As missionaries depart from the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned about being a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ. 

Tommy King was found by the missionaries when knocking door to door. Tommy felt impressed to let the missionaries in after turning them away before and from there on they continued to meet every week.

Although Tommy didn’t show much interest at first, after a couple trials of faith he began to progress and his testimony started to grow immensely. Tommy soon attended sacrament meeting and was able to connect with members instantly. After making it to church for the first time, he had a desire to continue to go weekly.

While Tommy was at church one morning, he had an onset to a stroke while in the building. He had a blockage in his right temporal vein. The ambulance was called, and while they were on their way the missionaries felt impressed to give him a priesthood blessing. The blockage in the vein had unclogged itself and Tommy attributes that happening to the priesthood blessings that he had received.

After that experience Tommy continued to come to church and grow closer and closer to the members of the branch. Tommy felt a huge difference in the love that was shown towards him with his new church family compared to anywhere else he had been. This inspired him to continue to come to church and to make life changing decisions including following the Word of Wisdom and receiving the associated blessings. 

Along with coming to church weekly, Tommy began praying and reading from the Book of Mormon daily and said, “The Book of Mormon correlates with the Bible and that any misconceptions I have heard were false!” As Tommy got closer to his baptismal date his testimony of the Book of Mormon, and of the Restoration grew stronger and stronger.

Tommy was then baptized on May 11, 2024. Since then, he has been attending church weekly, has received the priesthood, and is preparing to go to the temple for his first time.

As missionaries depart from the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned about being a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

As missionaries depart from the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned about being a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

Hopefully by sharing this i can help someone know that God is always there, even when we dont know it for ourselves at that moment. 

In May, I hit one year of being a missionary, but also three years of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you would have told me three years ago I would be here serving a mission I would have laughed. 

Three years ago, I was just about to graduate high school. At that time, I was so scared for high school to end. My high school had the one thing that made me feel happy and safe. That was band. The band room was my second home, i didn’t know what I was going to do without it. 

While all of this was happening I received a message on Facebook. These two young men in white shirts and ties had friended me. I had no clue who they were, but it said they were missionaries for a church I had never heard of before. So I responded to their message. 

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Much like Nephi in the Book of Mormon, I messaged them “not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” I didn’t know what was going to come out of the decision to respond to their message.. 

After messaging them for a few days, I decided to meet them in person to learn more. So I met these two boys wearing white shirts and ties at a park. I had my friend with me because it was late and we both thought it could potentially be dangerous. Turns out, it was the best decision I ever made. 

After finding them in a parking lot, we went and sat down at a picnic table. They started talking about this book called the Book of Mormon. Immediately I was interested in it. I had the question growing up, “How is the Bible the only book of scripture we have to prove that God is real?” Well these two missionaries are showing me this book that could answer that question. 

I went home and Immediately started reading this book. 

The next day I went to church with these two missionaries. I hadnt been to church in years and was super anxious. Going to church usually made me have a panic attack, but this time was different. I walked into the chapel and a sense of peace came over me. “Thats a new feeling” I thought to myself. 

One week went by and I started to realize I loved these people and this church. This church made me feel like I felt when I was in the band room. I didnt know that feeling existed outside of band. 

One day after feeling this and acknowledging it, I decided I wanted to join this church. Was this really my new home? Could this replace the band room? 

I texted the elders, “How do I become a member of your church?” 

They promptly responded with “BAPTISM!” 

I decided I wanted to do it, that I wanted to be baptized. So we set a date, May 15, 2021, two days before I graduated high school.  

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When the date came, I was so nervous. I anxiously walked into this church building and was told to get dressed. Once I was dressed I walked into the room, There were so many people! But in the midst of my anxiety and nerves there was peace. It then came time for me to enter the water and be baptized. I listened to the man who was baptizing me say the exact words Jesus Christ taught His people to say: 

“Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” 3 Nephi 11:25 

That moment was something I’ll never forget! As I went down into the water, I felt my eyes open, a peace came into my heart, and something changed. For years I had felt disconnected and alone. Now I felt connected and like I was being hugged super tight. 

This is the power of the priesthood and the blessing we get when we are baptized with God’s authority. All I needed was to open the door for my Heavenly Father to be there. Baptism was the way open that door.

As I’ve grown my relationship with Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father, I’ve seen how He is there right when we need Him. The missionaries contacting me when they did was God showing me that He knew I was struggling and wanting to help. 

Three years later I can see how taking that step and being baptized was the right decision. I’m so grateful for those two elders who helped me learn more so I could take that step. 

I testify that God never leaves us alone. He will send us lights so we can return to Him. He will comfort us in times of need. I know that being baptized is the greatest thing you can do. It can change your life forever.  

“Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us…” -Alma 26:27 

I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know that He comforts us in times of need. I know that He knows us personally. I know Jesus Christ lives. I testify that He is always there. He never leaves us alone. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Jesus Christ loves you. I invite you, if you haven’t already to take that step, be baptized. You’ll never regret it. Not for one second. 

I say and testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

On June 10th through the 13th, we had Elder K. Brett Nattress and his wife Shawna in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission for a “mission tour”.

Mission tours are conducted by a General Authority Seventy, in this case Elder Nattress, as assigned by the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Jeffrey R. Holland. Rather than a short, single meeting, mission tours are several-day assignments where Elder Nattress is assigned to come to really get to know the mission, our culture, our mission leadership and, collectively, the missionaries through a series of meetings held in different locations throughout the mission.

These tours are thoughtfully planned out with planning meetings that happen in advance, and then several daylong series of multiple days filled with meetings across the mission area with the missionaries. We were blessed to spend plenty of time with Elder and Sister Nattress as we traveled from one set of meetings to another. At the end of each day, we would go to dinner and review the things learned, receive direction, and discuss needs.

Prior to the mission tour, Elder Nattress presided over the Cookeville Stake Conference where a new stake presidency was organized. We love President Day and he has been an incredible stake president. We are so grateful for the way he united with the missionaries. When we first arrived at the mission home, there were two vases of flowers, one for Kimberly and one for Samantha, welcoming us to Tennessee from President and Sister Day. We love them!

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We drove the Nattress’ from Cookeville to Knoxville, had dinner with them Sunday evening, and enjoyed getting to know them better. Our mission tour started officially on Monday with meetings with the mission office staff, our Mission Leadership Council, and a devotional with our senior missionaries.

Here are a few key things taught during Day 1:

• Elder Nattress taught the MLC about a leadership model: “Inspired-Motivated-Loved”. He said, “Every time I’m with President Nelson, I feel inspired, motivated, and loved!”
• How do you do you help people feel inspired, motivated, and loved? Pray for the people you lead. Be an example. Ask them questions and really listen. Recognize growth. Look for the good things they are doing and acknowledge them. Do all you can to keep them on the covenant path. Teach them and help them grow.
• A good question to ask: “What are you trying to do better?” Asking this question first can help you to understand a lot about someone’s experience and where they’ve already felt impressions to improve.
• Elder Nattress taught about how the decisions of leaders – leaders of organizations, or leaders of families – can have a big impact on the people they lead. “If you take one step off the ‘Line of Obedience’, followers will take five steps off. Strive to be exact in your obedience.”
• At the senior missionary devotional, Elder Nattress asked each couple to share the miracles they are seeing in their missionary service. We love these couples! They are seeing the hand of God in their lives every day.
• He asked the couples to report back on two questions: What will you do to find your replacement? And what can we do to retain our returned missionaries?

If you are thinking about serving a senior mission, Tennessee is an incredible place to serve! We would love to talk to you about it!

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On Day 2, we drove out to Greeneville, Tennessee, where we had zone conference with the Asheville, Cumberland, and Kingsport Zones. Day 3 was in Knoxville with the Chattanooga, Cleveland, Cookeville, and Knoxville Zones.

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Elder and Sister Nattress taught some really powerful principles in both zone conferences:

• Focusing on your purpose and the “why” of your service is important to having power as you serve. As missionaries, we have a purpose statement: “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.” We spend a lot of time talking about our purpose and how we can link all we do back to that purpose.
• Elder Nattress asked the question, “What think ye of Christ?” Missionaries shared some powerful feelings about the Savior and what it means to them to represent Him.
• “A testifying missionary is a happy missionary!” Share your testimony of Christ with everyone. Everyone should know how you feel about Jesus Christ.
• You always have something to say. When you don’t know what to say, share the First Vision. He shared an amazing video of his grandson reciting the First Vision.
• The Lord loves effort! Do your best today, and then get up tomorrow and do it again.
• We talked about different ways to find people to teach, the opportunities we have to work more closely with part-member families and the great blessing missionaries can be to these families.
• People care deeply about their families. ~700,000 people in Tennessee have visited FamilySearch.org in the last year. How can we use the spirit of Elijah and the love people have for their family and ancestors more in our missionary work? Connect the love of family to Heavenly Father’s Plan of Happiness, and the Savior’s role in that plan.
• The need to teach shorter more frequent lessons. He shared that his favorite dessert is a brownie sundae. But if you brought him a pan of brownies with a gallon of ice cream on top, and told him he had to eat the entire thing right now, he wouldn’t enjoy it. At times, we can try to give friends an entire pan of brownies and a gallon of ice cream.
• He shared a powerful example of his decision to serve a mission, challenges he experienced at the beginning of his mission and how he dealt with them, and how his mission has blessed his life.
• He had us watch a story shared by President Jeffrey R. Holland about two brothers rock climbing. He asked us to think about times we’ve felt like each of these two brothers, one desperate to be saved, and the other desperate to save, and how the Savior has helped us in both cases.

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As we arrived at each zone conference, the missionaries had already gathered and were ready to take pictures with Elder and Sister Nattress. While they were waiting for us, they sang favorite hymns together. Many missionaries shared with us that singing together while waiting was one of the most powerful parts of the zone conference.

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After each zone conference, Elder Nattress held interviews with a number of missionaries. The purpose of this time is to understand more about their experience and to inspire, motivate, and strengthen them. Sister Nattress joined the interviews with Sisters.

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We also had opportunities to go out teaching with the missionaries, as well as joining some for companionship study.

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Mixed in with all of our meetings was lots of conversation in the car while traveling. It was a special experience to get to know Elder and Sister Nattress better as well as to have that additional time to be taught by them. We had dinner with them each night, and we tried to mix in some opportunities to see different things in Tennessee. The weather was beautiful while they were here…sunny skies and low humidity.

We did take them by Buccee’s. If you haven’t been to Buccee’s before, look it up. There isn’t anything like it in Utah or Idaho where the Nattress’ are from, and they loved it. In fact, we scratched our dinner plans for that night and decided to just do a Buccee’s buffet of brisket sandwiches, Philly cheesesteak burritos, and banana pudding. Unplanned…but a lot of fun together.

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We feel so grateful for couples like Elder and Sister Nattress who take time out of their busy schedule to come and teach and support us. They were incredibly kind and encouraging. Elder Nattress was a great example of his advice to look for things people are doing right and acknowledge and celebrate it. We are grateful for their example and the way they have consecrated their life in serving God and serving His children. We especially saw and appreciated their efforts to inspire and serve individual missionaries, one by one. It was a great week!

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Meanwhile, Samantha was out of town during another mission tour. She was out of town last October when Elder and Sister Bowen and Elder and Sister Corbitt visited us for a mission tour. Samantha traveled to Argentina for 2 1/2 weeks to help with a humanitarian project.

Samantha has been in dual-immersion Spanish classes since 1st grade and is fluent in Spanish, so this was a great experience for her. She said she was very humbled by the people she met. She noted that they have little of the things we think we need in our family to be happy, yet in many cases they are happier than us. They have their family and their faith, and that is their focus. We can learn a lot from that. Plus, she learned her Spanish is pretty good and she felt comfortable talking with everyone.

by Sierra Bovenkerk

When growing up, I always ended up going to Baptist churches. I never really felt at home there. I felt the pastors always taught “love thy neighbor” unless they weren’t this cookie cutter shape. They always were friendly up front but I never really felt at peace there. 

Around high school, I strayed away from going to church at all and drifted farther and farther away from Heavenly Father. After high school, I was completely lost and blamed all my problems on God. I was a complete mess. 

About a year ago, I noticed my best friend Taylor going to this church I’ve never heard about down here in Chattanooga. After she was baptized, I noticed she had changed and in my mind I thought that change was bad for her and I had lost the friend I could joke with. She kept asking me to do lessons with the missionaries and I kept telling her that unless they knocked on my door personally, I didn’t want to. 

Finally, after having no one knocking on my door, I got curious. Taylor asked if the Lafayette elder missionaries could come by and do a lesson. My first thought was, “I’ll just listen to them and then never have to do it again.” But when they welcomed me instantly and talked to me like we were long lost friends, I felt I ought to let them come back for another lesson.

After a couple of meetings with the missionaries, Taylor asked me to go to her church with her. I sat in the front, in fact, in the front row with Taylor. I felt really nervous, but all in all it wasn’t that bad. 

When my husband and I moved to Rossville, Taylor told me I would have the sisters come for my lessons now. I didn’t know how I felt about that. I thought I wasn’t going to like them at all, but when I first met them they were awesome. Maybe the best missionaries I had met. They were very patient with me while I was finding out if this was the right move for me. And I’m glad I kept asking for the sisters to come back because it was worth the wait and I felt the spirit like I have never felt it before. 

After going to church with them, I decided to get baptized. I was baptized on May 25, 2024.

At my baptism, when I hit the water, I felt a change. I know this was the change my friend Taylor had described she felt when she was baptized. The change that at first I thought was bad turned out to be the best change to have happened to have ever happened to me. 

I would like to share my testimony that this is the true and living church of Jesus Christ and that through Heavenly Father’s plan and Christ’s Atonement, we will receive many blessings and an eternity of peace and happiness.

I share these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Tony was going through a difficult time and when he was sitting in the Gazebo at the Bicentennial Park. He was there with his Bible when Sister Smith and Sister Nielson walked past, backed up, and asked if they could read the scriptures with him. He agreed and they had their first study. They then asked if they could meet with him again and he said yes.

The missionaries started meeting with Tony one to two times a week. Through meeting with multiple missionaries, Tony began to come out of his shell and began to openly disclose his relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He could feel the missionaries and the light of Christ keep his spirits up. He truly appreciated the things that he had come to realize. He felt a light that kept him going each time he met with the missionaries. He has truly gained a testimony of prayer and the strength that brings to him.

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Tony accepted the invitation to be Baptized on April 28, 2024, six months after the missionaries started teaching him. Tony was baptized on May 19, 2024 and he shared with those in attendance that he felt light! He was then confirmed in sacrament meeting on May 26, 2024 and has since then continued his journey on the covenant path.

Tony now finds greater joy in life since learning about the Gospel and loves to share that light with those around him. He knows that while Satan still works on him he has the tools and faith to make it through the hard times, and enjoys attending church each week. Tony is now working to receive the Priesthood, so he can work towards going to the Temple!

Richard was seeking to turn his life around and learn more about Jesus Christ. He saw an online advertisement for the Book of Mormon, learned that it helped people come closer to Christ, and sent in an online request to meet with the missionaries to learn more.

Ever since his first lesson with the missionaries, he has loved learning about the simple and precious truths found in the Book of Mormon, one of which being the covenants made at baptism. Just a few days after first meeting Richard, he accepted the invitation to attend a baptism. After watching the baptism, the missionaries gave him a tour of the church, and as they stopped in the chapel to explain the sacrament, Richard related the Doctrine of the Sacrament to the Doctrine of Baptism.

When Richard was invited to prepare for baptism, he asked, “When’s the earliest date I can be baptized?”

He jumped all in and quickly learned how much joy the gospel brings, so much so that he even gave a member a ride to stake conference. His baptism was a wonderful service; his family, friends, and cat even came to support him.

Richard has become an amazing disciple of Christ and continues to love growing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He strives to become one of the “accepting people who are strongly and proudly grounded in their faith and Christ,” and he already is such an amazing member.

by Sister Dever and Sister Hodges

On February 26th we were in Ingles to public contact and Vernon Jarvi was the first person we talked to. He was at the deli getting a sub sandwich in his Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts and sandals. He said he felt someone look at him and he turned around and saw us smiling at him. He told us he has known people from the church and wanted to know more about what he had to offer. 

We got to talking and he invited us to join him at a table. Since then it became our place to meet every week, soon turning into more frequent meetings and lunches.

Vernon, well he is an interesting man. He has a very diverse background and knows a lot about everything. In our first meeting he said, “Back then they did hands on healing but no one wants to talk about that these days.” We got to teach him about the priesthood and he loved it. 

Vernon was baptized on May 5, 2024, surrounded by his new church family.

After Vernon got baptized he told us: “I have gotten baptized quite a few times but this, this was different.” He also said that receiving the Holy Ghost was the most amazing feeling.

Vernon was very interested in going to the temple and on May 14th we got to go with him to the Atlanta Georgia Temple. He loved it and wants to go again to the South Carolina Temple so he can then make a round trip to the beach and to go to his favorite restaurant out there.

Getting to know Vernon was amazing and it was 1000% in God’s plan for us to meet him that day.