Tag: christianity

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Christhian

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Sister Merrill and Sister Ball were Facebook Finding in the California Fresno Mission, when Cristhian happened to comment on a post. They started chatting with Cristhian and ended up teaching him the Restoration over a Facebook call. 

And then, the craziest miracle! The missionaries asked where Cristhian was living, and he said Johnson City. Sister Merrill grew up in the Greeneville Ward, a mere 45 minute drive from Johnson City! So, they immediately got in contact with us, sent us his information, and we began to teach him.

Cristhian had a strong desire to draw closer to God from the beginning, and he felt meeting with the missionaries was a good starting point. Each time we taught him, we just knew that he’d be baptized. In fact, we invited him two times before he felt that it was the right time. It has been a powerful experience to see his faith and testimony grow until he knew that baptism was the next step.

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One of the things we found most powerful in Cristhian’s conversion was his love for the Book of Mormon. One day, we were teaching him about the importance of reading the words of God. At the end of the lesson, we invited him to read the Book of Mormon every single day. His answer was that he already had been reading daily! During one lesson, he might not be sure about a principle, but as we would read about it in the Book of Mormon, he would accept the truth being taught to him. 

Christhian was baptized on August 18, 2024. The service was beautiful, and the members truly came together for him, one of them even making some delicious Argentine food for after the service!

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After his baptism we prepared Christhian to go to the temple. What an amazing day it was when we all hopped into Brother Merrill’s minivan and drove the four hours to the Columbia South Carolina Temple!

As we all know, baptism is not an end, but a beginning. We are happy to say that Cristhian truly is a disciple of Jesus Christ. Since his baptism, he has already helped in missionary work, continues to keep the invitations extended him, and is preparing to pass the sacrament. He has such a desire to grow closer to the Lord.

#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Mia

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The bishop of the Cleveland Ward asked us to visit a part-member family. The father, Alex, was baptized in Honduras and had been a member for a number of years but with many jobs working to provide for his family, attending church had been difficult. After multiple visits and phone calls that resulted with no responses, there was nothing we could do except wait and pray that somehow we would be able to get in contact with them.

One Saturday afternoon, we had some plans fall through. As we considered what to do next we both felt a prompting that we should stop by Mía and her family’s house. As we arrived at the house, we found Alex and his kids home, which was a tender mercy on its own. We met with him for a bit and he expressed that he wanted his kids to be baptized. We told him we wanted to help him with that and invited them to church the very next day. We also invited them to come to a baptism right after church so his kids could experience what it was like. 

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As we taught Mia, with permission from her parents, we extended the invitation to Mía to be baptized, which she accepted. The next couple of weeks were filled with lessons, coming to church, and participating in Young Womens activities. Every time we would come over and talk about her baptism, Mia would have a smile on her face. 

Mia was baptized on August 4, 2024. Since Mía’s baptism and Alex returning to  church, they’ve expressed seeing many blessings from God and with hope one day to be sealed as a family in the temple. 

#TKMTenderMercies

Zone Conference: Increasing Our Faith

~ barlowsintkm ~ 1 Comment

On November 5th, 6th, and 7th, we held zone conferences across the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. This was one of our best zone conferences yet and was a powerful experience for all missionaries in the TKM.

Sister Barlow taught us how to seek and expect miracles as missionaries. She began by talking about our missionary purpose and the authority of our callings as missionaries. She taught that our authority comes with the right, privilege and responsibility to represent the Savior and teach His gospel. Our power as missionaries increases as we repent, stay away from anything crude or vulgar, keep the Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ, and focus on our missionary purpose. When we combine God’s authority with our personal spiritual power, we can seek and expect miracles to happen in this work. She gave all of us a clip to wear to remind us of our missionary purpose. When we see the clip, we should ask ourselves, “Is what I’m doing right now fulfilling my missionary purpose?”

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President Barlow then shared that he and Sister Barlow attended the Mission Leader Seminar in October for all mission leaders in the North America Southeast Area. Mission leaders attend these seminars twice a year. They are a great time of reflection and looking back on how things are going in the mission, but also looking ahead to what we need to do next. President and Sister Barlow went to the seminar seeking revelation on what we needed to do next in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission, and returned with strong impressions.

There has never been a better time to serve in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. A temple is being built in Knoxville, and we are serving at a time when we are helping to prepare a place and the people here for a temple of God. At the October 2024 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson taught:

“My dear brothers and sisters, do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment! The Lord is indeed hastening His work. Why are we building temples at such an unprecedented pace? Why? Because the Lord has instructed us to do so. The blessings of the temple help to gather Israel on both sides of the veil. These blessings also help to prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord!

“The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again”, October 2024 General Conference

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As President Nelson said, the Lord is hastening His work. We should not let the probabilities limit the possibilities! Now is the time for us as a mission to increase our faith, and learn to act in greater faith. In preparation for the zone conference, the mission studied President Nelson’s talks “The Power of Spiritual Momentum” and “Christ is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains“. We discussed the ways that we can increase our faith and act in greater faith as missionaries. We then shared with the mission that we felt the Lord wanted us to work towards a goal that would require more faith, and we felt that goal should be 100 friends making the covenant of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the end of the year. This is far greater than what we have seen previously, but do not let the probabilities limit the possibilities!

In addition to the goal, we also shared that we had received impressions on steps to follow, and that if we would follow these steps as a mission, we would experience the miracles we seek. Those steps fell into two categories:

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  1. Apply the doctrine of Christ more fully in our own lives. As we do that, we will have more power to…
  2. Invite others to come unto Christ by applying the doctrine of Christ in their lives.

The main focus is increasing our own faith, repentance, keeping covenants, following the Holy Ghost, and enduring as missionaries. We then walked through the commitments we would need to make in applying the Doctrine of Christ to build our faith and seek these miracles.

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As a mission, we are focused on five things to help us achieve our goal:

It has been incredible to see the faith of these missionaries over the last two weeks. They are increasing in faith and acting in greater faith, and in the process Heavenly Father is teaching them the great things He can do for them now and in the future as lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. We are excited to see what we can accomplish in the coming months with greater faith.

We ended Zone Conference with “Preach My Gospel Jeopardy” where the districts in each zone competed in our Jeopardy game based on their knowledge of the first six chapters of Preach My Gospel. A champion was crowned in each of the 7 zones and they will compete in a final round of Jeopardy later this month.

Preach My Gospel Jeopardy Champions

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The “Army of Light” of the Tennessee Knoxville Mission

Asheville and Kingsport Zones

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Cumberland and Knoxville Zones

Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Cookeville Zones

#WhatsUpInTKM

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Melissa

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On a February stormy night, Elder Clark and Elder Packard went to visit members in Cleveland, “the Godoys”, and Melissa and Denny were there. They were a little hesitant at first, but the missionaries always kept visiting them with the member’s and they came to really love the missionaries. Over time, they came to love the Gospel and the message that the missionaries shared and were willing to take any steps to come closer to Christ. 

A year later after being found, they took the first big step of getting married in December 2023. Denny had a powerful, spiritual experience watching a virtual tour of the Rome, Italy Temple. While watching that video, he felt the Spirit tell him to be baptized soon after their wedding. Denny was baptized a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints early in January. However, Melissa felt she still needed to wait for her own confirmation to be baptized.

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A few months passed, and her confirmation finally came. 

One night, while Denny and Melissa were sleeping, Melissa was awoken to a vision. In this vision, outside of her bedroom window, she saw a personage standing in the air in a bright light. She was unsure of what exactly was happening and what she was feeling. Making sure she wasn’t imagining anything, she woke up Denny to ask him if he saw what she was seeing. Still half asleep, Denny affirmed that he did see what Melissa was seeing. Melissa asked Denny to describe what he was seeing. Still half asleep, but confidently, he responded that he saw Jesus Christ.

Denny quickly went back to sleep, but Melissa could not sleep. Overwhelmed with peace, she now knew that she needed to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She had received her confirmation and she couldn’t deny it.

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Melissa was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on May 11, 2024. Shortly after, the Romero family was able to attend the temple and be baptized for many of their ancestors. Denny and Melissa look forward to the day when can once again go to the temple and be sealed together to their family for time and all of eternity.

#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Brandon

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We were having a rough day. But we had about 10 minutes left in the night so we decided to tough it out and go to the Walmart parking to finish the day out strong. We were walking around talking to people and we saw this guy with a “Hot Cheeto” shirt on so we knew we had to talk with him.

We offered Brandon a picture of Jesus with the invite to the Tabernacle Choir Watch Party on the back. We testified of God’s love for him and got his number. We later came to know that his mother had just been diagnosed with cancer. He needed to hear that someone cared for him and loved him at that moment.

We stayed in contact with Brandon over the phone the next couple of days and we set up a church tour with him. Elder and Sister Bennett joined us for the church tour and it was incredible. When we showed up to the church, Brandon and the Bennetts were already talking outside the church. They had a friendship that connected instantly. On the tour, we taught Brandon about the sacrament and what to expect at church. We then made our way to the baptismal font and we taught the doctrine of baptism and the role of the Spirit and how it can comfort and guide in times of need. The Spirit was so strong and Brandon knew that was the next step he needed to take. So he chose a date of September 15th and he said, “That is my day!”

We gave Brandon a Book of Mormon and every single time we met with him he would always show us cool verses he found and he would share what he learned from them. He found so much comfort in the Book of Mormon and he would take it to work and to his mom’s doctor appointments for when he was feeling stressed. His favorite verse that really touched his heart was 2 Nephi 31:20.

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. – 2 Nephi 31:20

His first time at church was fast and testimony meeting and Brandon loved it. He admitted he felt the Spirit so strongly that it brought tears to his eyes, and he found it so cool that every member was able to share their feelings if they liked.

Members played a huge role with helping Brandon. The Bennetts had him over for dinner and invited him to come to President Nelson’s birthday party with them. Another member had a huge impact as well. We invited this member to join us for a lesson with Brandon and it turned out that the member had gone through chemo and cancer treatment and they were able to mourn with each other and share a strong testimony. That gave him what he needed to keep going.

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Brandon was baptized on September 15, 2024. His baptism was a Spirit-filled experience and he loved it so much! At the end of his baptism, he shared his testimony on how Christ has helped him and how he knows that Christ restored His church through Joseph Smith. Brandon has been able to find the peace and joy that comes from this church because it truly is the church of joy!

#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Josh

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by Josh Wilburn

My name is Josh Wilburn. Let me begin with the fact that I’m not an accomplished literateur, but I’ll write as best I can.

I grew up in a nice family. My grandfather was the pastor of a Pentecostal church. I grew up believing in God, but I wasn’t sure if I believed in Him as the rest of my family, plus I was always an inquisitive child, so I went searching for God. I’ve studied various religions and religious groups/denominations. The ones I really felt drawn to were Buddhism, Shinto, and one or two branches of Christianity. But no matter which one I was focusing on, I always believed in Jesus, that never changed, whether or not I even knew myself how I believed in him or who I thought he was, to be honest.

But one day, a video just randomly showed up on myYouTube dashboard called Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. I didn’t really think too much of it (I never really looked at Mormonism for some reason), but I decided to watch it and see what it was about.

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When I was watching it, seeing how Joseph Smith was looking for God, didn’t know where to go, and he just got to his knees and prayed with all honesty and humility to God as to how he could worship Him, which church was right, and where he should go. I felt something as I was watching it- I don’t know how to explain it, but I guess it’s like a peace, an awakening inside me. I even started crying tears of joy during it.

After watching it, I started my research. I watched as many videos as I could, read as much as I could, and, most importantly, I started praying more. I was asking God if this was the right way, and so help me to understand it and help to guide me as well. As I was studying, it all was making sense – the Plan of Salvation, the Atonement of Christ, the Godhead, what happens after death (and before mortal life), all of it just felt right.

I know that Heavenly Father was guiding me down the correct path. Yes, there were things that sounded right, but I didn’t completely understand immediately, so I prayed for clarity and understanding, and God listened and answered my prayers.

I attended church for the first time about a week or two after that, and I’m so glad I did. I’m so glad I decided to go, because I felt like I was home when I am there. The people there were some of the nicest people I ever met, and on that first day there I met the missionaries who were to help me learn and grow in the Church. Their names were Sister Leathers and Sister Wilson. I am so grateful to them, for all their work, study, patience, and understanding throughout my conversion.

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I kept meeting with the missionaries after church on Sundays, as well as during the week as well. They taught me so much, and deepened my understanding of what little I had already known. And about two to three months after I first stepped inside of the church I was asked if I felt I was ready to be baptized. My answer was a resounding “Yes!”

I was baptized on September 7, 2024 in the Maryville Ward, and the missionaries who helped me to get to that point were my witnesses. The one who baptized me was one of the first people I met on my first day there, Brother Reher. I was confirmed the next day during church service.

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I’m so grateful to Heavenly Father, my church family, the sister missionaries, and all who have been a part of my journey home to God’s restored church on earth. I admit, I have made mistakes since then, but I know that I have Heavenly Parents who love me and wish the best for me, not a vindictive God who will send me to hell for a mistake. I can trust in Christ’s Atonement, God’s mercy, and the fellowship and support of the church throughout my life, and I can’t express how happy I am for all of this. I found my way home, and I thank Heavenly Father for all He has done for me.

God bless you!

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#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Stuart

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I can clearly remember the day that Stuart walked into the church building shortly after Sacrament meeting had ended. He told us that he saw on Facebook that it said “Visitors are Welcome,” and it was inviting people to come to church. So, he decided to come!

Stuart had never read the Bible before and didn’t know that much about Jesus Christ, but he knew he wanted to strengthen his relationship with Him. Sister Holladay and I set up an appointment to meet him at Dairy Queen for our first lesson. When we had arrived at Dairy Queen, we talked to him about God, our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. We explained how they are three separate individuals and how they work towards one purpose.

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We then talked about how prophets in the scriptures prophecy of Jesus Christ coming and how prophets speak for God. Stuart then learned that Jesus Christ came to the earth and gained a physical body and atoned for his sins and did this so that He could support Stuart. Stuart also didn’t know how to pray to God, and so we gave him a simple outline. Stuart learned that when he is going through something hard, he can always turn to God in prayer and the Lord will help him.

About three lessons in with Stuart, Sister Holladay and I decided to extend the baptismal invitation, and Stuart was so excited to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. About three days after his baptism, we set up time to go to the Raleigh North Carolina Temple. Stuart told us that the temple felt familiar to him and that he wanted to do everything the temple had to offer. Being able to teach Stuart was an absolute privilege. I truly cannot express in words how humbled and grateful I feel to have been the messenger of the covenant and to share these restored truths with such a beautiful, humbled, prepared son of God. Stuart has so many beautiful things in store for him, and I feel just a fraction of the love that God has for him.

– Sister Wall 

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What a blessing it’s been to teach Stuart about Jesus Christ! There were so many miracles along the way like him randomly showing up to church his first day, minimal damage when he hit a deer on his way to church, and his own quickly-developed testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and the restored gospel.

Several days after he was baptized and had been to the temple, he came to us and the Garcia family and told us of the immense family opposition he’s been having as a new member. It really broke our hearts knowing how much his family meant to him, but he testified with conviction “I cannot deny how I feel, I know it’s true.”

Our experience with Stuart has truly opened my eyes to the power that the Spirit can have on an individual. I know Stuart is going to continue strong and receive all the blessings the Lord has in store for him!

– Sister Holladay

#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Adrian

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At our weekly coordination meeting for the Rockyface Ward, we received a referral for Adrian, who is the son of a recently baptized member of the church.

From the very beginning, we knew that Adrian was a special child. He had a deep desire and a true joy about being baptized. The story starts with after his mother, Maritza, was baptized in 2022 and shortly after was invited to the baptism of the Bishop’s son named Hyrum. Maritza could not make it, but Adrian wanted to be there. Hyrum’s family picked up Adrian, and brought him to the baptism. 

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After the baptism, Adrian, without any solicitation, told Hyrum’s parents that one day he would be baptized too. Over a year goes by, and in ward coordination, a member brought up the idea of teaching Adrian to prepare for his baptism. 

He loved having us over and teaching him all of the doctrine needed to progress in the Gospel and prepare for his baptism. He had some difficulty because his mother has to work every other weekend. But to show his faith, he attended church without any of his brothers or his mom. He went on to not miss a single day of church from the first visit through his baptism and after. 

When he was baptized, he shared with everyone who attended, “I always feel good when I am with Jesus. I know he is real and I am so excited to be baptized.”

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Following his baptism, he inspired another friend the Rockyface Elders were teaching to accept an invitation to be baptized the following week. He also inspired his brothers to follow in his footsteps and helps to teach them about the Book of Mormon. Now, Adrian has been a huge help with helping to teach others around his same age by recording his testimony of his favorite stories from the Book of Mormon.

#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Juan

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by Sister Angell and Sister Covington

Sister Angell and Sister Bosh were on an exchange in Signal Mountain. They passed Juan in the Walmart parking lot and decided to invite him to the Tabernacle Choir Watch Party using the TABCAT cards. Juan was so kind and said he would love to come to the Watch Party. He seemed so interested to learn more, they invited him to meet them for a church tour the following Saturday.

That Saturday, July 27, 2024, Juan was heading to meet the sister missionaries for the chapel tour. Previous to the chapel tour, while Juan was driving to work, he found himself in a situation where he could have had a serious or fatal injury. Ending up with no injury, Juan felt the impression that God must really want him to meet with those missionaries that day. 

Then on his way to the Signal Mountain building, Juan was running seven minutes late, so he sped up his pace to try to arrive on time to the appointment. He got pulled over for speeding and told the police officer he was trying to find the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The officer pointed to Juan’s right and said, “You’re there!” He let Juan off with a warning and told him that his meeting was important and that he should hurry in. This was another witness to Juan that he needed to be there that night. The sisters invited Juan to church and he attended sacrament meeting the following day.

Over the next few weeks Juan continued to meet with the missionaries regularly at the Burger King. The Spanish missionaries, Elder Lindsay and Elder Youngberg started coming to the lessons and helping Juan get a better understanding of what was being taught. Juan was excited to continue to learn and to come to church and began to come to our church regularly. The ward members were incredible. He made many friends in the ward and started to feel at home. 

Juan joined the Tabernacle Choir Watch Party at the Chattanooga Stake Center on Saturday, September 7th. It was a great opportunity for him to meet more members and enjoy uplifting music from the choir. Everyone at the event loved Juan and his enthusiasm. At the Watch Party, Juan met Brother Derek Porter, who is the presenter of Music and the Spoken Word, and talked with him a lot about baptism. 

On Monday, September 9th, Juan joined the missionaries and other friends at President Nelson’s 100th Birthday Party.

One day Sister Covington and Sister Angell had a lesson with Juan in one of the members’ homes. They were talking about prophets. The missionaries asked Juan if baptism was something he was interested in. He responded that he had been thinking about it a lot and felt that it was something he needed to do. He knew that baptism would change his life. They were able to spend the next two weeks preparing Him for baptism. 

During one of their lessons at the Burger King the following week, Juan asked the sisters what was different about our church. After a short discussion the missionaries asked Juan what his thoughts were. He said that our church committed to Jesus Christ in a way that he had never seen before. He loved that level of commitment. That is why he wanted to be baptized, to further commit to his Savior and receive more of his love, strength, mercy, and power in his life.

The morning of his baptism Juan walked into the church building with a big smile on his face. He had the support of many ward members that had become his close friends. Juan was baptized on October 22, 2024. He entered the baptismal font and was baptized by one of his close friends. Juan came out of the water with a big smile on His face. He then shared his powerful testimony and love for the Savior.

Juan shared how he had always wanted to move to the United States. He had an idea of this country being a magical place full of good people. He has lived in the United States for many years now. He said that he never found the America he had always dreamed of until he joined our church. When he found this new church family, he felt at home. He said he now had what he had always dreamed of as a little boy.

Juan is now a proud member of the church. He does not hesitate to engage in missionary work. He connected his cousin in Colombia with the missionaries there. One week after His baptism he was able to attend the Atlanta temple and do proxy baptisms for his parents and grandparents. He wants everyone to find the joy that he has from the gospel.

Juan is a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He has a desire to serve others and help them come closer to our Savior.

#TKMTenderMercies

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Matt

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Matt was outside his home when a member of the Marion Ward, Brother Van Brederode, was running by his house. As he was passing by, Brother Van Brederode felt like he needed to stop and invite Matt to church. After some conversation, Brother Van Brederode got Matt’s information and called the missionaries.

Sister Dever and Sister Hodges met with Matt and he felt the Spirit when learning about the Book of Mormon and it gave him a real desire to know if it was true. He prayed and received a strong answer that it was true. As Matt got this confirmation, he began coming to church. The Browns welcomed Matt and gave him rides to church every week. The Browns became his friends and really helped with his progression.

Matt had some concerns that held him back from being baptized. But over time, things really began to change and he felt a great desire to make this covenant. As he read, prayed and came to church he decided to press forward despite his concerns. He attended a baptism where he felt the Spirit and could see the change in those individuals. At the baptism, he told the missionaries, “Someday that is going to be me!” That was a turning point.

The missionaries talked to him about temples and that was a powerful lesson as well. As Matt overcame his concerns, he felt happier and ready for his baptism.

Sister Hunt, Brother Brown, Matt, and Sister Bingham

Matt was baptized by Brother Brown on September 1, 2024. He is now preparing for the temple and to receive the priesthood. Matt has joined in lessons with other friends the missionaries are teaching and shared his experience. His faith and testimony is really making a difference for other people.

#TKMTenderMercies