One Saturday afternoon, Hayden heard a knock on his door. He opened it up and saw two missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Driggs and Elder Bartholomew. They introduced themselves and invited Hayden to church. Hayden wasn’t sure at first, but he felt something inside nudge him to go for it. That night the spirit continued to work on Hayden, and he made up his mind:
“I’m tired of this old life, I am ready to make a change. I want to be brand new.”
The very next day, Hayden had an incredible experience coming to church for the first time. Everyone in the Forest City Ward was very welcoming, and treated him like a long lost friend. He said he saw light around everyone, and that this church was different from ones he went to in the past. He felt the spirit at church, and it nudged him again. He felt the impression that he needed to throw away some bad habits.
The next day, the missionaries explained that making covenants with God at baptism would help him overcome his challenges and become “a new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17) in Jesus Christ. They extended a date for baptism to work towards as a goal, and Hayden accepted. This would be the beginning of a brand new life for him.
The missionaries introduced Hayden to the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and he began reading it every day. It became something he could turn to instead of his bad habits, and it would bring him much needed personal peace. Ever since picking up the Book of Mormon, Hayden would never again return to his old bad habits.
About the Book of Mormon Hayden said, “That book is special. Every time I struggle with anger or temptation, it just fades. I know it’s true.”
Hayden was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints March 9th, 2025.
Since joining, Hayden was able to witness and testify to His wife Jessica who would also join the church three weeks later on March 30, 2025.
#TKMTenderMercies
Attending church has brought them closer together and helped them become better people as they follow the example of Jesus Christ. Hayden testifies that his life has more meaning and direction now than ever, and that he is able to experience true joy. He no longer struggles with anger in the same way he did before his baptism.
Izander was first found by Elder Poll and Elder Lindsay. They met Izander’s mother, Lumary, at church. She was a returning member who had been invited to church by another friend they were teaching. Izander immediately loved going to church and youth activities, but eventually stopped meeting with the missionaries.
Six months later, Elder Colling and Elder Richins went to visit Lumary to invite her to a special Christmas sacrament meeting. It was then that they met Tely, Izander’s sister. Elder Colling had noticed her hiding in her room and invited her to join us. She was baptized a month later. The week following her baptism is when they met Izander, her older brother.
They invited Izander to be baptized our first time meeting him. They extended the baptismal date of March 1, but then Izander insisted that they move it up so he could be baptized as soon as possible. He quickly progressed and enjoyed reading his Book of Mormon and showing the his baptismal calendar that was all marked up as he tracked his daily prayers and reading the Book for Mormon.
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After accepting his baptismal invitation, Tely, his sister told the elders “it was her mission to get Izander baptized.” Tely and her mother, Lumary played a critical role in Izander’s conversion. They taught him about the restored gospel, probably as much as the missionaries did and gave Izander incredible support.
Izander immediately started going to youth activities again. He began to love going to church and couldn’t wait to get baptized . Izander quickly prepared for his baptism and was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on February 23, 2025.
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Izander is now very involved with the youth and has made friends of all the young men in the West Hills Ward. He’s now helping bless and pass the sacrament and is a blessing to everyone in his new church family.
Vincent was first introduced to the gospel while in jail. One of his cellmates was friends with Miss Gloria, a member in the Hardin Valley Ward. Through the cellmate, Miss Gloria and Vincent were able to create a great friendship, and Miss Gloria was able to help out Vincent a lot while he was in jail. It was here where Gloria introduced Vincent to the restored gospel, and afterwards sent his information to the missionaries so that they could get him a copy of the Book of Mormon.
After receiving the referral from the Hardin Valley Sisters, Elder Graham and Elder Griffith were able to drop off a copy of the Book of Mormon. They set up a time to come back and talk about his experience reading. Over the next few weeks they kept stopping by and reading the Book of Mormon with him to help him understand the Book of Mormon better.
While the missionaries were reading with Vincent, they got to 2 Nephi 31, which brought up the topic of baptism. Vincent expressed that he had never been baptized and that he had a desire to be baptized. So they invited him to be baptized . As Elder Miller entered the area, him and Elder Griffith were able to really help him prepare for baptism.
As the missionaries met with Vincent, he always described that he felt good, he began to truly see the blessings of the gospel in his life. The joy and peace that entered his life was evident. His desire to be baptized came from his desire to be on the right path with God. The missionaries explained this is the covenant path. Vincent had to overcome some struggles with the Word of Wisdom, but with the support of the missionaries and members of the Rockwood Ward, he was successful. As he came to church he was truly able to become a part of the Rockwood family, and was very excited to become an official part of that ward family when he was baptized.
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Vincent was baptized on February 22, 2025. He has since been able to attend the temple and is sharing the gospel in normal and natural ways with everyone he can.
James saw some information on Instagram about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and made a request to meet with the missionaries. That’s when he was first taught by Elder Andreasen and Elder Cox. James shared he wanted to surround himself with the right kind of people and had this strong feeling he should start going to church again.
Preach My Gospel teaches us, “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 definitely the case with James. Heavenly Father had been giving him important spiritual impressions that had prepared his heart to “receive the word” (Alma 16:16-17).
16 And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming—
17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.
Alma 16:16-17
James loved the principles he was taught by Elder Cox and Elder Andreasen. While he was being taught, Elder Johnson was transferred into the Gray Ward. James came to church and felt the love that the members of the Gray Ward had for him. Soon he was invited to be baptized, which he accepted and continued to work towards this goal..
James watching General Conference with the missionaries.
James continued to progress and even watched a session of General Conference with the missionaries. While he knew that baptism was the right thing to do, he wanted to be sure it was a choice he was making for himself. He didn’t want to blindly follow and he wanted to know for himself that the things he was being taught were true. He prayed about it and felt good about it, especially the Book of Mormon, and knew this was the right thing for him to do.
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James was then baptized October 12, 2024 and confirmed the next day in Sacrament meeting. James has been able to see the joys of the gospel enter his life as he continues to study and come to church and feel the blessings and power that come from making sacred covenants with God.
On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 7 outstanding missionaries completed their service in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. We are starting to see missionaries we’ve served with the entire time finish their missions, and it seems like it gets harder and harder to see them leave us to return home. As they have centered their life on Jesus Christ and focused on their missionary purpose, they have changed in powerful ways. We love them, are very proud of them, and know great things lie ahead for each of them.
Before leaving on Wednesday, we celebrated with them on Tuesday. We began with lunch where they shared important lessons they’ve learned from this experience. Most of the discussion focused on how they can apply these lessons as they move forward as lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, especially the power of reading the Book of Mormon every day, partaking of the sacrament every week, attending the temple regularly, and keeping every covenant they’ve made. We also met with each of them 1:1 and had the opportunity to give them a blessing.
Sister Madison TerryElder Jacob VallejoElder Wyatt GrahamSister Leila HarropSister Maddie DeverSister Alesia BiasiSister Brooklyn Brown
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For the 16th TKM Family Olympics, we had three events: Corn Hole, Kub, and the marquee event…Welcome Posters!
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We had a great time, but in the end, we have one team that wins the gold medals.
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Congratulations to the gold medal winners of the 16th TKM Family Olympics! Sister Harrop and Elder Vallejo!
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These missionaries have so much to look forward and we know they each will do incredible things. Most importantly, they’ve become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. They’ve come to know Him in a way that really can’t be duplicated through other experiences. They leave changed for the better, and the lessons learned will bless them for the rest of their lives.
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.
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.
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.”
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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.
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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!
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.
Barlows in TKM 