To celebrate Easter 2025, the missionaries in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission memorized “The Living Christ”, which is the collective testimony of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints.
We’ve found their words have extraordinary power and have helped us to focus on Jesus Christ as we represent Him. We add our testimony to theirs that Jesus Christ lives, and that He is “the light, the life, and the hope of the world.”
#WhatsUpInTKM
In their morning prayer, Elder Ulm, Elder Brown, and Elder Nielsen prayed that they would be able to find someone new to teach through media referrals. That same day, while they were knocking on doors, they received a media referral. They called the number immediately and Rachael answered the phone. She told them she wanted to meet with them. When they asked when she would be available, she surprised them by asking if they could meet today. They said yes and asked what time would work for her, and she said, “I can meet now!” They agreed to meet her at the church, and rushed over to meet her there.
Rachael explained that her family members all go to different churches, so she had always bounced around from church to church, never really feeling at home in any of them. She wanted to learn about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to see if it could be the place where she belonged.
As the missionaries began teaching her, they quickly recognized she already knew a lot about the church because, for the past two weeks, she had been researching the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on her own. Preach My Gospel teaches us that, “Heavenly Father may have blessed the people you find with valuable spiritual preparation. The steps they have already taken may have prepared them to make covenants with God through baptism in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” This was very true of Rachael. Heavenly Father had been preparing her to make and receive the blessings of covenants before she ever met the missionaries.
As she continued to meet with the missionaries, she learned even more—not just from the missionaries, but also from ward members. Rachael even received a lot of support from a really nice new member of the church she had found on TikTok. With their support and her growing testimony, she made the decision to be baptized.
On February 2, 2025, she was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Even though she was nervous, she loved the experience and felt so much peace and joy.
#TKMTenderMercies
We met Mikayla on Sunday, November 17th when she came with her fiancé and kids to church. We were introduced to Mikayla through one of our amazing members Brother Bishop. Sister Erickson and Sister Petersen got to know the this family better. It turned out her fiancé was already a member and was starting to come back to church. Mikayla grew up baptist and had been baptized twice before, but felt different every time she came to church.
We started teaching Mikayla and she immediately fell in love with the Book of Mormon and going to church. Mikayla expressed to Sister Diede and Sister Petersen that she had many questions for God that she wanted answered before committing to anything. She had to make some hard but necessary changes in her life to prepare for her baptism. She made efforts to keep the commandments, and she expressed to us not only did she feel physically stronger but was so much happier.
Mikayla expressed a few more questions that she felt she needed answers about getting married. Sister Diede and Sister Petersen shared their testimonies of the Book of Mormon and how it has deeply impacted their lives and how we can find answers in it.
Over the next few days Mikayla prayers were answered and her and her fiancé got married!
Then Mikayla was baptized on February 16, 2025. She said it’s been such a refreshing and rejuvenating new start in her life!
She cannot wait to get sealed in the temple to her husband and family next year!
Ricky has always been religious and had wonderful influences in his life, his grandparents and his mom. He had been a big part of his church in El Salvador.
Ricky arrived in Chattanooga in August to start going to school. One day, he was sitting home and felt inspired to go outside. There he met the Elders who were teaching his friend Shawn. Ricky couldn’t understand English, but just decided to sit down and join the lesson. He was asked if he wanted to share how he felt about God and was super excited.
Shawn was two weeks away from his baptismal date and had already been taught a significant amount, so Ricky didn’t fully understand a lot of the principles as he joined Shawn’s lessons. The missionaries asked him if they could start teaching him from the beginning. As he was taught, Ricky started taking it more seriously and committed to come to church.
Ricky is super humble and was willing to keep every commitment. Two weeks after he started being taught, he came to the baptism of a family the missionaries had been teaching. After the baptism, Ricky approached the Elders and expressed that he wanted to become a missionary like them to help bring more souls to the fold. The missionaries asked him to share his feelings about baptism and he said he wanted to be baptized..
In the next lesson, Ricky shared he felt conflicted. Before coming to the United States, as he was trying to come closer to God, he had and made a promise to God to stay faithful in his church. He knew attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made him feel different but he didn’t want to break his promise with God. The missionaries reviewed the principle of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Ricky said he knew it all made so much sense, so they invited him to do the same as Joseph Smith and ask God. The missionaries promised that Heavenly Father would give him his own answer.
That Saturday night, the missionaries followed up with Ricky. He said he had prayed and he felt good about his decision to be baptized, but he wasn’t sure about the date and how soon this would occur. The missionaries taught him about the Sacrament and how one of the promised blessings of the sacrament is that we are able to receive revelation from God. So on January 5th, showing his faith and dedication, Ricky fasted with the members and prayed during sacrament. After the meeting, he told the missionaries, “God told me the date you gave me of January 18th is correct for me!”
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Ricky was baptized on January 18, 2025. He has learned that through the Gift of the Holy Ghost, studying truth helps him to receive personal revelation. Ricky is looking forward to progressing in the gospel and is preparing to serve his own mission after high school.
#TKMTenderMercies
Kevin had many experiences with God before ever meeting with missionaries. He grew up going to church with his dad, who taught him to follow the Lord. Like many of us, Kevin would have to learn for himself if these things were true.
Kevin would continue to have faith and do what was right, but had difficult experiences in church. He felt others in church would say one thing, and do the opposite. Kevin still continued to have faith in the Lord, and later in life, he met his wife, Heidi.
Heidi is a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After getting married, Heidi’s father would come to know and love Kevin. They would have many conversations about Jesus Christ, church,… and baptism. Although his father-in-law was a kind and faithful man who set a good example, Kevin was weary of church because some of his past experiences.
Over the years, many missionaries would come to visit Kevin and Heidi. Every time missionaries visited, Kevin would get in his truck and leave and let them visit his wife. In his own words Kevin said:
“I ran away from missionaries for about 20 years. I knew I wanted to get back into church, but I just never connected with anyone there before. That was, until God sent me two of the right missionaries at the right time.”
Elder Trey Driggs and Elder Asher Lewis met Kevin and Heidi and on that first visit they simply listened to Kevin’s concerns and experiences. For the first time in a long while, Kevin could feel the love of Christ from a member of a church and invited the missionaries back into his home. After sharing more of their personal stories, Kevin and Heidi had a personal testimony that missionaries were the Lord’s representatives on Earth, and were especially sent by Him to share the gospel. Both of them had a very spiritual experience when Elder Driggs shared his old ID photo, which resembled their son who had passed away. They had a witness that their son had sent the right missionaries at the right time to bring Kevin the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Kevin would make a lot of changes in his life the next few months, but was concerned about losing a missionary after transfers. Elder Kaden Wilson would come into Kevin’s life and they really connected. Kevin realized that he could trust more and more people from church and began to open up even more.
Kevin was baptized July 19th, 2023 by his father-in-law, the day of his son’s birthday.
Kevin and his wife Heidi continue to walk in faith and prepare themselves to be sealed in the temple as husband and wife, for time and all eternity. Families can together forever!
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
In August 2024, Audrey started studying with a local church. She remembers studying about different levels of kingdoms in heaven and other gospel principles that caused her to have questions.
One day, she went to the library with her friend to do more studies together. Audrey was sitting outside of the library when two missionaries, Sister Massey and Sister Talbot, walked up to her right before the library closed. They briefly introduced her to the Book of Mormon. They couldn’t talk for long, so they gave her a Book of Mormon, exchanged numbers and set up a time to talk again.
At that time, a lot of outside influences started to tell Audrey not to study with the missionaries, so she canceled her meet with the sisters. She decided not to attend church with them that Sunday and kept studying with the church she was currently with. Later on, she decided to step away from that church and try something new, and she couldn’t help but remember the two sisters that walked up to her that day at the library.
So, one late Saturday night she decided to text the phone number the missionaries had given her and ask if she could come to church with them. Sister Critchfield and Sister Dever dropped everything to find her a ride! After many phone calls, they found a couple in the ward who were able to pick her up. To this day, this couple have become some of Audrey’s best friends. Her experience at church that Sunday caused her to want to learn more as soon as possible!
Once Audrey started studying with the missionaries, all the questions she had that couldn’t be answered anywhere else were answered. She felt the Spirit telling her that this was the right church. She had been searching for a long time to find the truth.
Audrey had some challenges to overcome on her journey. One night the sisters invited her to pray for an answer to the specific direction she was seeking in her life. They came back a couple days later to follow up and Audrey had received her answer. She didn’t understand why at the time, but the answer she clearly received was that Heavenly Father wanted her to be in the temple. After receiving that answer, she was determined to make that happen. From that day on, everything changed! The power of god was working in her life, her challenges became easier to overcome, and her burdens were easier to bear.
#TKMTenderMercies
This goal pushed her to do whatever it took to be baptized so she could make it to the temple. Audrey was baptized on February 23, 2025, and just one week later she was able to attend the temple for the first time. Audrey has been such an amazing strength and addition to the Lakeway Ward! She loves sharing the gospel, she loves family history, and she doesn’t leave a Sunday without greeting everyone she sees.
As missionaries complete 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
#DiscipleOfChrist
As missionaries complete their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, we invite them to share what they’ve learned that will help them to be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.
#DiscipleOfChrist
#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
#DiscipleOfChrist
Barlows in TKM 