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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Joey’s journey began one day when he was watching a YouTube video. An ad came on as he was watching his video, and he felt strangely drawn to it. He clicked on it, and was soon in contact with the missionaries. When Sister Tuala and Sister Terry called him, he felt deeply impressed by the spirit he felt, which reminded him of the feelings he had felt in his grandma’s church.
As he learned and grew, he diligently studied the Book of Mormon every night. When things were hard, he held strong and steadfast, just the way his grandma taught him. He has lived a life built on the strength and good morals of his grandma who was a very strong spiritual woman.
One month after he clicked on the ad on YouTube, he was baptized on January 18, 2025 as a member of the Hardin Valley Ward. About his baptism, he said, “It felt like I was back in biblical times.” He felt very connected to the story where John baptized Jesus Christ. He felt forgiven of all sins, and when he was confirmed, he felt the presence of the Savior.
#TKMTenderMercies
Since his baptism, Joey has had many spiritual experiences where he has been able to feel close to his Savior, and been able to grow closer to his fiancé and received guidance and direction to help him in many areas of his life. He has been able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood, and is excited to receive opportunities to bless others through the priesthood in the future, especially as he has been learning about his family history and is preparing to attend the temple for the first time.
Joe wanted his conversion story to close with his testimony. He said, “If you believe in Him, you will overcome your challenges no matter how many trials you face!”
On March 10-13, we were very excited to welcome Elder David L. Buckner and his wife Jennifer for a mission tour of the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. This was our third mission tour since we’ve arrived in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. Shortly after we arrived, we welcomed Elder and Sister Bowen and Elder and Sister Corbitt. Last year we were blessed to have Elder and Sister Nattress tour the mission.
Prior to the mission tour, we participated in a historic event in the mission. Because of the growth happening in East Tennessee, on Sunday, March 9th, the Kingsport Stake was divided to create the Kingsport and Johnson City Stakes. It is very exciting to see a new stake created because the church growing and thriving in wonderful ways. The Lord is truly hastening His work!
Kingsport Stake Presidency: President David Duffey (1st Counselor), President Jason Pickup (Stake President), and President Michael Peterson (2nd Counselor)Johnson City Stake Presidency: President Ryan Hackett (1st Counselor), President James Boone (Stake President), and President Ryan Youngblood (2nd Counselor)
The units in the Kingsport Stake now include the Greeneville Ward, Kingsport Ward, Powell Valley Ward, Rogersville Branch, Rotherwood Ward, and joining from the Cumberland Stake are the Lakeway Ward and Newport Branch.
The units in the new Johnson City Stake include the Abingdon Ward, Bristol Ward, Gray Ward, Johnson City Ward, Marion Branch, Watauga Ward, and Kingsport YSA Branch.
Our mission tour started on Monday. We first met with Elder and Sister Buckner, and then were off to meet with MLC for most of the day. In MLC, we discussed what is going well and what needs improvement. Sister Buckner noted that the Book of Mormon is bookend by tender mercies in 1 Nephi 1 and Moroni 10. We should look for these tender mercies every day. As we do so, the hand of God will be very evident in our lives. Elder Buckner shared that wherever there is a gap, the adversary will insert fear or darkness. We cannot convert people. It’s the Spirit’s role to convert people. Our focus should be to bless, bear witness, and invite people to act in ways that will build their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one time in your life that you will get to do this in this unique way as a missionary, so remove any obstacles that are getting in the way and focus on this moment. There are angels around you, some who you know. They aren’t just hear cheering you on. They are here to lift you and help you.
We had zone conferences on both Tuesday and Wednesday. While both had things that were unique, there were many repeated themes.
Sister Buckner shared that her and Elder Buckner set a goal to listen to every talk from General Conference every month for the six months between conferences. So they’ve reviewed every talk at least six times. She noted that 25 of the 34 talks use the word “power”, and that “power” was referenced 103 times. This shows that receiving God’s power in our lives is a prophetic priority. She shared seven ways to access God’s power:
Be willing to go and do. Have a heart that says, “I will go, send me.”
Through covenants and ordinances. Look up Faith in the Topical Guide. the first things it says is “See baptism.”
Wear the garment.
Focus on the message of the restored gospel. This will bring power. Smile as you share it.
Read the Book of Mormon every day. This is the most powerful tool for conversion.
Be obedient to missionary standards. As you use your agency to choose to be obedient, you are promised power.
Power in your purpose. When you live the doctrine of Christ yourself, you will have greater power to invite others.
Elder Buckner talked about finishing his mission, getting on the plane to go home, slipping his shoes off, leaning back in his chair, and as the plane took off he said, “No regrets.” He invited all of us to serve in a way where we would have no regrets. He noted that doesn’t mean “no mistakes.” It doesn’t mean being perfect. It means doing all you can to fulfill your purpose while you are here and have the chance to do so. He used an analogy of a puzzle to help us think about gospel questions we will have in life. As we put together a puzzle, we begin with the edges, because they are easy. These represent primary principles of the gospel. We then start organizing groups of colors. What do you do when a piece doesn’t fit? Do you throw it away? Or course not. Why? Because you know it fits somewhere, you just don’t know where right now. So you keep it, set it aside for later, when you know you will see where it fits. We can look at our questions in similar ways. He then taught us about the doctrine of Christ. We have faith that leads us to repentance. There is power of turning and returning brought about by repentance. We take the sacrament to repair us each week. You can’t repair yourself from sin, you need the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We then take upon us the name of Jesus Christ through covenants, and receive revelation through the Spirit. We endure to the end by lookin forward with faith and continuing to change. He noted the Savior waited until the last minute to say, “It is finished.” We should not declare that we are finished prematurely. Keep enduring and He will help us to improve.
The afternoon of each zone conference was spent counseling together about steps we can take to improve on our three key priorities.
Helping more people attend church.
Helping more friends who are on date get baptized.
Finding through members.
Asheville, Cumberland, Kingsport, and Johnson City Zones
On Tuesday, March 11th, we met at the building in Greeneville, Tennessee with the Asheville, Cumberland, Kingsport, and Johnson City Zones.
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Chattanooga, Cleveland, Cookeville, and Knoxville Zones
On Wednesday, March 11th, we met at the Farragut building with the Chattanooga, Cleveland, Cookeville, and Knoxville Zones.
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After MLC on Monday, we had a devotional with all of the senior missionaries in the mission. We love these missionaries. They each are making a tremendous difference for both the missionaries they work with and the members they serve.
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We also stopped by the Knoxville Tennessee Temple site to visit with Elder and Sister Markli. It’s exciting to see the progress at the temple each time we stop by.
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Lastly, we were grateful to have Samantha join us for MLC, where Elder Buckner put her right to work. We can’t express how grateful we are for Samantha. She LOVES Tennessee and is having a wonderful experience here. She’s a big multiplier when it comes to our service as mission leaders.
On March 5th, we welcomed 12 new missionaries to the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. These missionaries will serve for the next 18 or 24 months. We look forward to serving side-by-side with each of them!
We still had cold weather in Knoxville, so we held the orientation meetings at the Farragut building and then these new missionaries headed off to the University of Tennessee campus to find people to teach.
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The most exciting part of every Day 1 in the TKM is assigning our new missionaries to trainers. We have an incredible group of trainers this transfer and feel confident the will help these missionaries get off to a great start.
Sister Gabbitas and Sister Holladay had started visiting an inactive member, Brother Jim Janelle. They briefly met Jerimiah, Brother Janelle’s unbaptized son who didn’t seem interested. However, while on exchanges in Rogersville, Sister Gabbitas and Sister Wall went and visited them. In previous visits, other missionaries said that Jerimiah would hide from the missionaries. All he knew about the missionaries was that they were from church and he previously had some negative experiences there. This time was different, though.
The missionaries talked about how caterpillars change into butterflies. That helped Jerimiah see how past experiences do not have to limit him and that he can change. While they were talking with him, they invited and committed him to come to church.
Jerimiah was nervous on the first day that he came to church, so Sister Wall and Sister Condie FaceTimed him on the way there and on the way back. He began to be more comfortable meeting with the missionaries and attending church. He began to learn and grow more than some people thought he would.
It was challenging for him when his dad moved to Greeneville, about 45 minutes away, but he kept learning and growing. He was invited to be baptized and accepted a date of August 30th. He was super excited to keep learning more. He had started praying and reading the Book of Mormon daily.
Transfers happened and Sister Lewis came into Rogersville. Sister Gabbitas and Sister Lewis kept helping him prepare for baptism. Jerimiah was excited and when the sisters asked if he wanted his dad to baptize him, he said yes. He also wanted his mom to be there.
His dad was honored to perform the baptism. His mom is a trucker, so Jerimiah and the sisters realized that they would have to move his date to when his mom could be there, a month away, to September 29th. Jerimiah decided that he wanted to wait for his family to all be there. Even though he was ready to be baptized, and had even been interviewed, he decided to wait.
The sisters kept teaching him and helping him prepare. Sister Wall visited him when exchanges happened again, and helped him see how he had grown so much.
He came to love seeing the sisters and going to church. He found a friend in Anthony, a recent convert when they went to the Tabernacle Choir performance together. Transfers happened again and Sister Petersen came into Rogersville. For a moment he struggled with tithing but in the end he chose to trust God. The sisters explained the power of tithing and the importance of showing gratitude to God through living this principle.
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The day of his baptism was special. Jerimiah was baptized on September 29, 2024. His whole family was there and he felt the Spirit so strongly. His dad baptized him and that was such a special experience for both of them. He loved his baptism and was most excited about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He truly came to see how God wants us to grow and become better than before.
Barlows in TKM 