W. Brett Graham and his wife, Sara Pingree Graham, have been called by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve as mission leaders of the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. They will serve for three consecutive years. The Grahams succeed President and Sister David and Kristen Pickett, who served from July 2017 through June 2020. Mission presidents are not salaried.
At the time of his call, President Graham was a Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Leavitt Partners, LLC, a healthcare-focused strategy and investment firm in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He was also serving on the Holladay City Council. President Graham holds a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and a master’s in public administration and a bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Utah. At age 19, he served a two-year volunteer mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the California Anaheim Mission.
Sister Graham holds a master’s degree in educational psychology with an emphasis in autism. She has been working at home, raising their three sons and two daughters, who range in age from 13 to 23 years old. Their two oldest boys both served missions and are attending college, one at Brigham Young University and the other at the University of Utah. The three youngest, a senior and sophomore in high school, and an 8th grader, are still at home. Sister and President Graham see value in their life experiences and education to assist and support the 200+ missionaries for whom they are responsible.
The Grahams moved their family to Knoxville on June 29. When asked if the move and calling has been a hard sacrifice for their family, they responded, “We know some life experiences may appear to be a sacrifice, but they become one of life’s greatest blessings. When you commit your time and energy to serving The Lord, you feel incomparable joy. This is a calling from The Lord, and we consider our move to Knoxville a tremendous blessing for our family. We’re happy to be here and appreciate the warm welcome we’ve received.”
Missionaries in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission serve in communities throughout East Tennessee including Knoxville, Chattanooga, Cookeville, Kingsport, and Asheville, NC, with 61 congregations and more than 25,000 Latter-day Saints living in the mission boundaries. The Chattanooga metro area has 12 congregations. Total Church membership is over 16 million with more than 52,000 missionaries, mostly between the ages of 18-25, serving in about 407 missions throughout the world. Prior to the global outbreak of COVD-19, about 68,000 missionaries were serving full-time.
“Our missionaries are humble servants of The Lord, volunteers, who serve at their own expense, to share the message of God’s love for all people. They leave their family and friends to focus full-time on teaching about the hope found through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice,” President Graham said. “Our missionaries also actively engage in community service, and we truly appreciate the kindness shown them. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, our missionaries are no longer knocking on doors but are using smartphones, social media and other technology to reach out to the community. As Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, we invite all ‘to come and help, come and see, and come and belong.’”