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.
Ashton actually found the missionaries. Elder Tolman and Elder Woodward were walking down his street and Ashton yelled out, “Are yall church people?” He asked if it would be okay if he came to church with them.
Ashton really wanted to go to church along with all his siblings. He went to a sacrament meeting on Mother’s Day with his mom which really got Ashton excited and motivated to come to church.
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After talking with the missionaries, Ashton really wanted to be baptized because he wanted to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, get closer to God, and to get to heaven. Ashton always had the best questions for the topics we were discussing. He liked having the missionaries over because it felt good to talk to them and when he read the Book of Mormon he felt like he was being changed. His favorite part of the Book of Mormon was learning the ten commandments from Abinadi. He loves to recite all ten in order.
Ashton was baptized on June 30, 2024. Now that he is baptized he feels a greater change and a closer connection to God. He is now looking forward to following all the commandments, passing the sacrament, and going to the temple.
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.
Celia is the most willing and humble disciple of Jesus Christ. She was found by the missionaries knocking on her door! She immediately pulled out chairs for the missionaires to sit down and teach her. Celia was eager to learn more and it has been so clear to see how the Lord has been preparing Celia for a long time to receive this message of the restored gospel.
Ever since that moment she has been consistently meeting with missionaries. She has been through many hardships but has unfailing trust in our Savior.
When the missionaries extended the invitation for her to be baptized she quickly accepted. Many miracles occured in order to make her baptism happen. The first being that she always had work on Sundays, but the second she made the commitment to be baptized, her boss agreed to give her Sundays off.
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Another miracle is that she speaks a Mexican dialect called Mixteco that is not widely spoken. Spanish is her second language and it’s sometimes hard for her to understand Spanish. However, two recent converts of just a few months also happen to speak this rare dialect. They played a crucial role in her progress towards baptism and her understanding of the gospel. One of them was also able to baptize her.
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Celia was baptized and confirmed on September 8th 2024. She was feeling sick the week leading up to her baptism, but she said that the second she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost she felt completely better. She has continually expressed that since receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost she has felt God at her side.
Celia is continuing to learn and grow and is also helping her family learn more about the gospel as well. We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for Celia in the future!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Barlows in TKM 