One Sunday, as the missionaries were sitting in ward council, the ward council was talking about a returning member and his two boys. They said these two boys hadn’t been baptized yet. Learning this, Elder Harmon and Elder Johnson jumped into the conversation asking all about the family and the boys. They found out that Seth had recently started coming back to church and that his son Brayden really loved the gospel and already knew all about the church.
The missionaries asked the bishop to introduce them to Seth and Brayden after the sacrament meeting. After the meeting, they talked with Seth and Brayden and set up time to visit them in their home. Brayden has just returned from a Primary activity and they taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Brayden is very bright and explained everything they taught back to the Elders. Impressed, the Elders testified that the Lord had prepared him to be baptized. As they asked him, “Will you get baptized?”, Brayden gave a resounding, “Yes!” He then explained how badly he wanted to be baptized. The missionaries then invited Seth to share his testimony on baptism and it was very powerful!
The missionaries met with Brayden over the next three weeks to prepare him for his baptism. His knowledge and desire to learn more and read the Book of Mormon was inspiring. He even told the missionaries he keeps his Book of Mormon on his desk at school. He attended the baptism of one of the youth who had recently turned 8 and he loved it.
As they planned his baptism, Brayden told the missionaries about his desire to be baptized in the river just like his dad. On the day of the baptism, the forecast was for bad weather, but Brayden said nothing was going to stop him from being baptized!
The members of the Cherokee ward could not have been more supportive for Brayden. More than half the ward showed up for him and it was amazing! Brayden was baptized on March 30, 2025. While being confirmed, he was told he would be like Nephi of old and be a missionary to his family.
#TKMTenderMercies
Barlows in TKM 