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. 

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#DiscipleOfChrist

One day, Kayla and Richard Schroeder began talking about Rich’s past experience in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rich explained how he was baptized when he was young, but stopped attending church around age 14. He also explained how his parents used to have the missionaries over, and this led the schroeder family to reach back out to the missionaries through an online request. Elder Beckstead and Elder Staker were the first to pick up the phone. Kayla recalled the experience, “We wanted to see if meeting with missionaries could help us to better our lives, grow, and change. We decided to make the request online.” 

The Schroeders faced many challenges at first. After their decision, opposition immediately followed, and the Schroeder family was in danger of losing their home after Kayla started suffering medical complications. Despite all of their hardships, the Schroeders still pushed through and sought out the Lord and His church. Rich came to church by himself the first week while his wife was recovering, and Kayla and the rest of their family came the following week. They would begin to see incredible blessings for their acts of faith as they sought at the Lord and experienced the power and blessing of the sacrament.

Elder Driggs and Elder Staker began meeting with Kayla at first. Elder Driggs recalls, “As we met with Kayla, there was always such a powerful spirit. I know that the Lord was preparing her to be an achor for the rest of her family.” Kayla stated that she was nervous attending church at first, but gained more confidence as the missionaries continued to visit. Kayla explains, “I didn’t know much at the start, so when the missionaries would teach the gospel, it blew my mind!” She continues, “I never felt judged by the missionaries or by the members at church, it was an amazing journey to experience and I am happy that I dived right in!”

Kayla would play a pivotal role in helping her children learn and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. One day the missionaries received a voicemail from Kayla’s phone by their 9 year old nephew Brayden. It was a simple request: “I want to be baptized… please?” Elder Driggs and Elder Lewis began teaching their family: Brayden Rutherford, Kaylie Rose, and Kayla’s mother, Paralee Honeycutt.

Brayden loved the missionaries coming over to have family home evening night. He always was the first to raise his hand to say the prayer before the lesson, and he was so excited for his baptism. Kaylie would always express such amazing thoughts and insights about the scriptures as everyone read them together. Paralee was very happy to see the whole family come together and learn about Jesus Christ.

Later, Elder Driggs and Elder Lewis invited Kayla to set a baptismal date. Kayla accepted and worked on marking off every invitation each day on her calendar with diligence and faith! Kayla tells her experience, “Working towards baptism, there wasn’t one big experience where I knew the church was true. I just felt guided, every day I was just so blessed by being led by the Lord.” On May 11th, 2024, Kayla Schroeder was baptized by her husband, Richard Schroeder.

Kaylie was also able to attend Young Women’s Camp! She was so happy to meet many incredible young women her age, and role models older than her. She discovered a love of volleyball at camp and wants to continue practicing and playing that sport afterwards. Kaylie was very touched by the testimonies at Young Women’s Camp, and wants to continue to go every year. Kaylie also plans to serve a mission when she comes of age! She truly wants to become a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ. Read more about Young Women’s Camp here: 

Youth Camps with the Missionaries

On July 6th, 2024, Brayden and Kaylie were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Richard Schroeder. It was incredible to hear Kayla speak at her kids baptism. She bore a powerful testimony of baptism and the restoration of the Christ’s church to the earth. Her faith had always inspired Brayden and Kaylie, and she continues to inspire them to this day.

Paralee continued to meet with missionaries and learn more about the restoration. She made many sacrifices to prepare for baptism, and wanted to have the entire family together as members of the church. She was very grateful for all of the scriptures, videos and movies the missionaries would send to help her learn more. When the time came she felt very ready to be baptized. She was baptized on July 27th 2024. Paralee explains her experience, “when i went under the water and came back up, there was a big change. I came up and felt totally different. Things have changed for the better”.

The Schroeders have grown so much together as a family. They are holding family home evening and working towards the temple together and when the time comes they can be sealed together for eternity. Families can truly be together forever.

Message from President Barlow

Sister Barlow often says, “The little things are the big things!” Alma said something similar to his son Helaman when he taught, “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). Nephi said it this way: “And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29).

Doing the small things in life requires discipline, and discipline is required to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. The small and simple things can be easy to overlook or dismiss as inconsequential or unimportant. But President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, “Though…practices may seem to be small and simple, over time they result in powerful spiritual uplift and growth. This occurs because each of these small and simple things invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost, the Testifier who enlightens us and guides us into truth.” (“Small and Simple Things”, April 2018 General Conference).

Sister Becky Craven made this observation: “There is a careful way and a casual way to do everything, including living the gospel. As we consider our commitment to the Savior, are we careful or casual?” (“Careful versus Casual”, April 2019 General Conference). 

Consider these examples: 

• Are you careful or casual about arising at 6:30am each morning?
• Are you careful or casual about your personal studies from 9-10am each day?
• Are you careful or casual about following the Safeguards for Technology and Using Technology Wisely?
• Are you careful or casual about keeping member meals less than one hour?
• Are you careful or casual about getting out the door at 10am every morning?
• Are you careful or casual about spending time in the Book of Mormon every day?

Elder Bednar has taught, ““The spiritual pattern of small and simple things bringing forth great things produces firmness and steadfastness, deepening devotion, and more complete conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel.” (“By Small and Simple Things Are Great Things Brought to Pass”, 2011 BYU Women’s Conference)

Examine your life as a  missionary. Are there small and simple things where you could be more exact? I invite you focus on having more discipline to do these small things. I promise as you do so, you will increase in power as a missionary. This discipline and commitment will deepen your conversion, help you to build greater faith, and lead you to become a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ. 

Sister Barlow and I love you! Let us know if there is anything you need.

The sister missionaries in Lebanon got media referral from an online ad. When they called the referral, they set up chapel tour for later that week. When they came to the chapel tour, this referral brought his friend Yanner.

The referral ended up moving to new York, and the Sisters passed Yanner off to the Elder Sommer and Elder Safsten. There were two really important things that helped with Yanner’s conversion: First was his experience with the Book of Mormon, and the other was hearing the testimonies of members who joined the missionaries on their lessons.

Yanner gained a testimony very quickly as he read and prayed. On his second lesson, he said he already knew the Book of Mormon was the word of God. The very next lesson we felt a prompting from the Spirit to invite him to be baptized on July 7, 2024. He said yes, and we continued to work with him.

After we extended the date, he told us that he was struggling to find work and was about to move to New York for better employment. But thanks to a member, he was given a job for some time so he could get back on his feet. He continued to exercise faith in Jesus Christ even through the hard times so he could receive the blessings of baptism. Yanner was baptized on July 7, 2024.

On August 2nd, we went to the Nashville Tennessee Temple where he was able to perform baptisms for the dead. He really enjoyed it. He said the Spirit he felt there was very strong.

The members really made a big difference in Yanner’s conversion.  He now is working with one of the ward members, so he is able to stay in Lebanon and is an active member of the ward.

On June 27th, the day before transfers, we were driving to go see people previously taught by missionaries. On our way there, we saw Luis walking on the sidewalk. We rolled down the window and asked if he had a church. He said he’s actually looking for one right now! We talked about the Sacrament and invited him to come to our church for a church tour. He said he was “going through a spiritual journey.”

We called him two days later and Luis talked about his journey and life changes he’s been making to come closer to God. He talked about his journey of exercising faith in Christ and repenting. We brought up baptism and explained how it was the next step. We taught him the promises made at baptism and the blessings of keeping our covenants. He wanted the peace and joy that comes through baptism, so we invited him to be baptized on July 27th.

He lives in our neighborhood, so we could easily have frequent lessons. The ward family helped out immensely. We truly saw the power and importance of having a member at every lesson. We coordinated for members to take him to church and join our lessons in person, via video call, phone call, voice messages, and video.

In that very first phone call, our member Brother Beeler, sent us his testimony of the Book of Mormon via voice message. Luis loved and appreciated Brother Beeler’s testimony and perspective as a convert himself. Little did any of us know that one month later, Brother Beeler would be standing in the circle to confirm Luis a member of Jesus Christ’s church.

Luis eagerly accepted the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He committed to living all the commandments, and had committed to most of them even before we met with him. He was so happy to be finding truth. Something cool we noticed was that in the beginning, he talked a lot during our lessons. He would tell stories of how he has seen God’s hand in his life. But over time, as the Spirit worked on him, he talked less and listened more. Each time we had a lesson, the Spirit was stronger. 

When it came time to plan his baptism, Luis picked all the people to baptize him, give talks, etc. He knew so many members from them being part of his lessons and fellowshipping him at church. He was so excited to tell us who he wanted to participate in his baptism.

Luis is nothing short of a miracle. Throughout his life, he has been so prepared by our Heavenly Father to make covenants with Him. From the day we met him to the day he got baptized, it was exactly one month. 

Luis is such a light to everyone around him. He shares his testimony in word and deed. He sees the change in himself through Jesus Christ and wants everyone to have the same blessings he has. It’s been amazing to see him develop his own personal testimony and begin studying the Book of Mormon on his own. He is so excited and grateful to be on the covenant path, and we are so grateful God led us to him.

We were trying to find a person previously taught, but they weren’t home. Their neighbor was outside, so we asked if they knew anyone who might need their faith strengthened in Jesus Christ. They said to try the door on the corner, and so we did! Terry opened the door and invited us to sit and talk on his porch.

Terry grew up in a home where he had to take on a parental role early in his teenage years. He helped his mother provide for him and his five other siblings. His mother raised them to love God and do their best to serve others. Terry feels that one of his callings in life was to fill the fatherly role for his siblings and give them the best future he could give. Because of Terry’s upbringing, his willingness to serve others has become second nature. He follows the two great commandments very well. 

Over the recent months, Terry had been looking for a church. He wanted to be a part of one that would accept him as he is and make him feel welcomed and loved. When the missionaries met him and got him a ride to church, he described his first experience at a sacrament meeting with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: “I felt very welcomed! I didn’t feel uncomfortable, I felt like I belonged there.”

Because of his family situation, Terry graduated high school, but gave up his future education for his siblings. He did all he could to help them get through school. Because of this, Terry has a hard time reading and struggles to understand what he reads, which made reading the scriptures challenging. Luckily, Terry was fellowshipped by a wonderful member, Brian Howard, who befriended and supported Terry, reading the Book of Mormon with him daily. Terry is eternally grateful for Brother Howard’s support. He would spend time with Terry or give him a phone call and help him understand the principles he was being taught.

During this time of being taught by Sister Smith and Sister Ihrig as well as Brother Howard, Terry was praying to know if what he was learning was true. Terry wanted to do what ever God needed him to do. When the invitation of baptism was extended, Terry gladly accepted it! He even threw out all of his tea without a problem. “I just want to keep the commandments” he said. 

On his way down into the font, Terry felt that he needed to stop for a moment and listen: “I felt the Lord’s presence and I heard Him say that everything was going to be okay, that these people would support me, and that I was forgiven and loved.” Despite being afraid of water, Terry marched on to the font and was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 28, 2024. Terry says that after coming up from the water, although a little frazzled, he felt renewed and safe. He also has said he knows he is not alone now that he has the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

After Terry was baptized he told the missionaries,  Brother Howard, and the ward how grateful he was for them. Terry said, “Sometimes you meet somebody or some people and you feel like you were never strangers. Like you’ve known them your whole life.” He is excited to continue learning and, eventually, wants to go to the temple to give his deceased family members the chance to have the same peace he now feels. 

#TKMTenderMercies

It’s always good to gather together as missionaries. The Savior said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you” (D&C 6:32). You can sense at feel this as missionaries gather for zone conference.

We begin each zone conference by role playing one of the lessons. This week we role played “The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”. I play the role of a friend and call on missionaries to stand and teach each principle in two minutes. They don’t know who will be called on, which helps everyone to be engaged and think about what’s next. We heard some powerful teaching, especially as missionaries testified of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

As a mission, we feel very fortunate to be serving in the best mission on earth, at the best time to be serving here. We have the great opportunity to be serving while a temple is being built in Knoxville, Tennessee. Thus, we have the privilege of helping to prepare a place and people for the House of the Lord. And it is making progress!

In the first hour, we reviewed four principles we could apply to be more effective missionaries. The first was to act in faith. Moroni 10:7 says, “Deny not the power of God; for he worth by power according to the faith of the children of men.” We often review that “Faith is a principle of action and power…Faith in Jesus Christ…is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action” (Bible Dictionary). We then broke into districts, and discussed how we can apply this direction from President Russell M. Nelson:

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The second principle was to have a “Proactive Mindset”. Being proactive is how we use our agency in powerful ways. This mindset leads us to “act and not to be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:24-27).

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Third, was to control the things that we can control. As we use our agency, it is important to recognize what is in our control and what is not. We reviewed the great scripture pattern given in D&C 123:17.

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Lastly, we discussed how we can be more consecrated as missionaries. We reviewed the importance of the morning schedule, and the power that can come as we strive to be obedient to the standards we’ve been given.

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Sister Barlow then delivered the highlights of the zone conference. She began by reminding our missionaries about her plans for her gravestone:

She testified of the great blessings that have come to her life as she has consistently chosen to follow the prophet. She then let us know we were going to do three things over the next four weeks to celebrate the 100th Birthday of President Russell M. Nelson.

First, we were going to learn two new verses to “Follow the Prophet” written by our own Elder Jentzsch about President Nelson.

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She then said we were going to do something in the mission that might seem hard, but she was 100% confident we could do it. We were going to claim a very important blessing promised by President Nelson. In fact, she had us watch a video of President Nelson extending the invitation himself:

Sister Barlow then announced that we were going to be memorizing the Restoration Proclamation by President Nelson’s birthday on September 9th. The Restoration Proclamation was issued by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the April 2020 General Conference. Its full title is “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World.” This proclamation commemorates the 200th anniversary of The First Vision received by the Prophet Joseph Smith that initiated the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and ushered in “the dispensation of the fullness of times” (Ephesians 1:10).

Similar to when we memorized “The Living Christ”, Sister Barlow created flip cards that would help us memorize the Restoration Proclamation. She also noted that we will record a video of missionaries reciting “The Restoration Proclamation” just like we did with “The Living Christ.”

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Lastly, she announced that leading up to President Nelson’s birthday, each week all missionaries in the TKM will spread the love of Jesus Christ by reaching out to one person in need. Then on September 9th, missionaries will gather together with their friends to celebrate President Nelson’s 100th Birthday. There will be balloons, cake, ice cream, and lots of fun.

We closed out the conference by reviewing the story of the rich, young ruler in Mark 10:17-22 and Matthew 19:16-22. Whenever we feel that we are being asked to do something hard, we can think of the Savior beholding us, and loving us. Beholding us as in seeing our true potential, knowing where we are at, and where He wants to help us to be. And then because He loves us, and with that love, He will ask us to do more. We can always ask the question, “What lack I yet?”, and the Savior will help us to see the next steps He wants us to take.

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We love these missionaries and look forward to this next month as we work on these invitations.

Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Cookeville Zones

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Cumberland and Knoxville Zones

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Asheville and Kingsport Zones

#WhatsUpInTKM

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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. 

#DiscipleOfChrist