Orson Spencer's Dream of Divine Guidance and Protection

In January 1853, Orson Spencer and his companion Jacob Houtz arrived in Berlin, Prussia, as part of their mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon their arrival, they were immediately processed by police and soldiers, and they soon learned from the American Legation that their presence was monitored and their mission's purpose was already public knowledge through the German press, which had misrepresented their goals. Recognizing that a clandestine approach was impossible due to strict police registration requirements, they petitioned Karl Otto von Raumer, the minister of public worship, for an official audience to request permission to preach. On February 1, 1853, they were summoned and ordered to depart the kingdom by the following morning under threat of imprisonment and transportation. Following this banishment, Spencer experienced a vivid, symbolic dream in which he walked across a dangerous, precarious scaffold of thin rails constructed in a barn. Upon waking, he questioned the origin of the vision and received an immediate, audible revelation—as if read from a printed book—confirming that an angel had stood by his bedside to protect him from foul spirits so that the Lord could guide his mind, much like the manifestations given to Jacob at Bethel and to Solomon. Spencer viewed this as divine assurance during their official persecution, and he and Houtz subsequently departed for England to continue their missionary work.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

I had a dream, in which I thought I was walking upon a scaffold, made of thin rails, in a barn, and the scaffold was very high, and the rails were very narrow, and I had to walk upon them, and they were very slippery, and I was in great danger of falling, and I felt that if I fell I should be dashed to pieces. I awoke, and discovered that it was a dream, and immediately exclaimed, From whence is this dream? Is this from God? Lord, how shall I know whether this is from thee or from some other source? The reply then came to me, quick as thought, in an audible manner, as though it had been read from some printed book—'Mine angel hath stood by your bed side, and kept all foul spirits away from you, in order that my Spirit might indite the truth upon your mind, even as a fond and tender mother watches over her sleeping child to brush the flies away, and to prevent its being disturbed when it needs refreshing: and this is the way that I revealed myself to my servant Jacob at Bethel, while he slept upon a stone for a pillow: and this is the way that I revealed my will to Solomon in a dream.' I felt comforted and strengthened by this manifestation, and I knew that the Lord was with us, and that he would protect us, and that our mission was acceptable in his sight, although we were banished from the kingdom of Prussia.