Deb Parker's talk given in Stake Conference on 1-10-10

Stake Conference Talk
Sunday, January 10, 2010

Good morning, Brothers and Sisters:
My name is Debra Parker, and I was born and raised in southern California. I attended a “non-denominational” Christian church with my family all of my growing up years, and have known our Heavenly Father and received His Son Jesus Christ as my personal Savior early in my youth. There has never been a day that I did not feel His love, even though He didn’t always feel mine in return.

When I was about 14, my sister Diane and I attended a Fireside Chat with an LDS friend. The reason for our being there was not the usual reason one attends a Fireside ~ this one was special to us because the Osmond Brothers were speaking (a few of you may have heard of them J). It was an incredible experience, highly emotional for all attending, as the Brothers shared their powerful personal testimonies of the truth of the Book of Mormon. Upon leaving we were offered some literature, with an invitation to read certain scripture passages. We did, and found them interesting, igniting a desire to know more about this “new” religion. We attended the Visitor’s Center at the Los Angeles Temple and received a Book of Mormon of our own. Regrettably, I can’t tell you what became of that copy ~ my sister and I continued learning a little more about the Church but our interest simply wasn’t enough to sustain further investigation at that point in our lives, and we didn’t have much support for it then, either ~ no one in our family knew much about Mormonism, and so our curiosity ended there for a time.

As the years passed though, and my interest ebbed and flowed, I would pick up a book or article now and then and read more about the Church. Most of what I found to read was not always favorable to the LDS faith. In fact, I have read much that is diametrically opposed to gaining a testimony regarding the truth of the gospel doctrine. Through the years, though, one thing kept happening that kept my interest and need to know more continuing; even as my life changed, and we’d moved a number of times, it seemed everywhere I would end up, some member of the LDS Church would come into my life; someone that seemed, in retrospect, specifically designed to be there for me to inquire of, bounce ideas off of, get me thinking ~ keeping that spark of interest burning. You see ~ my personality is such that I am the type of person who wants to KNOW and learn ~ to analyze things to the “nth” degree, to know with certain surety that what I know is true ~ in other words, not yet strong enough in faith to accept the ‘substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ (as we read in Hebrews 11:1).

Through the years, as our Heavenly Father directed these Saints’ paths to intersect with mine, I have been aware of a gentle prodding, a certain nudging, challenging me to seek further into the information I have gleaned over so many years. My dearest girlfriend moved from southern California to the Ogden area, and within two years she and her family were baptized. I remember sitting at her kitchen table at 3:00 in the morning questioning her and her husband about Church doctrine. I was fascinated! While in Newport about eight years ago, I had a dear LDS friend who I scrapbooked with and I can remember many late, late nights spent in discussion with her and her husband over Church doctrine, and arguing (for my part) over questions I posed to them about how this CAN’T be, and what about THIS, and how can you prove THAT, etc. The patience and love that they showed me was profound. I invited the local missionaries to our home for dinner, and we listened to the first discussion, received a copy of the Book of Mormon and an invitation to pray about what we read, and after discussing it with my husband, we decided not to continue the discussions at that time. Four years ago when my family moved to Albuquerque, and I enrolled my daughter at Cibola High School, I immediately noted the 7-Bar Stake Building, and it has been there as a gentle reminder to me every day I’ve passed it that I feel I have some unfinished business there…

In Alma 32:21 we read: “And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”

This verse brings me to the reason for my talk today. As my life here in Albuquerque has continued to change and evolve, our Heavenly Father, in His infinite mercy, has seen fit to continue a nearly 36-year-old process of sending His emissaries to gently direct my thoughts and my heart toward His truths. A number of people here have come into my life that have been instrumental in helping me to grow and mature to a place where my heart is open and listening to the quiet promptings of the Holy Spirit. One of those incredible people is Sister Parks, whom I have had the good fortune to work with at Ventana Ranch Elementary for a number of years. As she would pass through my office, we began having some wonderful discussions about the Church and about my years of interest and I looked forward to every encounter, and tried to have questions prepared for her each time I would see her. Early last year, I felt myself being drawn to visit the Temple grounds, and I began to spend quiet Sunday afternoons sitting outside the Temple praying, studying scriptures, listening to talks given by the General Authorities and others, reading Ensign articles, and basically unraveling years of misinformation and vitriolic anti-Mormonism views I’d read over time.

I cannot point to one perfect moment of clarity regarding discovery of the truth of the Book of Mormon, as I have felt my heart wrapping around the idea for quite some time, but I can say with all honesty what finally broke through to me in a way that I will never forget; it happened while I was sitting in the warm sunshine on a bench at the Temple, looking up to see the angel Moroni atop the Temple spire, listening to the General Conference talk “Safety for the Soul”, given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland on Sunday afternoon October 4th. As he neared the end of his talk, his voice rose with the passion and conviction that he felt in sharing his powerful testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon, and I was captured by his statement: “In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, ‘No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.’”

I was invited by Sister Parks to join her family and the sister Missionaries at her home one Sunday for dinner and to “chat” about my story with them. That night, as we talked, a wonderful feeling overtook me, and I promised to pray and study the information they shared with me. I couldn’t wait until the next discussion! I continued coming back to Annette and Steve’s very welcoming home for the discussions, sometimes two times in a week, and it seemed I couldn’t absorb the information fast enough or deep enough. I felt a literal burning to know all that I could about this gospel, and although I’m sure I challenged these poor sisters with my incessant questions, they were kind and oh, so patient with me. When the question was posed to me regarding praying for a baptism decision and date, it was not a difficult decision, as I had finally quieted my mind and heart enough to understand and listen for the gentle voice of the Holy Ghost. On November 7th, I was baptized at the 7-Bar Stake Building, with my family and friends in attendance, and was blessed to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost the following day, on my son’s 15th birthday. Jonny is now taking the discussions with the Missionaries, and I have every hope that the promises given by our Heavenly Father will be manifested in our home as we continue to seek His will for our lives and to follow His commandments.

My life has been blessed beyond measure this past year, and I wish to testify to you not just the fact that I believe, but that I KNOW these things to be true ~ our Heavenly Father lives; His Son Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and by His Atoning Sacrifice we can return one day to live with our Father in Heaven; the Book of Mormon is true; Joseph Smith was a Prophet ordained of God to restore the fullness of the everlasting gospel in these latter days; and we have a living Prophet here on earth today, Thomas S. Monson.

I share these things with you in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.