Carole was seeking truth! She was seeking something new. She was on a journey looking for the true church. A church centered on Jesus Christ, focused on His teachings, and one full of love. She was looking for a place to finally settle into, and she found it.
Back on May 9, 2024, the missionaries in Ringgold, Georgia, Sister Bosh and Sister Herget, received a referral from Carole Pendergraft. That’s where it all started! Carole said that she received an email asking if she’d like to do a Bible study with missionaries. And she said “Of course!” So she put down her information, and next thing she knows she was getting a call from the missionaries that same day. That referral was an answer to prayer on both ends.
The missionaries returned with a Book of Mormon in hand ready to give her. They had their Bibles ready to study, and some pamphlets to read from as well. The questions in the pamphlets really made Carole think about her eternal destiny, and it left her wanting to learn more.
Carole had grown up in various different churches. She had tried church after church and never found what she was looking for in any of them. She had heard about the Book of Mormon before, mostly misconceptions, but hadn’t ever come in contact with any members of the Church of Jesus Christ until the missionaries. So, seeing that offer through the email gave her a chance to try out another church again.
Each time the missionaries would come to her door, she’d excitedly think “What do they have for me to study today?” She loves to study! Within a few weeks she had all of the General Conference talks from 2023 read, and she was ready to study even more. She has been meeting with the missionaries 2-3 times a week since.
Just prior to the missionaries showing up at her door, Carole started suffering from migraines daily. To help with this, a couple months into meeting with her, Sister Critchfield and Sister Herget scheduled a priesthood blessing for her on a Saturday afternoon. The next day, on Sunday, she was able to come to church for the first time, migraine free the whole day. Since that first priesthood blessing, she has still had migraines, but they have never been nearly as severe as they were before.
Carole immediately fell In love with the people at church. She said she’s never been in a church where the people cared so much and would do anything for her, or that she’s never been in a church where missionaries would come to study with people to help them learn the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. She said “The missionaries were there that very first Sunday at the door to greet me! They were there for me that Sunday, and have continued to be there ever since, saving me a seat each week. That’s when I knew I had found my place!”
Carole was very pleased at the opportunity we have to take the sacrament weekly in the church, since that wasn’t something she was ever used to. That really drew her in to returning again.
Carole had been invited to be baptized four different times before she accepted and went through with the date on October 2, 2024. Before she was ready, she felt she needed to study more. She knew baptism was the end goal, she just knew she needed to gain a strong testimony of her own on a few gospel principles beforehand. The main one being the Restoration of The Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. So that’s exactly what she spent her time studying. She started studying the life of Joseph Smith and what he went through to get these restored truths to us. She watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, started reading chapter after chapter in the Doctrine and Covenants, and answered the questions for herself in the back of the Restoration pamphlet.
One day, while doing that, something hit her “like a ton of bricks” and she knew that it was true. We always knew that there was something special about Carole. She wanted to be all in and she was determined to do everything it took to get there.
The day of her baptism on October 2nd, she said she wasn’t nervous at all because she knew she was ready. Brother McPheters in the Ringgold ward baptized her, and so many people from the ward came to support her, many of whom she didn’t really know all that well. She couldn’t believe all the support that the members of the church provided, and it made her feel so loved.
The day of the baptism she came down with a terrible migraine. However, she was determined to go through with this special day no matter what. She wasn’t going to let the adversary get in the way of it. So, she showed up, migraine and all, proceeding with the baptism only to notice that her migraine was completely gone the second she came up out of the water.
She described her baptism as one of the best experiences she’s ever had, with the most joyous feelings she’s felt. She’d repeat the day all over again if she could! She’s noticed a huge difference in her life from receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Now that it’s with her the all the time, she says she notices that she always has a good feeling. One of peace and comfort, that will never go away.
Carole always likes to say she doesn’t know if she was sent to the missionaries or they were sent to her, but all she knows is that “it was a God thing!” That’s how she knows this is where she is meant to be. She was on a journey looking for a true church and she found it. And now she likes to say she’s on another journey: one as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that’s just starting and that she’s ready to be on forever. It’s a whole new way of life! She said she didn’t necessarily live a bad life before, but she wasn’t living up to the expectations she knew she was capable of in her youth. But she is now and she couldn’t be happier! It has helped her reach her full potential. She is still learning all the time as a new member and she has continued to study every day. She has enjoyed what she has learned and knows she has a lot more to go.
Since day one, even though she joined the church by herself, Carole has never felt alone, because the ward family took her in like one of their own. Who knows how Carole Pendergraft happened to get that email from the church, but as Carole likes to say “It was a God Thing!” And that’s exactly what it was, a God thing!
Barlows in TKM 