As missionaries finish their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned that will help them be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

#DiscipleOfChrist

Adrienne was seeking. She felt she needed something that would bring greater peace and joy in her life. She wanted to be a part of something. So when she saw an invitation on Facebook to meet with the missionaries, she clicked on it.

The missionaries invited her to meet them at the church. When she arrived, they gave her a tour and taught her. When the missionaries asked if Adrienne had felt the spirit and wanted to come back, and she said yes!

Adrienne shared that everything just got better and better from there. The first thing she fell in love with was the sacrament. Finding out that she can repent every week was life changing for her. The sacrament became very special to her. She also loved how the members of the Marion Ward made her feel. She felt that she had a big family all around her, and she felt that she had found something she wanted to commit to. 

When she accepted the invitation to be baptized she said that it was the epitome of accepting Jesus Christ in her life. She says it was that moment where she gave it all up to God and said “I’m yours.” 

Adrienne was baptized on March 2, 2025 in the Marion Ward. When she got the gift of the Holy Ghost she felt like she was in good hands. She felt very connected with the church, and felt that she was safe. 

Going to the Temple was a little bit overwhelming for Adrienne at first, but when she sat and watched others be baptized for others, she whispered, “How Godly is that?” To be baptized in behalf of someone else. She is looking forward to going back to the temple, taking the names of her family, and experiencing it for herself. She loved the beautiful architecture and the peaceful feeling she felt there. She LOVES the temple!

In her own words, she shared her testimony with us and said,

“Since I’ve accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I feel like I’m at the right place. I feel His presence. I’m reminded of Him every week as I come to church every Sunday. It has made a HUGE difference in my life, because I found what was missing in my life. I know a lot of people are afraid of the name Mormon or Latter-day Saints, but if I can show someone what not to be afraid of, that’s what I would like to do.”

As missionaries finish their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned that will help them be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

#DiscipleOfChrist

James has been prepared from the very beginning.

James was originally found through a member that has since passed away. Our member was a neighbor to James and was always a good example of the gospel. James had only heard good things about the church, the Book of Mormon, and other gospel topics. It was amazing!

Unfortunately, there were challenges in his life that made it difficult to attend church. His wife, Mary, has been very sick since the missionaries have known James. As he took care of her, it prevented him attending sacrament meeting, but he always kept reading the Book of Mormon.

During his time being taught by the missionaries, James was taught by over 20 different missionaries. So many missionaries have been blessed to meet James and to see his firmness in Christ. On the first night of transfers in January 2025, Elder Ransom and Elder Maxfield went over with the intent to extend another baptismal invite to James. His wife had recently passed away, and they had the prompting to discuss the blessings of the temple. As they discussed promised that could come to his life through the temple, James was confident that baptism was the path he was meant to take, and accepted the invitation to be baptized.

James was baptized on February 4, 2025 and then received the Gift of the Holy Ghost through confirmation. We all look forward to the day he can receive the blessings of being sealed to his family in the temple.

As missionaries finish their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned that will help them be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

#DiscipleOfChrist

As missionaries finish their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned that will help them be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

#DiscipleOfChrist

Last year, while watching the Farragut 4th of July Parade as a family, we had a spontaneous idea: Next year, let’s enter the missionaries into the parade!

So this year, we did just that.

As we prepared, we asked ourselves, What could we hand out that people would actually appreciate—and that would support our missionary purpose? The answer: custom Tabernacle Choir invitation cards. Each card included a QR code linking to a playlist of uplifting music from the Tabernacle Choir, a virtual tour of a church building, a tool to find a local congregation, and an option to meet with the missionaries.

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We decorated a truck in red, white, a blue, and printed 5,000 cards to hand out at the parade. Each one had to be labeled with the local meetinghouse address and a missionary contact number. The Knoxville Zone met early at the start of the parade to help label all the cards with this personalized information.

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The missionaries were amazing! They offered cards to everyone they passed, stayed cheerful and enthusiastic throughout the parade, and had a lot of fun.

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By the end of the ~2-mile route, we had distributed nearly 4,000 cards. It was a fantastic day—full of purpose, fun, and patriotism for our country. Here’s hoping the seeds planted lead to some phone calls…and even more importantly, to lives touched by the gospel. It definitely was a memorable July 4th for the missionaries!

#WhatsUpInTKM

On May 28, 2025, we welcomed 9 new missionaries to the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. They have made great sacrifices to be here and will serve in Tennessee for the next 18 or 24 months.

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As always, we had a great welcoming party at the airport, complete with the welcome posters made by the departing missionaries the prior day.

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In our first meeting with the missionaries, we review our missionary purpose and the Doctrine of Christ taught in the Book of Mormon. After taking our pictures, they then departed for downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee campus to find people to teach.

Our favorite part of the day is to introduce these new missionaries to their trainers. The direction given to us as mission leaders is that only the best missionaries should serve as trainers. They play a huge role in helping these new missionaries get started in the right way and to help them through any initial challenges they face in adjusting to missionary life.

New Missionary	Trainer	Area
Sister Bowler	Sister Hughes	Marion
Sister Hartman	Sister Jonsson	Waynesville
Sister Nielsen	Sister Campbell	Ooltewah/Collegedale
Sister Erickson	Sister Rose	Cleveland
Sister Amundson	Sister Lingard	Abingdon
Elder Parker	Elder Harmon	Hardin Valley
Elder Law	Elder Brown	Dalton 2
Elder Valdovinos	Elder Fisher	Grove Park SP
Elder Fritze	Elder Youngberg	Asheville SP

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We are also thrilled to have Sister Kerry Gray join us. Sister Gray will be serving in the mission office. We’ve know Kerry for many years and feel very lucky to have her with us here in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission.

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This is going to be another outstanding group of missionaries. We are very grateful they’ve each made the decision to serve a mission and help others come unto Christ.

#WhatsUpInTKM

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 11 wonderful missionaries completed their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. This group of elders arrived just a few weeks before we did in 2023. We’ve had the great blessing of working with these sisters their entire mission. So we’ve seen how these missionaries have come unto Christ as they have been inviting all to come unto Christ.

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We celebrated these missionaries on the Tuesday before their departure. We first met and reviewed some of the most important things they can do that will help them be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ:

• Book of Mormon every day
• Sacrament every week
• Temple regularly…weekly where possible
• Wearing the garment always

We then met individually with each missionary and gave them a blessing. This is always a special moment for us as their mission leaders.

We then went back to the mission home and competed in the 17th TKM Family Olympics. Because of rain, we had to make some adjustments, so our events with this group were corn hole, ping pong, and of course, making welcome posters for the new missionaries arriving the next day.

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The marquee event is our poster making contest, and it again was very competitive.

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As always, we crowned champions of the 17th TKM Family Olympics.

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We love these missionaries! They’ve changed and they’ve led changes that have happened in the mission as they’ve served. Great things lie ahead for each of them!

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#WhatsUpInTKM