Parley P. Pratt's Conversion — Holy Ghost Witness While Reading the Book of Mormon

Parley P. Pratt (1807–1857) had spent years as a religious seeker before his conversion in 1830. He had studied the Bible deeply from age 12, joined the Baptist Church at 18, moved to Ohio to preach to Native Americans, and was influenced by Sidney Rigdon's Campbellite movement, which sought to restore primitive Christianity. But he always felt that 'one great link was missing' — the divine authority to administer in holy things.

In the summer of 1830, Parley was traveling by boat from Ohio to Albany, New York when he felt a sudden, powerful impression to disembark prematurely at Newark, New York. He obeyed the prompting, leaving his wife Thankful to travel ahead alone. Near Palmyra, he encountered a Baptist deacon named Hamlin, who told him about a 'new revelation' and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.

Parley later wrote: 'I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.' As he read, the Holy Ghost witnessed to him with unmistakable power. He wrote: 'I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists... My joy was now full.'

He traveled immediately to Palmyra seeking Joseph Smith, found Hyrum Smith instead, and was fully taught the Restoration. He was baptized by Oliver Cowdery on September 1, 1830. The very next Sunday, he preached before a large congregation and four families came forward to be baptized. Within weeks he had baptized his brother Orson Pratt, who would eventually become one of the leading intellectuals of early Mormonism.

Parley's conversion — initiated by a spiritual prompting to disembark from a boat, confirmed by an overwhelming witness of the Holy Ghost while reading, and immediately followed by explosive missionary effectiveness — is one of the great conversion miracles of the Restoration.