Bonnie D. Parkin
Early Life
Parkin was born in Murrary, Utah, and spent much of her young life with her four siblings on her family's farm in Herriman, Utah. Money was tight, and Bonnie says her teeth remain crooked because her family didn't have money to buy braces. Rural upbringing taught Bonnie the value of work, and she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in elementary education and early childhood development from Utah State University in Logan, Utah.
In 1963 she married Jim Parkin and later moved to Seattle for Jim's medical residency at the University of Washington. Jim became an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, and Bonnie kept busy raising four sons. She was active in her local PTA, serving as president, and also volunteered for reading and tutoring programs.
Bonnie believes she has had many experiences that have helped her prepare for service in the Relief Society.
- "...she has been single, in the workforce, had children and now grandchildren. She has seen the terrible twos and troubled teens. She has nursed a mother after a stroke and a father with cancer. She has sent sons on missions to foreign lands and welcomed daughters-in-law into her embrace. She has known farm life and school life and city life and non-American life. She has seen close-up the effects of alcohol, disbelief, illness and disappointment.... 'I know what it means to have a husband gone for many hours a week, days on end. I know how it feels to be alone with young children with no one to talk to.' " (Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, LDS Leader to Foster 'Global Sisterhood', October 5, 2002)
Church Experience
Parkin was serving as a ward missionary and Laurel adviser in her home ward in Salt Lake City prior to receiving the call to direct the Church's women's service organization. Other Church service includes callings as Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, member of the Relief Society General Board, ward Relief Society President, stake Young Women President, Young Women Adviser and ward Primary President. She served with her husband, Dr. James L. Parkin, during his assignment as president of the England London South Mission.
Stories from the Life of Bonnie Parkin
- When Bonnie was about 10 years old, her mother had an infection around the lining of her heart. The family lived a long distance from the hospital, and at that time, children were not allowed to go into hospitals to visit patients. When the children visited their mother, they stood outside the building so she could look out the window and see them. When the family returned home, Parkin's father gathered the children together and the group knelt and prayed. Of the experience, Parkin said, "That had not always been done in our home, but my father needed a mother for his children and a wife for himself." (Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, LDS Leader to Foster 'Global Sisterhood', October 5, 2002) After being in the hospital for a month, Bonnie's mother got well. Bonnie learned that "our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers." (Friend to Friend: Working for Jesus," Friend, June 2004, page 8)
- During her missionary service in England, a three-year-old grandson asked Bonnie, "Grandmother, do you work for Jesus?" Bonnie says, "It was wonderful to say to him, 'Yes, we work for Jesus.' When we serve in the Church, we’re working for the Savior. I love Him, and I'm happy to serve Him wherever I am." (Friend to Friend: Working for Jesus," Friend, June 2004, page 8)
- Bonnie's husband, Jim, was called to be Mission President for the London South Mission. Just 11 days after arriving in England, Bonnie caught a virus and lost all hearing in her right ear. A testament to Bonnie's tenaciousness was made by a reporter: "It didn't slow her down." (Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, LDS Leader to Foster 'Global Sisterhood', October 5, 2002)
- When Bonnie received her call to be Relief Society General President, she received a fax from a son that read: "Mother, I know you can do it. You may not remember, but you used to have a scripture on the fridge that said, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’ ([Josh. 24:15]). I was in and out of the fridge a lot, and I knew that you and Dad meant that." (Bonnie D. Parkin, "[Feel the Love of the Lord]," Ensign, May 2002, 84)
- Bonnie stated her testimony in brief during General Conferece:
- "I know that the Lord loves the women of the Church. If I could have one thing happen for every woman in this Church, it would be that they would feel the love of the Lord in their lives daily. I have felt the love of the Lord in my life, and I am so thankful for that. I'm thankful for the peace that I have felt.
- "I testify of my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives. I have felt His love; I have felt His forgiveness. I think of a sister missionary as she departed the mission. In her final testimony she said, 'I came on a mission to let Heavenly Father know I loved Him, to express appreciation to Him, and to pay Him back,' and she said, 'I'm leaving more in His debt than I ever was before I came.'
- "I give testimony of the power of a prophet of God, President Gordon B. Hinckley, and I’m thankful for him and for his love and for all prophets who have had confidence in me. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
Sources
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Press Release, "New General Authorities and General Relief Society Leaders Called", 6 April 2002
- Monica Weeks and Bonnie D. Parkin, "Friend to Friend: Working for Jesus," Friend, June 2004, page 8
- Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, LDS Leader to Foster 'Global Sisterhood', October 5, 2002
- Bonnie D. Parkin, "[Feel the Love of the Lord]," Ensign, May 2002, 84
