half million of ERC money arriving, or a check coming at exactly the right time; we’ve always somehow just been able to make it. Yes, a lot of that just making it has been with us putting money in, but it is still remarkable that we’ve been anywhere close to staying just afloat.

So we are once again looking like things will not make it, so I’ve been praying intently that we will have some of the money we’re owed come through or some other miracle to happen to keep us up just a little longer. We have some significant breathing room on the horizon, with a combined close to $100,000 in savings or additional money coming in every month if we can just hang on. At work, I take a few minutes every day to go outside, walk, and listen to scriptures and a conference talk. During the last few days in June I listened to President Uchtdorf’s talk “Encounter at the Empty Tomb” and Sister Freeman’s talk “Best Days and Worst Days.” In both of these talks I felt a strong impression that the Lord is with me and that He is helping us and standing beside us. I still am not sure how we’re going to make it all through, but I do feel that He will be there to help us walk through this once again.

In addition to the promptings during these talks, I also had multiple moments the week before where I had similar impressions as I listened to President Eyring’s talk “Prayers for Peace,” Elder Bednar’s talk “All Who Have Endured Valiantly,” Elder Beccarra’s talk “Tithing-Putting God First,” and Elder Teh’s talk “Follow the Prophet, He Knows the Way.” Additionally, I felt it as I was listening to 1 Nephi 18, as Nephi describes how he built the boat: “Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.” I felt that the Lord was helping us build First Choice in much the same way.

When I told Rachelle about some of the impressions, she told me about how I had a similar impression a few years back. I would frequently do math on the shower window as I was adding up the dollars that we needed to make payroll or whatever. I had told her that I had an impression that the Lord would take care of it and I didn’t need to anymore.

To top all of this off, on the night of July 1st, I had a dream that I was talking with my Dad about UnitedHealthCare offering to buy First Choice. We've been in low level discussions with them for about 2 years, so mentioning UHC specifically wasn't out of the blue, but it has been something that has just dragged on and on. I mentioned to Dad that they had offered $5 million for the company. He said he would for sure take it and to not take it would be foolish. I agreed with him, and then we drove away in our own cars, but we were still talking on the phone. As I was driving home from our meeting spot (roughly Lehi on the shores of Utah Lake), I drove through a huge fire. There were burned-out cars and flames all around. It wasn’t like Paradise (California) where the skies were pitch black or anything, but there were flames all around me that I had to dodge and weave through. Despite that, I was able to navigate them and suddenly come out in normal weather, and everything was fine. When I woke up, the impression that I had was that if UHC does indeed offer us $5 million, take it. The second impression is that I am driving through that fire. It’s got some tight squeezes and some close calls, but I will make it out the other side free and clear (but a part of that would be taking that offer from UHC). So let’s see what they offer us!

I also thought about a quote I had read from a General Authority about why certain people appear in dreams to you. I searched around and found that it was from Elder Scott's talk, "How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life" that I happened to use in an article I wrote back in May for the Ward Newsletter. In it he says:

“Revelation can also be given in a dream when there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness. If you strive to capture the content immediately, you can record great detail, but otherwise it fades rapidly. Inspired communication in the night is generally accompanied by a sacred feeling for the entire experience. 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. 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.”