by Luca Stiles and Elder Robinson

Elder Robinson

One day we were out and about doing some finding. Elder Tubbs and I needed to use the restroom, so we stopped at the closest Weigles.

At Weigels, I got one of those nutty buddy wafer things and a chocolate milk. I then went up to the counter and a guy looked at my tag and asked me if I was from Utah, which honestly confused me at first. He then asked me some questions about missionaries. There was a long line behind me at the checkout so I answered quickly and hurried out of the way. We left and I didn’t think much about it.

The next morning we got a media referral from Luca. We texted him immediately asking if we could meet up. He said that we was at the mall and if we wanted to go there, he would meet with us right now. So we headed straight there. We sat in the food court of the mall in Morristown. Luca had a ton of questions he had about our church and some misinformation that we had to clear up. Then we taught him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. He was really engaged the entire time.

Since that day, every time we met Luca had been reading in the Book of Mormon and asked wonderful questions. After teaching him for over a month, we invited him to be baptized.

I have seen Luca’s demeanor completely change over these last couple months. It has been so cool to see the restored Gospel bring so much joy to his life.

Luca was baptized on March 24, 2024. His baptism was amazing! I was given the opportunity of baptizing him and it was incredible. When we gave him the Gift of the Holy Ghost he said he felt power and warmth going from our hands through all of his body.

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Luca has been an amazing missionary since the first day we met him. When we would teach him, he would go and teach his friends what he had learned from us. He’s already a great missionary and he’s going to do amazing things.

On April 3, 2024, we took a trip to Nashville to go to the temple. Luca absolutely loved it and said he’s never felt anything like it. He was given the priesthood the Sunday before so he was able to baptize Elder Janzen and I as we did baptisms for the dead in the temple.

Nothing will ever beat the feeling of seeing a random guy I met at a gas station a couple months earlier turn into a great friend and being able to be inside the House of the Lord together.

Luca Stiles

I was lost, and then I was found. This is my story.

Ever since I was little, I grew up baptist. I was constantly in and out of church and felt conflicted because I had my mom telling me we didn’t need to go to church and my grandma telling me the opposite. Eventually, from middle school through high school I just stopped going to church.

In 2022, I went to Ohio and was there for 4 months to meet a friend who I had met online. I ended up stranded on the side of the road with 3% battery on my phone. I had no idea where I was and didn’t really know anyone to call. I already wasn’t in the best headspace, was very depressed, and the circumstances that had led me to there that day left me feeling very down. I thought about taking my own life that day, but instead I took my phone and called 911. A police officer came and took me to the hospital.

At the hospital, I called someone I knew from a job I was working while I was there, and I lived with her for the next three months. While I was living with her, I was never sober. I was constantly trying to run away from the hurt, and I eventually ended up in the hospital for three days to address my mental health.

After I got out of the hospital, I was constantly praying asking God for help. I didn’t realize my prayers were being answered, but now that I can look back on it, I can see how God was helping me.

Shortly after that, I came back to Tennessee. Around the end of 2023, I started feeling a strong desire to go back to chruch, so my girlfriend and I went. As time went by, I started feeling really closer to God. I wanted to get baptized, but I had been going to many different churches, and no one wanted to baptize me for reasons I didn’t understand. I felt I had changed so much, but at the time I felt like I was being kicked out, so I lost faith.

Eventually, at the beginning of 2024, my girlfriend broke up with me and my two best friends stopped being my friends. I felt like my world was crashing down on me, and I felt myself returning back to a dark place. I paced back and forth in my room crying and just praying to God to help me. As I was praying, right in that moment, my mom came to check on me, which never happens. That’s when I decided to change my life around and give up all the things that were hurting me.

A month later, my friends came back into my life, and I was very happy about it, but I still felt so lost. One day I was working and this guy came in. I looked at his name tag, and I said to him, “Are you from Utah?”. He said, “Yes.” I told him I recognized his church because my favorite YouTubers, Brock and Boston, went to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Now, at the time, I didn’t know anything at all about the LDS church, but I went home and started looking up stuff about it. Most of the stuff I found was lies.. Bu two days later, I was outside sweeping the parking lot at work and found two cards with pictures of Jesus on them. Something told me to pick them up and put them in my pocket, so I did.

I went home that night and pulled out those cards. I looked at the back of the card and it had a website: ComeUntoChrist.org/Jesus. I went to the site and filled out a form to request a Book of Mormon.

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The next day I was at the mall when I got a call from the missionaries. I asked if they would come to the mall and meet me right then. When the missionaries walked up, there he was—the same guy I had met at my work—Elder Robinson. We had a very good and long conversation, and I actually felt understood and listened to.

At first, I was a little iffy about this church just because of everything I read online and my friends had been telling me things about the church that didn’t sound great. But I kept an open mind, didn’t listen to them, and moved forward with the missionaries.

As I started reading the Book of Mormon more, everything just changed. I didn’t feel depressed or lost, and I didn’t feel the temptations like I did before. That’s when I first realized it was true. My faith grew so much that now I just can’t stop talking about the gospel with people and helping others find the truth that I’ve always been looking for and had now found. The more I kept reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible together, the more everything started to click together and make sense.

I eventually became very close with Elder Robinson, and he did my baptism. We went to the temple together, which was amazing. Since my baptism, I’ve made many friends and have met many kind people. I can definitely say that I finally, after all these years, have found freedom and peace and can finally breathe.

So just remember: don’t be scared to take that next step, because I can definitely promise you it will change your life for the better.

by Elder Barlow

Arieana is a friend of Bishop Reano’s family, more specifically his daughter Katie Reano’s friend.

Katie invited Arieana to a Wednesday youth night and Arieana loved the people! They were kind and welcoming and she felt comfortable enough to attend church, family home evening, and Young Women’s.

Arieana was attending a different church but didn’t feel like she was learning or focusing on Christ enough in those meetings. She was first taught by the missionaries in early February of 2024. While learning about the gospel, she was very focused and eliminated distractions to learn as much as she could. She loved the lessons, the gospel, and her support from friends and family.

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Arieana was baptized on March 2, 2024 and had a great experience. Her greatest experience came the day after her confirmation. She explained that, “I woke up the next morning and told my Nana that I felt different, more calm!”

She already has such a strong testimony of her Savior and is working with the missionaries to teach and baptize her Nana Gail. She is living proof that the Holy Ghost is a Comforter and that it is really powerful as members of the church reach out to Love, Share, and Invite.

by Elder Jenkins

A member of the LaFollette Branch, Brother Muggridge, found Carol over two years ago. He keeps a Book of Mormon in his car and introduced her to the Book of Mormon. She was interested, so Brother Muggridge introduced her to the missionaries and she began to take lessons.

Over time, Carol lost interest and the missionaries stopped teaching her.

One day, Elder Bluemel and I (Elder Jenkins) were visiting a less active member of the branch. This less active member told us about Carol, who was her neighbor, and how she had been meeting with the missionaries before. She had been talking to Carol about the church, and Carol said she would like to start meeting with the missionaries again.

We went over to Carol’s with her less active neighbor and taught the Restoration. The Spirit was very strong, and after that lesson, Carol started to act on every invitation we gave to her.

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Carol has had a really rough life. Whenever she would try and really get into the Book of Mormon, something would happen that would discourage her. But rather than just giving up, she felt those challenges were due to Satan stopping her from getting truth. So she keep reading and had a powerful experience that helped here to know the Book of Mormon is true.

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Carol’s mother passed away a year ago and when we taught her about the spirit world and baptisms for the dead, she thought this doctrine was amazing. Carol was able to go to the temple and do baptisms for her mom.

by Elder Kwant

During his personal studies on the morning of January 13th, Elder Richins had a name that was impressed on his mind. The name was Howard.

Elder Richins asked me (Elder Kwant) if I knew any friends whose name was Howard. I told him I didn’t know anyone by this name. We checked in our records of people who had been taught previously and found information for the name Howard Grantham.

Howard had met with missionaries on and off for five years prior to January 13, 2024. Missionaries had stopped meeting with him because he didn’t have time to consistently meet with them, so we had never met him. We stopped by his home, shared a message, and he agreed to begin meeting with us again.

We taught Howard for several weeks. He had lost several family members over the last five years. We mentioned baptism during one of the lessons and Howard said he wasn’t sure if that was what he wanted to do. So we decided to invite him to come to a church tour where we could show him the church building in Farragut. Howard agreed and we set up the time for the church tour.

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We had a great experience at the church tour. After the tour, Howard explained to us that he had a dream. “I could see myself and I was walking on this dark path and couldn’t see. It was very dark and I couldn’t see anything. It felt like I was being led down this path, and then I was brought to where I could see a light. I started walking towards the light, and that was the end of the dream.”

Howard said it took some time for him to interpret what this dream meant for him. When he told the missionaries us about the dream, he said he knew that God was telling him he was moving towards light, and he needed to be baptized.

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As he had originally started meeting with missionaries in 2019, there is a long list of missionaries who taught Howard. He was originally found by Sarah Krey and Victoria Hendricks. He was taught by Erica Parker, Caleb Shelton, Carson Hagberg, Logan Ward, Bryan Cox, Benjamin Huish, Rozlyn Hilton, Brekyn Goodman, Solomon Sleater, Milo Stanfield, Jayden Bohnam, Mathew Richins, Kaleb Kwant, and Spencer Scott.

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8:12

At Zone Conference this last week, our focus was on “Increasing in Power”. Preach My Gospel teaches, “In addition to authority, you need spiritual power to fulfill your calling.”

We focused on many different ways to increase in power, including acting in faith, repentance, seeking the word, focusing on our missionary purpose, and increasing in willingness.

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The highlight of the zone conference was Sister Barlow teaching about “The Power of the Book of Mormon”. She focused on the words of our living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson.

Sister Barlow began by teaching us the definition of “Power”:

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Power comes from the things we choose to do, or the way we choose to act. As we receive more power, our ability to act in powerful ways increases.

Conversely, there are ways that we can choose to act that can cause us to lose power. She warned us to eliminate the “BCDs” from our life…or BLAME, COMPLAIN, or DEFLECT. Reacting in these ways will always cause a loss of power.

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One of Sister Barlow’s greatest strengths is her desire to follow the living prophet. I’ve had a front row seat to witness this, and it hasn’t only blessed her life. It has greatly blessed my life as well. She told the missionaries that this is what she wants on her tombstone one day:

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With that in mind, Sister Barlow focused us on President Russell M. Nelson’s teaching about the power of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is where we will find the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, or the doctrine of Christ, which is central to our missionary purpose.

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President Nelson taught what the Book of Mormon does:

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He also has made great promises of how the power of the Book of Mormon can bless our life:

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Very importantly, especially for us as missionaries, President Nelson taught that the Book of Mormon is the means that people everywhere can come to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored.

She then has us watch a 60-second video that very simply explains the Book of Mormon. She invited us to consider how we can explain the Book of Mormon in 60 seconds.

“Whenever I hear anyone, including myself, say, “I know the Book of Mormon is true,” I want to exclaim, “That’s nice, but it is not enough!” We need to feel, deep in “the inmost part” of our hearts, that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we would never want to live even one day without it. I might paraphrase President Brigham Young in saying, “I wish I had the voice of seven thunders to wake up the people” to the truth and power of the Book of Mormon”

President Russell M. Nelson, “The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?”, October 2017 General Conference

Sister Barlow explained that with Oliver Cowdery as principal scribe, Joseph Smith began translating on Tuesday, April 7, 1829. The task was completed about 85 days later. Not all of that time was spent working on the translation. Time was taken to receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, receive and record 12 revelations that are now sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, move from one state to another, apply for a copyright, and begin making arrangements for the publication of the Book of Mormon.

Conservatively estimated, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon in 65 days.

65 days…

With that in mind, she invited us as a mission to read the Book of Mormon in 65 days! We are starting today and will finish June 18th.

Sister Barlow created a gift bag for each missionary that included the following:

We would love to have you join us. Join us in reading the Book of Mormon in 65 days! Click here to download the reading schedule.

We just wrapped up another week of zone conferences. There is a power that comes every time we gather these groups of missionaries together. The Lord loves His missionaries, and we do too.

Zone conference is a time to teach the missionaries the doctrine as found in the scriptures and as taught by our living apostles and prophets. We teach the principles of missionary work as found in Preach My Gospel. It is a time to build unity and help the missionaries build relationships that can last a lifetime following their missions.

We began the zone conference by role playing a short version of Lesson 1: The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we took the time to role play each principle of this lesson, we noticed the teaching changing across our mission as the missionaries are teaching with greater power. That was a highlight of zone conference.

The transfer focus for this zone conference was “Increasing in Power”. Preach My Gospel teaches us:

In addition to authority, you need spiritual power to fulfill your calling.

Preach My Gospel

We discussed many things missionaries can do to increase in power as representatives of Jesus Christ:

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We then had workshops taught by the zone leadership teams that focused on four areas for increasing our power.

Seek the Word of God

Missionaries have time each morning dedicated to studying the scriptures, the words of living prophets, and Preach My Gospel. We discussed scriptures like D&C 11:21, Alma 31:5, and Alma 17:2-5 and talked about how to use this time more effectively to build power. Missionaries shared tips like always begin and end study time with prayer, study with questions (yours and your friends), focus your study on the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel, keep a study journal where you record what you learn, and plan out your studies so your study time is deliberate and intentional.

Act in Faith

Faith in Jesus Christ is a principle of action and power…Faith helps us experience the Savior’s strengthening power in our lives.

Preach My Gospel

“Faith is a principle of action and power.” Faith will always lead to action, and acting in faith will bring power. We reviewed examples from the scriptures where people acted in faith and received power like Nephi obtaining the brass plates, the Brother of Jared asking for help with light in their boats, and the Savior feeding 5,000. “The power was beyond them, but the action was within their power.” Acting in faith is using our agency in powerful ways. “To act, and not to be acted upon.” We express faith through the goals we set, and the way we act in faith to achieve those goals.

Set goals that are realistic but that will stretch you and require faith. Avoid setting goals that are too high or too low. Plan how you will accomplish them…Work diligently to accomplish your goals. Exercise faith in the Lord to help you.”

Preach My Gospel

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Focus on Your Missionary Purpose

Preach My Gospel teaches us that the more we focus on our missionary purpose, the more power we will receive.

Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

Preach My Gospel

Central to the doctrine of Christ is baptism, or making covenants with God. Faith and repentance prepare us to make and keep covenants, and the result of those covenants is having the Holy Ghost with us always, which helps us to endure to the end. We discussed that we are not here just to share messages about Jesus Christ. We are here to help people to receive greater access to his strength, power, love, and mercy through making covenants with God. The more we focus on baptism and talk about this covenant, the more people we will help take this important step.

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Increase Your Willingness

Becoming more willing is one of the greatest ways to increase in power. As we are become more willing, we act in greater obedience. That increase in obedience, or increase in righteousness, results in greater faith. And that greater faith leads us to act in faith that brings power. (See the definition of Faith in the Bible Dictionary).

Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right;
It is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him.”

Elder Dale G. Renlund, “Choose You This Day”, October 2018 General Conference

Being willing leads us to use our agency is powerful, positive ways. It leads us “to act, and not to be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:26). It is central to Heavenly Father’s plan for the happiness and progression of His children. “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25).

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The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar….

The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us…

But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him. And that hard doctrine lies at the center of discipleship.

There is a part of us that is ultimately sovereign, the mind and heart, where we really do decide which way to go and what to do. And when we submit to His will, then we’ve really given Him the one thing He asks of us. And the other things are not very, very important. 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “Sharing Insights from My Life,” BYU Devotional Address, 12 Jan 1999

One of the main hopes we have from this zone conference is that we all will become more willing.

The Power of the Book of Mormon

The highlight of the zone conference was when Sister Barlow taught us about the power of the Book of Mormon. She extended an invitation to read the Book of Mormon in 65 days, which is the same amount of time it took Joseph Smith to translate the Book or Mormon. It was so good and so important, we will make a separate post about that part of the zone conference.

We love these missionaries. They are so good and continue to amaze us with their effort, desire, and diligence. Our greatest desire is that the experiences they are having today in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission will lead them to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. We are very grateful to get to work side-by-side with them each day.

Asheville and Kingsport Zone Conference

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Cumberland and Knoxville Zone Conference

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Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Cookeville Zone Conference

On April 4, 2024, we welcomed 10 new missionaries to the Tennessee Knoxville Mission.

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We welcomed 8 of them at the McGhee-Tyson Airport who flew in from Provo, Utah. Sister Arnold and Elder Lindsay were delayed flying in from the Mexico Missionary Training Center, so we missed them in the picture at the airport.

This is a really long day for these missionaries. They woke up at 3am in Utah and haven’t slept since. They are hungry and tired. We have a dinner at the mission home and briefly share some thoughts, then get them off to the hotel to get some rest.

The next morning we start at 8am at the Farragut building where they receive orientation on things like finances, healthcare, vehicles, apartments, and adjusting to missionary life. Sister Barlow and I have the opportunity to interview each of them. Then we take them to the University of Tennessee campus to do some street contacting and invite people to learn more.

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We love getting these pictures with missionaries on the first day, because we will look back on these in 18 and 24 months and see very clearly how much they have changed due to the many experiences that lie ahead.

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One of the most exciting things we get to do as mission leaders is to assign these new missionaries their first companion. Our handbook tells us to only select the most capable missionaries to be trainers. It is the most important leadership role because trainers build the future of the mission. As we think about transfers, the very first step we do is identify who should be the trainers.

When we announce these companionships, we invite the new missionary to stand and then introduce them to their trainer and their first area. It is a really important moment for these new missionaries, thus a really exciting moment for all of us.

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We look forward to difference these 10 new missionaries will make in the lives of the people they serve in Tennessee.

On April 4, 2024, we said goodbye to 8 incredible missionaries who wrapped up their 18 or 24-month service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. Every time we say goodbye to a group of missionaries, we wonder how the mission will possibly continue without them, and this group was no different.

We began the afternoon on Wednesday, April 3rd meeting at the church where we had a discussion on being a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ. To do this, we reviewed how we can put the Savior at the center of our lives, and more joyfully live the gospel of Jesus Christ by doing four key things:

1. Read the Book of Mormon daily as a means to “always remember Him” so that we might “always have His Spirit to be with us.”
2. Partake of the sacrament every week to apply the Doctrine of Christ.
3. Attend the temple regularly…weekly if possible…to help access His power.
4. Wear the garment always as a reminder of Him and the covenants we have made with Him.

We then met with each missionary individually and gave them a priesthood blessing.

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Then it was off to the mission home for the 7th TKM Family Olympics. It was a cold day, but each event was still competitive. We competed in corn hole, bocce, Kub, and making welcome posters for the new missionaries who would arrive the next day. The teams were Elder Smith/Sister Milne, Sister Hunt/Sister Arellano, Sister Bailey/Elder Hagerman, and Sister Palmer/Elder Steiner.

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The highlight of the TKM Olympics is always the poster making. It is where our missionaries always want to spend the most time. They won’t even meet these new Elders and Sisters, but it is important to them that these new missionaries feel welcome.

After the events, we had dinner with the office senior couples, had a ceremony to award the gold medals (Sister Arellano and Sister Hunt were the gold medal winners of the 7th TKM Family Olympics), and then change back into our missionary clothes for a testimony meeting.

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These 8 now “returned” missionaries from the Tennessee Knoxville Mission are truly remarkable. We’ve had personal experiences with every one of them. We’ve seen the challenges they’ve faced and overcome, witnessed their determination and diligence to invite others to come unto Christ, and know of the sacrifices they’ve made to serve. In the process, they each now return home changed. Changed for the better. And will never go back…only forward. They are well on their way to being lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. We are excited to see what comes next for them in their lives, and look forward to having a front row seat to cheer them on every step of the way.

by Sister Moore

Lily has been taught on and off with the missionaries since 2015! Her mom, Latoya, has been a member since 2003 and took Lily to church while she was growing up but in the end wanted to leave the decision of religion up to them. Latoya wanted Lily to decide for herself which church was true.

Lily became especially interested in being baptized after seeing one side of her family completely uninterested in religion and another side of her family having a firm testimony in the Church of Jesus Christ. She saw how their lives were impacted differently because of that belief and decision.

Lily wanted to learn for herself what the church believes in and what baptism means. She recognized the importance of exercising her agency to choose baptism for herself, not just because her family did. She has had the desire to be baptized for quite some time, but didn’t want to make that step until she had been taught by the missionaries. She wanted to have an understanding she was comfortable with and a testimony for herself.

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The story of Joseph Smith and the Plan of Salvation were especially important to Lily. She loved that a young boy, just about her age, could have an experience like that. She felt that she connected especially with the hope that comes from the Plan of Salvation.

When she read the Book of Mormon, Lily noticed how important it was to read the book for herself. She wanted to understand the sacrifices the people made to believe in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Her faith was also strengthened when she heard about the sacrifices that the early saints made to bring forth the Book of Mormon.

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How did it feel to get baptized and confirmed?

Lily felt nervous to get confirmed in front of a lot of people. But it was a good experience.

She feels like she’s been much happier since she was baptized! Her mom has also noticed a positive change in Lily as well. Lily feels like she is more quick to forgive and finds more patience with those who have negatively impacted her life.

The list of missionaries who taught Lily: Elder Spiers, Elder Shurtleff, Sister Peace, Sister Goodman, Sister Griffiths, Sister Georgeson, Sister Terry, Sister Jensen, Elder Taylor, Elder Brock Porter, Sister Cunningham, Sister Moore, and baptized by Elder Ben Porter.

by Sister Fear

The missionaries found Chelsea’s oldest brother, and started teaching his family. Chelsea wasn’t there the first or second time they were taught. But the third time, the 10th of December, there she was! And she’s been there ever since.

From the beginning Chelsea has always had a love for Jesus Christ and willingness to follow him. One night the missionaries taught her how to pray, and she has happily said the prayer in nearly every lesson since. Her prayers have always been heartfelt and faithful.

Chelsea readily kept commitments. After just a few weeks of having a Book of Mormon she was already reading in Alma.

Her very first time at church she bore her testimony of her love for the Savior, saying: “I know I’m new here, but I don’t care. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ sent me these two ladies, to teach me more about him!”

The cute little Rogersville branch quickly fell in love with Chelsea. She has attended church all by herself since and she is a great addition to the growing young women’s progam.

In the middle of January, Chelsea asked to be baptized. When asked why she wanted to be baptized she responded; “I’ve went to lots of churches, but this church just feels right.” She has developed a beautiful testimony of the gospel.

After her baptism she again bore her testimony. She said “the night before I was baptized I was really nervous, but then I prayed. And when I woke up, I wasn’t nervous anymore!”