fiction – Barlows in TKM

The missionaries had been knocking doors in Greeneville when they met Nathan., That day, they taught him about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration. Nathan said it all made sense to him logically and recognized the Holy Ghost was bearing witness of truth. He said he continued to feel the Spirit every time he read the Book of Mormon, especially the book of Alma! As he learned, it was like he was going through the first of many new awakenings he would experience in his life!. There were also many miracles that showed Nathan that God was still there, and not giving up on him.

When the missionaries first asked Nathan to be baptized, he felt ready and excited to have that experience. However, there were things that prevented him from achieving this goal right away. Nathan relied greatly on his daughter Addy’s faith. He knew that this would be the best choice not only for him, but for his daughter’s future as well. He wants her to have a good life, and so he held tightly to the teachings of the Book of Mormon, his hope for the future, and the support of the members of the Greeneville Ward.

After exercising faith unto repentance, Nathan was baptized on May 31, 2025 and confirmed the following Sunday. He said he was so surprised at how happy he felt, he nearly cried. “He had finally been able to do this good thing the right way, as he put it. “I knew I was finally doing the right thing in the right way!”

Going to the temple was another incredible step for Nathan. He felt it was yet another awakening for him, and said it was a beautiful experience. He was so humbled to have been able to enter the House of the Lord. He truly felt that his ancestors were happier now that he knows the truth, and has been “saved for real.”

Nathan loves his church family in the Greeneville Ward and knows that they are always here for him if he ever needs them. He knows that in the struggles of life, he doesn’t need to fear because his church family and God will always be there for him.

When asked how he felt about the covenant path before him, Nathan simply said, “Rock ‘n Roll”!

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!”

*Sister Nielson, Sister Wittwer, Lilly Rodriguez, Sister Gabbitas*

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.

#TKMTenderMercies

Tag: fiction

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Nathan

Tender Mercies in the TKM: Lilly