Darla’s story is nothing short of countless miracles, family love, faith and at the center of it all, Jesus Christ.
Last year, Darla applied for some housing and was put on a year-long wait list. Early this year, she was notified that she had an apartment, but was only given a 48-hour window to move in the apartment or her offer would be gone. Darla knew that her, her husband, and 15-year old grandson Jayden would not be able to move everything into the apartment in time and frantically began looking for help.
She found herself on Facebook where she discovered the Kingsport Tennessee Stake page, and sent a message requesting help. At the time, Bishop Polk was beginning his first week as the new bishop over the Rotherwood Ward. When he received the message that someone within the ward boundaries was looking for help moving his immediate reaction was to dismiss it as he already had so much on his plate, but the Spirit stopped him. There is more to this story.
Bishop Polk followed the prompting and reached out to Brother Adam Smith, the Elders Quorum President, and asked him to help Darla. Brother Smith immediately reached out and scheduled a time to come help. Even after the original meeting fell through, Brother Smith continued to contact them and eventually, with the help of many ward members, got them settled into their apartment.
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After the move, Brother Smith stayed in touch and continued to help them with every opportunity he saw, including inviting Darla to meet with missionaries. She began meeting with Sister Harris and Sister Duncan. As she met with the missionaries, she felt changes began to happen in her life. She felt the desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ and decided to be baptized.
Darla was preparing for her baptism when her husband became ill and died. She lost contact with the missionaries for a while as she mourned the death of her husband and thought about what the future would mean for her. Darla reconnected with missionaries, now Sister Terry and Sister Leathers, and determined to finish what she’d started.
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As Darla began her journey again, trial after trial sprang up trying to pull her back or distract her from the path she was on. The major turning point for her was when she kneeled down to pray, to ask her Father in Heaven, if all this was true. She received her answer that yes indeed it was true! This was an amazing experience for Darla to receive this personal witness that the principles she was being taught were true!
That knowledge gave her strength and courage to continue forward through even more challenges she faced as she again approached her baptism: sickness, family troubles, and other emergencies. She often told the missionaries she felt like she had spiritual armor on as she prayed and studied her scriptures, and that power was increasing every day. She experienced the peace and love as she and her house were blessed by priesthood authority.
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The day of her baptism she was very special, surrounded by ward members that now had become her family! Darla asked Brother Smith to baptize her. She was baptized on July 27, 2024 and is not a member of the Rotherwood Ward.
Elder Bangerter and Elder McClellan started to fellowship James in the spring of 2023. They loved meeting with him and his family. At that time James kids, April’s step children weren’t members yet. But steadily they began to want to be baptized. Eventually, I, Elder Rumsey began my mission in March of 2023 and I was trained by Elder Bangerter. I met James on the third day of my mission. I became fast friends with James along with the rest of their family. We ate dinner at their house many times and loved meeting them for the three months I was there. I wanted James to be baptized, but I wasn’t sure what to do as he didn’t feel ready to make that covenant at the time.
I eventually had to leave the area and added the Herndon family to my weekly email list. There was a small prayer in my heart that James would read them and feel the Spirit.
Elder Barrow and Elder Nash became companions and started to teach James kids. Who soon enough, in the summer of 2023 decided they wanted to be baptized. In July of 2023 they were baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-Day Saints. The only member of the family who wasn’t a member at this point was James.
From this point forward, the spiritual progress of helping James reach the waters of baptism was slow. The Herndon family is a busy bunch. James also was fighting an unknown medical condition at the time. They were constantly trying to find answers to why he felt the way he did. We now know he has Parkinson disease.
One year later, I was called back to Kingsport! At the time, I had only guessed why I was sent back to my first area on my mission. I tried to see James and the rest of the Herndons but they were away for a while. I wasn’t able to get ahold of them for about 8 weeks of being back. I figured that I wouldn’t be able to.
Out of no where, James’ wife April came to church and invited Elder Croney and I over to do a service project. The following Saturday came and James was there, it was the first time I had seen him in over a year. After the service project was finished. The we went inside for dinner and to share a message. As we shared our message I felt the stirrings of the Spirit to invite James to be baptized. It was so random and out of no where that I was caught off guard. It had been a year since I had talked to James and I didn’t want to be rude. He had a lot going on in his life and to be honest, I didn’t want to invite him and ruin any progression that he had while I was away. So I unfortunately pushed it aside, assuming I had thought it at random.
As we left the house the feeling of regret grew. In my heart I knew that what I had pushed aside was the Spirit. I pleaded with the Lord to give us another chance to invite him.
The next day, James came to church. Elder Croney and I knew that if there was ever a time to seal the deal, it was then and there. We asked James after Sacrament Meeting to come into a classroom to sit down and talk with us. James being the nice guy he is, agreed.
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As we began to talk, I confessed that I felt as though I missed a prompting from the Spirit. I could see a look of interest and a glimpse of a smile on James face as I explained how I felt. I then invited James to be baptized. James’ response startled both Elder Croney and I. He said, “I knew you wanted to ask me! I could see it on your face. Yes, I would love to be baptized.” As simple as the moment sounds reading it on paper, the Spirit was so strong.
James was then baptized the following week on July 21, 2024.
Two missionaries pulled into the Food City parking lot to do some public contacting. One of the missionaries said “Hey, I think we need to go visit the Webb’s – you know the ones mentioned in branch council that moved here a few years ago?” Immediately they hopped back in the car and headed out.
Just a few miles over, John and Jenny Webb were out looking for some of their chickens that had been attacked the night before. They were always hard at work; gardening, taking care of chickens, quail, goats, and dogs, and their sweet grandson Westley. They previously had lived in Texas with a large home and lots of land and busy work schedules. Their dream of building a home and having land brought them to Tennessee. However, an injury from an accident required 8 surgeries and an amputation, which put a halt to the plans to build a home. Times were hard and money was tight, but the Webbs had been through a lot, and they knew they had each other.
When the missionaries pulled up, they were immediately impressed by the down-to-earth kindness from John and Jenny. They have always lived in a manner of serving and loving others, and they have taken many teens into their home over the years. John grew up in the church, and has always clung onto his testimony. When they moved here they looked up the church building and were considering going. The missionaries visited and talked about the sacrament and invited them to church.
The first time they came to church they just stayed for sacrament meeting. That week was Jenny’s birthday. The missionaries weren’t planning on stopping by their house that day, but the Spirit said otherwise. So they baked a little cake and dropped it off. Jenny was touched that someone was aware of her and that she got to celebrate her birthday in a simple way. The missionaries went by again and asked Jenny if they could teach her. Jenny said absolutely!
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She explained that many missionaries have knocked on her door over the years and she has always been irritated. However, this time was different. She said that her experiences in the last few years had changed her heart.
The missionaries started coming over a few times a week, and Jenny started reading in the Book of Mormon every day. She is legally blind, but didn’t let that stop her. She installed the Book of Mormon app and Gospel Library and zooms in on her phone so that she can see it and listen to the scriptures.
When she learned about the Godhead and that we are created in the image of our Heavenly Father, she said it made so much sense! Jenny continued to read and pray every day. She didn’t miss going to church on Sunday, and she kept praying for an answer.
As we talked about patterns of revelation and light, she was able to connect with the pattern that is akin to walking through fog; where there is only enough light to take one step at a time. When the missionaries invited her to be baptized she was overwhelmed and felt she wasn’t ready. As she had doubts and fears, she continued to turn to the Book of Mormon and pour out her heart in prayer. One Sunday she came up to the missionaries and said, “I’m ready to take the next step into the fog.”
As we planned her baptism there was continuous opposition. One afternoon Jenny stood in the parking lot at the church and felt like she simply couldn’t do it anymore. She wasn’t sure she could carry on and continue to prepare to be baptized. Sister Holladay and Sister Gabbitas each had a unique story they shared. Their experiences struck a chord with Jenny, and she was able to pause and remember why she was working towards this. As they stood in the parking lot crying together, they uttered a simple prayer, and the Spirit spoke peace to their hearts. Jenny had a clear thought. “This is why.” She felt this peace is why it is all worth it. This is why we turn to God in our struggles, so that He can consecrate those experiences for our gain. This is why true joy comes from turning to Jesus Christ.
When Jenny told her sister (who joined the church years ago) that she was getting baptized, her sister shared an experience she’d had 15 years ago. They had been at a Webb family gathering and a discussion about the church ensued. Someone made a comment that Jenny would never join the church. She stood up and said “I never said that!” In that moment, her sister saw her standing there in all white, and she felt in her heart that Jenny would someday be baptized. When she heard the news from her sister, she cried tears of joy.
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Jenny was baptized and confirmed on July 21, 2024. Her father in law, Bill Webb, who is in his 80’s, was able to perform those sacred ordinances. As Jenny sat down and John and Bill Webb stood in the circle to confirm her, the most beautiful light emanated from them. This was a family on the path to their eternal progression.
Jenny and John look forward to the day they will be sealed. Jenny continues to read the Book of Mormon every day and she says that she will not let the adversary take away what she has. Jenny and John continue to love and serve everyone around them and look forward to their path of progression together. Jenny shared, “Even though we have less than we have ever had before, even though we have lost so much, I have never been happier.”
Bobby was found when the missionaries we’re making phone calls on a park bench and he stopped by to use the restroom. He wasn’t planning on being there that day but the missionaries invited him to church and he said “YES!”
His best friend of 28 years and then fiancé hopped out of the car and it turns out she was a long-lost member from South Carolina who wanted to come back to church. She had just recently pointed the church building out to Bobby and said she wanted to go, but was really nervous. Bobby kept saying, “Wow, God knew I needed to come to this park tonight, and you guys just called after me, He is amazing!”
In our first lesson with Bobby, we taught the restoration and Jodi shared her testimony and insights too. As we shared Joseph Smith’s First Vision experience, Bobby immediately responded saying “I know that is true!” He was so aware of the spirit testifying of the truth of our message.
The missionaries recognized his tremendous faith and desire to follow in Christ’s footsteps and invited Bobby to be baptized right on the spot, and he happily accepted! He began reading the Book of Mormon every day and attending church every week. Mike n’ Ikes became his new best friend to help overcome an addiction he had, and he likes to joke that their trash can is only full of empty Mike n’ Ike boxes.
The branch and missionaries planned Bobby and Jodi’s wedding just 3 weeks out so that he wouldn’t have to wait any longer to be baptized. Their wedding was beautiful and they already look forward to the day they can be sealed.
Sister Holladay, Sister Gabbitas, Jodi, and Bobby at their wedding.
Bobby never missed a lesson and was so excited when he understood what a covenant was. He loves to say “ahh that special promise!” And the day he was baptized he remarked that he finally got to make his special promise. Jodi’s Aunt and Uncle drove down from Kentucky to be able to attend and baptize Bobby, and the love and support from everyone in the branch was wonderful. He was baptized on June 23, 2024.
Bobby loves sharing his love for Jesus Christ with everyone around him, in every possible way. He is so excited to continue to learn and grow and says “Don’t forget enduring to the end!”
On the May 11, 2024, Elder and Sister Christensen were knocking on the door of less active member. Without response, they started to return to their car. In the accompanying house, a man was sitting on the doorstep. With hope in her heart, Sister Christensen made her way to inquire of the whereabouts of his neighbor. While asking this question, Sister Christensen felt the strong impression to invite this man to church. Though they didn’t speak the same language, through Elder Christensen and modern technology, they invited him to come to church.
Rafael, hoping for something that could cure his emptiness, decided to accept the invite and try it out. Rafael quickly started meeting with the local spanish speaking missionaries, Hermana Arnold and Hermana Berrett. After meeting with them the first time, he had a good feeling that led him to come to church. His experience there filled him with a peace, different than anything he had felt before. He related it to feeling the presence of God. He felt healed from his emptiness and distance from God.
Following his church attendance, he continuously met with the missionaries and felt a change begin in his life. He shared, “I started to have a motivating faith in God to be baptized.” His thoughts, once dark and depressing, became focused on scripture and God’s plan for him.
In the third lesson, he asked how he could be baptized and what he needed to do to make it happen. After learning the necessary steps, he readily and happily accepted a baptism date, the gospel, and all it has to offer.
His original baptismal day was the week prior. His work situation as a construction worker had been unaccommodating to put it simply. Days or even weeks would go by without being called into work which made it imperative to take any project he was offered. Imperative not just for his financial security but for the health of his son.
Before his baptism, his son had been ill in the hospital for some time, and the money Rafael made here was then sent in order to pay for medical expenses in Venezuela. The week he was originally set to be baptized, he hadn’t been offered any projects in over a week. That Thursday night, he received a call from his boss with a project in North Carolina. Taking this project would prevent him from receiving his baptismal ordinances.
Out of pure necessity, he left for North Carolina. The baptism was quickly rescheduled for the following Sunday. Rafael was not offered any jobs that week, but at the last minute he was offered an opportunity to work. Though he needed the money to provide for his family, with faith he declined the offer and was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on June 23, 2024. The empty hole in Rafael was eternally filled. He said “before I met the missionaries I was depressed, I used substances to cope, but now, I don’t have these feelings anymore, and if I do, I turn to the scriptures.” Since his day of baptism, the peace he received has never left.
Rafael was blessed spiritually and emotionally by the covenants he made with God, but God was not yet satisfied with his work. After working for the construction company for 8 months, he started looking for a job that would pay and treat him honestly. The day after his baptism he was offered a position at a company which requires him to work Monday-Friday, giving him the weekend off. He then received other news. His son, who had been in the hospital for a long time, was due to finally be released. Though the sacrifice of work seemed impossible, outlandish, and a bit irrational, in turn the windows of heaven were opened, and blessings descended upon Rafael and his family.
After doing companionship study in the park on April 13, 2024, the missionaries introduced themselves to a group at an adjacent picnic table and shared a couple of verses from Enos with them. Lilly happened to be babysitting with the family at the time. While the family she was with wasn’t interested, Lilly piped up and said she might want to meet with us again.
A few months earlier, Lilly had prayed for some guidance and she thought that maybe this could be God’s way of answering her prayer.
She didn’t know much about the church, but she was an excellent researcher. She remembered a youth in our ward, Anderson Griggs, sharing his testimony with her when having a conversation about religion at a football game. She also recalled her fellow clarinetist, Lilly, being a member as well.
Before her first visit with the missionaries, Lilly had researched even as far as the Word of Wisdom, and she took a particular interest in God’s Plan of Happiness. The missionaries gave her a Book of Mormon, and she studied it. One of her favorite teachers caught her reading it in class and was sure to let her know that it was a, “good book!”
Her family was not very supportive of her decision to keep learning. She struggled to defend her newfound belief to them because it was simply a feeling. Nonetheless, she would come home after school to take a nap, pray, and read her Book of Mormon. She explained the feeling as happy, excited, and calm at the same time.
A few lessons later, the missionaries were teaching Lilly about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. They stood in front of a painting of The First Vision, and despite not planning to invite Lilly to be baptized, the spirit was too strong not to. Lilly was beaming and so excited to be invited to make her first covenant.
As she was preparing, she found herself feeling down and alone in the band room at school. She remembered a song that she heard on a church video of the Knoxville, TN temple. She also heard it the first week she was at church. Hymn number two, The Spirit of God, had quickly become her favorite. She memorized the words, played it on her clarinet, and sang it on that hard day at school.
Her testimony grew day by day, and she could not wait for her baptism day. Lilly was baptized on May 24, 2024. On the day of her baptism, she beamed with pure joy as she listened to her good friend Lilly Jones give a talk on baptism. In her talk, Lilly said she had a thought several months prior to pray for Lilly despite not having talked to her in several months (she is a few years older than Lilly). Her first three missionaries gave her a Book of Mormon with their testimonies written inside.
Attending the temple to do proxy baptisms was another exciting day for her! Along with doing a few baptisms and confirmations, she got to watch someone be baptized on behalf of her grandfather. She said her favorite part was sitting in the lobby of the temple afterwards and just feeling peaceful and happy to be there.
Conversion: “Denotes changing one’s views, in a conscious acceptance of the will of God… Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing.”¹
Whenever a story is told, or a piece of someone’s history is shared, it is important to reflect on the context of why it is being shared. For example, a parent might share a story of them being burned by a stove in the context of their children getting too close to a hot burner. A friend might share a fun memory from years ago in the context of the two of you reuniting and reminiscing after not seeing each other for a while. We have four different recorded accounts of Joseph Smith’s first vision, all with the same consistent story but with varying amounts of detail and depth due to the context of why and when he was sharing it.
I want to share my conversion with you. If you’ve served around me, you have probably already heard it before. However, whether you have heard it before or not, I share it in the context and hope that you too can know that God will succor and strengthen you through the “many trials and much testing” you will face on your path to true conversion.
I grew up in a mixed faith household. My mother was raised in the church and is still an active member. My father was raised Christian, joined the church, but overtime became Atheist. I can’t remember a Sunday where my father attended church with us, but my mother is a valiant woman and she took my sister and I every week to church on her own. She is an integral part of the reason I am on a mission and writing this conversion story.
At the age of six, I knew the Book of Mormon was true, and subsequently, I knew that I had a Heavenly Father who loved me. I had a very powerful experience with the Spirit after I prayed to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I like to say that it hit me like a bullet train. I went from kneeling down at the side of my bed, to crying because of the feeling the Spirit brought. Like Joseph Smith, from that moment on I felt I could say that “I had [felt the Spirit confirm the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon]; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.”²
At the age of 8, I desired to be baptized because of the truth I knew. However, my dad did not give me permission to be baptized. He felt that 8 years old was not old enough to make such a lasting decision. Due to that fact, church policy would not allow me to get baptized until I had the permission of both of my parents, or until I was an adult.
At this point in my story, most people like to ask me about my relationship with my father or with him and my mother. I would like to assure you I love my dad and he has been a wonderful parent to me. He and my mother also love each other and he has been supporting her through some health troubles she’s been facing recently. While he and I disagreed on me being baptized, you can see it from his perspective, He was just a parent trying to make the best decision for his child and not wanting to let me make any hasty life choices that I wasn’t prepared for or had a full understanding of yet.
However, my inability to be baptized did cause some heartache. It was very hard for me to understand at that age why all of my other friends could get baptized and I couldn’t. Same with the sacrament and the temple. It was really painful at some points to see all of my friends get to pass the sacrament while I just sat with my mom and sister. Or when we went on a youth temple trip, I remember everyone else going inside, while I stayed outside with my mom and helped clean the grounds. The young men’s leaders did their best and tried to include me, but sometimes I honestly just felt more excluded when they did. They let me sit with the other deacons before the sacrament was blessed, but it just reminded me that I couldn’t participate like they did when they all stood up and took a tray while I was left alone in the pew. There were times I would have to leave cousins’ baptismal services crying because I wanted to be in the font so badly getting baptized myself. I couldn’t understand why if it was a commandment and I wanted to do it, I couldn’t.
Luckily, I had my mom, really great friends, and some amazing bishops and youth leaders who supported me through the ten years I had to wait to be baptized. When things were hard, they helped me out and kept encouraging me forward. I could also feel God’s love empowering me too. I knew baptism was something He wanted me to do, so I waited. Eventually, I turned 17, and close to turning 18 I went through all of the missionary discussions in about 3 weeks, I had my baptismal interview by a missionary over zoom, and eventually was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, on my 18th birthday.
Almost all of my extended family on my mom’s side showed up, and my dad even supported me as much as he could by making lasagnas for everyone (my extended family is pretty big, so we needed a lot of lasagna). The circle for the confirmation to give me the gift of the Holy Ghost was probably 25 people big. It was one of the best days of my life.
If you had asked me if I was going to get baptized when I was 8, or 10, or 14, or 17, the answer at each age would have been a resounding yes each time. Before my baptism, despite the hardships, I had no doubt in my mind that someday I would be baptized a member of the church. However looking back I see so many scenarios where it might not have worked out the way it did. Maybe my mom stopped going to church because it was too hard to do it on her own, and so I stopped going too. Or maybe if my friends had moved away or I hadn’t had their support for some reason and I strayed off the path during middle school or high school. Or maybe if my leaders just saw an unbaptized youth and treated me differently than everyone else to the point where I didn’t want to join the church anymore. Any number of different things could have happened in the ten year time period from 8 to 18 where I could have lost my desire to be baptized, and yet those things didn’t happen.
As a noun WordWeb defines succor as “assistance in time of difficulty.” And as a verb it defines it as “help in a difficult situation.” Alma 7:11-12 says, “And [Christ] shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”
I’ve always interpreted that scripture to mean that Christ will empower us and help us through our trials by lending us His divine strength. And while that is true and I promise He will do that, I have come to realize that the Lord will succor us in more ways than that. He will provide family members to teach you and help you through the hardship. He will give you friends that will encourage you and help you maintain your standards. He will give you leaders to guide and support you. He will give you experiences with the Spirit that will strengthen your testimony to overcome the trial in front of you. And there are countless other ways He will succor you throughout your life. The Lord has succored me in many different ways throughout my trials, and without His help and other people being instruments in His hands, I don’t think I would have been able to make it to my baptism.
“And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.”³
I promise whether you are going through a trial right now, or one is awaiting in your future (because the trials will come), that the Lord is succoring you today, and He will continue to do so the rest of your life. He will be your “[H]elp in a difficult situation.” His succor will come in many different forms, because He “worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.”
Some of the ways He has helped will not even be realized until you look back after your trial has ended and you can more fully see where His hand was assisting you. He will never forget you. You are known and watched over by the Almighty God Himself. The most powerful being in the universe is supporting and strengthening you. If you ever feel weak or downtrodden, the Savior of the world himself said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”⁴ Trust in that promise from Him to you.
Elder Holland stated “I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”⁵ No difficult situation, caused by an outside force or by ourselves, will “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”⁶
You are and will be succored by Jesus Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. That is not a statement of belief, that is a statement of fact.
I testify to you that I know that my Savior and Redeemer lives. I have felt the succor He gives to me. I have been converted through my many trials and much testing to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and know that you can be converted too. I have felt His love and know that I have a Father in Heaven. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Christ’s church was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I will follow Jesus Christ for the rest of my life.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
¹ – Conversion definition, from the bible dictionary
Travis was baptized into the Baptist faith when he was 12 years old. At 17 years old, when he started falling away from God, he was kicked out of church instead of welcoming him in further to give him the support he needed to make his way back. He still believed in God but that experience hardened his heart towards church. It made it difficult for him to want to return to any church, and that seemed to get more difficult as time went on.
Lisa (his wife) and Travis met right before Covid. Lisa was praying before they met and she said, “If the next person isn’t the right person, then I’m done dating all together.” That’s exactly when God put Travis in her path.
Lisa is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but hadn’t gone to church in a long time. Travis knew she was a member but they didn’t talk much about her religion because Lisa didn’t want to push a church onto Travis.
Travis and Lisa
In 2023, Lisa and Travis started talking about church and wanting Jesus Christ back in their life. Lisa left the decision of which church to attend up to Travis. Nothing really came of it because it wasn’t at the top of his priority list at the time, but God didn’t give up and continued to work on his heart.
In the span of one week, Travis had many random people on the street come up to him talking to him about church, asking to pray for him or asking him to pray for them.
That same week, Travis got in a car accident. The driver in the other vehicle was a super nice guy. He got out and asked Travis if he had a church to go to. He said no and the stranger said he didn’t either so he asked if they could pray for each other to find a church. So they prayed. The next morning, Travis woke up and said “Ok Lisa let’s go to the Mormon church.”
Through those interactions with strangers on the street, his heart began to be softened. Their first Sunday in church, he met the missionaries. “My heart felt happy, I felt the spirit and that made me really want it more.”
The missionaries invited him to pray about getting baptized, so he did. His answer came in a way God knew he needed, a way that was unique to him. His grandpa had passed away in 2005, but growing up, he and his grandpa were really close. He would spend hours helping him on his farm, having heartfelt conversations while they were eating peaches in his truck. His grandpa means the world to him and God knew that.
The night he prayed about baptism he had a very powerful dream. In his dream, Travis’ grandpa was there and only said two words to him. “Move forward.” That was the answer Travis was looking for.
The missionaries explained faith to be an action word. Hearing that clicked for Travis and increased his desire to take action so he could further show his faith to God. He knew he needed to be baptized.
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Being baptized was a big decision he was making, so leading up to it, he prayed that he would be able to walk into his baptism on his own two feet and he’d be out of his cast. In his previous appointment, the doctor said he’d have a cast on for three more months so the chances were looking low, but his faith was high. His follow up appointment was two days before his baptism. They were shocked by the amount of progress his leg had made and said that he could have the cast off for his baptism. It was a huge miracle how fast his leg had healed, especially since they hadn’t seen much improvement since December. After he began to pray and turn back towards God, that’s where it all turned around. God answered his prayers and he was able to walk into the waters of baptism on his own two feet.
Throughout this whole process, Lisa had been praying for guidance on what to do and how to get Travis to church. The inspiration she received was to be quiet, which was out of her nature but she trusted God. Travis also expressed if he crossed paths with the missionaries any sooner, he would have turned them away. God’s timing is beautiful and He knew exactly what Travis needed. His heart needed time and it all fell into place right when he was ready.
Travis was baptized on June 22, 2024. He now has a drive to be surrounded with people and places where the spirit is present. He is so full of light and has a deep desire to help other people. A few things he’s looking forward to is getting a calling in the church and having the priesthood.
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Lisa has seen such a noticeable and happy change as he’s been filled immensely with the spirit. In turn, they have grown closer to each other and to God within their marriage.
There was another beautiful tender mercy. As Travis has been preparing to do baptisms in the temple, he discovered that someone had already done all of the temple work for his grandpa. The same grandpa that had been in his dream, encouraging him to “Move forward!”
One day I clicked on y’all’s church ad about a Bible verse and i said “Amen” to it! That small thing changed my life. Next thing you know, missionaries showed up at my door. They came in and talked to me about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and invited me to Church.
Ora Harris, Desiree Hoover, and Sister Harrison
I came to church and liked it, especially the sacrament. I’ve never been to a church that has sacrament every week!
I continued to meet with the missionaries and learned how to make covenants with God. I changed my life by overcoming some addictions and bad habbits. I feel a lot stronger and not as weak as i use to be in my faith. The missionaries asked me to be baptized and I said yes. I had to wait for my leg to heal a little before I got baptized.
Elder Akers, Elder Bonham, Sister Stephens, Ora Harris, and Sister Harrison
I was so excited when my baptism was coming up! I got baptized and confirmed on March 24, 2024, Palm Sunday, it was very special. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made it very special for me.
Sister Stephens, Ora Harris, and Sister Harrison
Then I told my friend Miss Pat about sacrament and invited her to my baptism and she came to church for her first time on my baptism day! She loved it! She was crying! She’s never celebrated a baptism the way we do it. Then I invited my daughter Desiree to church with me and she loved it. I am staying down the path of Jesus and preparing to go to the temple, the House of The Lord.
Ora Harris and Miss Pat
Desiree Hoover
My name is Desiree Hoover. I was angry at God because I thought He took my baby girl Scarlett from me. The missionaries was meetin with momma. And I was closed off and disconnected from God. So I wasn’t interested in meetin with them.
Then one day they asked to say a prayer with me. And I did. Then they were very persistent. And I eventually started to sit in on momma’s lessons. Then I started takin momma to church. And started goin to church for myself. And continued lessons with the missionaries.
Then i decided I wanted to get baptized! But I had to wait for momma to get out of the hospital because she had a fall. I wanted her there and Miss Pat. I got baptized and confirmed with the Holy Ghost on June 15, 2024. Momma and Miss Pat both got to come to my baptism!! It was very special!
Sister Condie and Sister Wall helping Desiree in the font.
I love sunflowers and Sister Condie & Sister Wall bought me sunflowers and paydays. Because when I was pregnant with Scarlett I loved paydays! They made it very special and I will never forget it. I am now preparing to go to the temple with my momma.
Barlows in TKM 