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Another Gospel Light is Kindled in Star Valley, Wyoming
As
told to Peggy Proctor by Patricia (Trish) Henderson
Trish
never missed an opportunity to scoff at the missionaries and disdain
the Church. The last thing in the world she would have ever expected
is that she would become a Latter-day Saint.
A couple of
years ago while we were living in Star Valley, I heard that I just
about caused some of the members here in Jackson Hole to have heart
attacks! When they heard that I had converted to the Church, they
couldn't believe what they were hearing! Many of them had known
me through Doug's family. They also knew just how I felt about the
church, and how I fought against it at every turn. I am sure they
have all wondered just exactly what happened. I would like to take
this opportunity to share with you just how I gained a testimony
of the Gospel.
I can assure
you all that Heavenly Father did not have an easy time of it! I
was a very faithful Jehovah's Witness. I had grown up around the
Jehovah's Witnesses, and I had always believed that they had the
truth. When Doug and I moved to Star Valley in 1994, I knew that
the reason we were moving down there was because I had a personal
commission to preach against the Mormon faith. I had preached against
it in Jackson, and I had never once wavered in my faith so now I
was just going to go down there and teach all those Mormons the
gospel according to Trish! And I TRIED too! I went door to door
telling them just how wrong they were, that the Book of Mormon was
in no way true scripture and all the other stuff that people say.
I took every chance to scoff at the missionaries etc..... I was
a very hard headed person!
Here I was
just fine in my beliefs; happy as I thought I could be and then
I got to know my neighbors, Mark and Christy Nethercott. Now Christy
was what I had pictured in my head as the perfect Mormon wife. She
had seven kids and her husband was a schoolteacher and the scoutmaster.
Her kids played the piano, the violin, played sports and got good
grades in school, the whole shebang. I really actually felt sorry
for her! Now that I think about that, I really have to shake my
head and laugh at myself. She was so friendly and would invite me
to ward parties, and other church activities, to which I would always
say no. She never pushed or got discouraged when I would turn her
away.
Christy had
a daughter close to the same age as my daughter, Amber, and she
would always invite Amber to come over and play. In my previous
faith we were greatly discouraged from having close associations
with those outside our religion, so I would rarely let Amber go
play. Again, Christy would never push or get upset that I wouldn't
let Amber play with her kids, even when Amber couldn't go to a birthday
party because we didn't celebrate birthdays. Well, eventually our
daughters did become good friends.
Sometime during
the summer of 1996 , I conceived our third child. Here was Christy
with seven kids all at home, and she would come and get both Amber
and Derek so that I could have a nap! All that fall and winter,
she would come over and insist on washing my dishes or vacuuming
or folding laundry, always helping, and when she didn't have time
she would send her oldest daughter over to help!
After I finally
had Robby in February of 1997, Doug stayed home that week and Christy
still came over and did all the things she had previously done .
Christy was going out of town that weekend. She called me and said
rather nervously, " Trish, I, um, mentioned you at church today
and I asked some of the Relief Society sisters to bring you dinner
for the next two or three nights while I am gone. I hope you don't
mind" DON'T MIND! of course I minded!!!! I didn't even know these
women. I thought, "How could she do this to me!!!!" Well, needless
to say, these ladies whom I had never met before brought us dinner.
They were truly wonderful women and I was truly humbled.
I still wasn't
ready to change my mind about the Mormons, but unbeknownst to me
, my eyes were slowly opening. They must have been open enough because
Heavenly Father decided that he needed to take a more direct approach
with me. That is the only way I can explain this sudden, overwhelming
urge to read the Book of Mormon. The book had been in my house all
my married life and although I had tried to read it once at the
very beginning, I had never had any interest since. You can believe
I fought this urge with all my strength for a while. I am not sure
I can properly convey the frustration I felt at this time. Of course,
I absolutely was NOT going to read this book! I realized after a
couple of weeks that this wasn't going to go away with time. As
a matter of fact, the longer I fought it, the stronger it got. It
was all I could think of all day and half the night. No way was
I going to let Doug, who was Mormon, but had been inactive in the
Church, know! Finally, one day, I threw my hands up in frustration
and yelled, "Oh fine, I'll just read the dumb book and get this
thought out of my head!" As I started reading, just the introduction,
a feeling that I had never really felt before came over me. As I
read, I felt like I was in the Sacred Grove. I could see it so clearly.
This scared me so badly that I threw the book down and vowed that
there was no way I would read it, but I knew then that it was true.
I was shocked. Never in my life had I dreamed that it would be true.
I had never had a witness from the Holy Ghost, and it was pretty
scary.
I was very
troubled by this because I knew that those that I knew to be my
friends would be so hurt. Not to mention, I would be labeled an
apostate and they would never speak to me again. I had a lot to
ponder. I had almost decided to just forget the whole thing and
that morning when we turned on the TV, it was General Conference
and President Hinckley was speaking! I was exasperated. I felt totally
surrounded! I decided out of desperation to leave Doug with the
kids and go get a soda! I'd show those Mormons. I'd just break their
precious Sabbath. Well, as I backed out of the drive way and started
down the road, I couldn't believe what I saw. Two Mormon missionaries
were walking up my street. The next thing I knew I was pulled up
next to them and asking them to come over and tell me about their
church!! I was more surprised than they were! It was like there
was someone else talking for me. I tried to shut her up but she
just wouldn't listen!
That was the
first part of April and on Mother's Day I was baptized into this
beautiful organization by my wonderful husband who had been activated
into the church at the same time I was being taught by the missionaries.
I was confirmed by my father-in-law, and I have never regretted
the decision one time, not even when my best friends would pass
me on the street and pretend I wasn't there .
I would say
"the end" but really it was only the beginning. My testimony has
only grown from that time. In Star Valley ,I served in the Relief
Society and as a Primary teacher. Here in Jackson, I have the two
best callings in the whole church, Beehive Advisor and Achievement
Day leader. I love this church and I am thankful that Heavenly Father
was patient enough to let me be part of it.
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© 2001 Meridian
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