JayLynn E. Loves: Sparks

TRANSFERS!

So another transfer has passed and I have received a NEW ASSIGNMENT!! I will be getting transferred out of Sparks and will be opening up a new Sisters area in RENO! I AM SO EXCITED! Sparks has been real and I will forever remember my experiences and things that I've learn. I have grown to really love the people in this area so its going to be hard to leave. But the Elders will do good here!

My new companion will be coming in from the MTC in Provo. I will find out who she is when she arrives from the airport tomorrow! We will be serving in the Galena and Demonte Ranch Wards!!! I am excited to train again!! And to finally get to serve in the mission's Capital!

This passed transfer has been hard but I am excited to start fresh in a new area with a new companion and to work harder than I ever have! Its gonna be great! I don't have much time left so I refuse to waste a second of it!

Other than receiving my new assignment, This week was great. Sister Loftice and I met a lot of interesting people. Got yelled at a couple of times and was told we needed to rethink our lives. But it was still a good week and we saw cool miracles.

We met with a woman named Tina who is a less active member. Earlier that day Tina was going through a hard time and wished for the missionaries to stop by. And then we came knocking on her door. It was cool and we were able to visit with her and show her a video about Jesus Christ. We talked about how we can be strengthened as we turn to God.

Angela

We met Angela last week and we we able to meet with her again yesterday. She had lots of questions for us. She mentioned that she is gay and asked what we thought about that. We taught how God is a loving Heavenly Father who loves us all equal and that he taught us to do the same. We also taught the importance of a marriage between man and woman and the importance of our purpose here on earth. It was kinda scary to teach because we weren't sure how she would react. But she took it well. She asked why bad things happen to good people which we have yet to answer because we got distracted talking about other things. But Angela is awesome and truly wants to find the answers to her questions.

Well its been fun here in Sparks. I just got here but I know that I have work to do in Reno!

Thanks everyone for all your love and support! Until next week!

Sister Tupuola

here's my new address

1001 South Meadows Parkway #313

Reno, Nevada 89521

Hello family!

Can you believe it's already NOVEMBER! crazy! This week has been great! Halloween was fun and we got tons of candy! We had to be in our apartment by 6pm so we just planned for the upcoming week. Its week #6 of the transfer! My companion will be going home next week so we will see who the lucky one is to be my next companion! I am super excited!

We had a zone activity with all the missionaries in Sparks. We went to the Andelin Family Farm and carved pumpkins and played kickball! It was a blast!

We also went on another exchange! Sister Cook got to spend the day with me in my area while Sister Loftice went with Sister Talbot in the YSA ward. But we had so much fun getting to know each other. We were able to talk to so many people it was crazy!

MITKA

Sister Cook and I were walking when we saw an older man outside his home. So we go up to him and start talking to him asking if he needed any help. He said no but thanked us for asking. We talked to him for a while just getting to know him. Turns out, He is a Holocaust Survivor. He is originally from Poland until he was captured when he was 6 years old. He was then sent to 5 different concentration camps and witnessed his mother get burned alive. He also served 7 years as a slave for a Nazi soldier. He told us to look out for his book that he wrote and gave us his card that has a link to more of his stories (www.mitka.life). It was the coolest thing to hear him talk about his experiences because the Holocaust was my favorite thing to study in school! He was so nice and invited us to come back!

Mohammed

We met a man named Mohammed who is Muslim as we were walking. He stopped us to ask us some questions. He thought we were Jehovah Witnesses. We talked for a while and he said he would like to check out our church someday to see how its like. We gave him all the information about when and where our church is. He asked for a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets that he could read. He ended up giving us his address and so we sent the Elders in that area over! He was nice! It was a miracle!

Angela

Sister Cook and I saw on our records that Angela has talked with missionaries before. So we decided to visit her. We go there and she was actually really excited to see us! She mentioned how the Elders went by one day and then never went back and she always wondered what happened to them. We talked with her for a while and then scheduled another time to go by teach her!

Billie

We got a referral from Church Headquarters saying that a woman named Billie wanted a Book of Mormon. So we go over there to deliver it to her. She thanked us and said for us to come back in a month or so after she reads the book. It was cool. People are definitely being prepared!

I am out of time! But this week was fun! We also got chased by crazy man. (long story so you guys will just have to wait 3 months for when I get home.) But the good thing is...We are still alive!!!

Well I hope you guys have a great week! until next time!

the church is trueeee!

Love Sister Tupuola!

Andelin Family Farm Pumpkin patch

Sister Toyosato from Okinawa, Japan! She is so funny.

The Zombie Paintball bus!

Our district. Sister Price, Sister Para, me, Sister Loftice, Elder Hansen (district leader) and Elder McCullough

We did some service and helped Gentri move into the area!

We just thought this was funny. we were walking in our area and had to take a pic. lol

Sparks Zone Conference 10/25/2018

Sister Loftice and I at our ward Trunk or treat. This one was the winner for best trunk. haha

Hello Family!

Its been another great week here in Sparks, Nevada! I am doing so good and enjoying the beautiful fall weather! We had Zone Conference this week and it was so good seeing other missionaries especially my previous companions. We learned a lot about aligning our perspective with Gods. We also were taught how to be more united with our companions. It was good.

We also went on another exchange with the Vintage Hills Sisters, Sister Para and Sister Price! I spent the day with Sister Price in her area! It was lots of fun.

We met a guy named Paul and his family at the park. We found out that they are going through a really hard time and just lost their home so they were just all hanging out at the park. Hearing about their struggles made me sad but it made me even more excited to share the gospel with them, because I know that it can really help them! We asked if we could share something with them and they said yes! So we opened up to Alma 38:5 and read it with them. its says" that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

We talked how God is our loving Heavenly Father. Why God gives us trials and how they strengthen us, and we testified of how this Gospel can help them have more peace and happiness thru their hard times. It was a cool experience. Paul said he believes in a higher power and we testified to him that there is! That there is a God and that he loves us and wants to help us. Paul cried. We left their family with several copies of the Book of Mormon and invited them read it together. That it contains the fulness of the Gospel and that it can change their lives. We also invited them to come to our ward Trunk or treat/dinner. They thanked us for our message and we left them with a prayer. Its crazy how God led us to them that day! They really needed it!

Michelle

We decided to go visit a less active member named Michelle. We went to her home and she was really nice and let us in. She was covered in Tattoos from her neck all the way down to her toes. It was kinda cool. But she said she's been struggling and has been trying to turn to God for help. (We came at the perfect time) but we read a bunch of scriptures with her and prayed with her. She said that she really needed our visit and will be coming back to church!

Well dangit, Im out of time but this week was great! I am grateful for this chance that I have to serve a mission, and to be able to bring others closer to Jesus Christ. I know that he Lives and this is His church. thanks everyone for your love and support!

Until next week!

Treats from Sister Debby Downs Wanlass in the Stake

Hello Family!

I hope y'all had a great week! Missionary life in Nevada is going good! Here's some of the things that went down this week!

Paul

We were given a referral from a lady in our ward to visit a inactive member named Paul. His wife passed away last week and he has been looking for answers. We went and visited him and shared a little bit about the peace and hope that comes from Gods Plan of Salvation. He cried and thanked us for our visit. We brought Brother Allen form our ward who was able to give Paul a Priesthood blessing of comfort. It was a cool experience and it grew my testimony ever more about Gods plan for us. The spirit was strong and it was almost as if his wife was standing right there in the room! He said he'd think about coming back to church!

Luce

The Temple Square missionaries gave us a referral to visit a woman named Luce, who requested a Book of Mormon. So after church we went by to drop it off and we had a great visit with Luce and her family who are Tongan. The parents actually used to go to the Tongan ward but they don't like the Tongans there. They told us they would like to come back to church but they will go to the Palagi ward instead. which is our ward (El Rancho). They were super nice and told us to come back anytime.

Sadie

We knocked on a door looking for a Bryan who is inactive member but we found out that he moved. The lady who lives there now was really nice. She was covered in tattoos and mentioned that she actually grew up in the church. She told us her story of how she became inactive. She wasn't interested in coming back to church but said we could come back any time to visit.

Exchanges with Sister Talbot!

I had the opportunity to spend the day with Sister Talbot who serves in the Sparks YSA ward with Sister Cook. Sister Talbot is from Ogden, Utah and has been serving her mission for 6 months. She spent the day with me in my area and we saw tons of miracles! here are some of them!

Frank

Our goal for the exchange was to talk to everyone and so we did! We were walking down a neighborhood when we saw a man sitting in his car with the window rolled down. So we go over and talk to him. He was really nice and said he is from Sacramento, CA but is in Sparks for work. He said he knows a lot of members from our church. He is not religious but spiritual. We ended up teaching the whole message of the Restoration, testified of Gods love for him and how the gospel can bless our lives. We showed him a video about the Restoration and he said it was powerful. We left him with a Book of Mormon and a prayer. He gave us his number and said he would like to learn more!

Stop the Car

We just got out of our dinner appointment with the Handlon family and we start to drive to the next area that we planned to be in. All of a sudden Sister Talbot says, "Stop of car! We need to talk to those ladys over there!" So I park the car and we run out to track them down. We introduced ourselves and talked to them for a while. They both weren't interested but thats okay because we planted the seed!

Bus stop

We see a man at the bus stop so we go over to talk to him. We asked him how he was doing and where he was off to. He said that he was on his way to go meet Jesus and then he starts laughing nonstop. He was crazy so we just walked away lol

No ones home!

We decided to try a potential person on our records named Omar. We go over and knock on the door. He opens the door and yells, "NO ONES HOME" then slams the door. haha it was kinda funny.

Aurora

We were walking down the street when we saw a door that had a small picture of Christ on it. We felt prompted to knock on the door so we did. an older woman in her 70s opened the door. She is from the phillipines and was in the middle of cooking. She was super nice and asked us to come back on Friday! So that was a cool miracle!

Luciano

We saw a man sitting on his porch so we go up to him and introduce ourselves. He knew who we were and said he loves God and loves what we do. We asked him if we could sing a song to him and he said yes! So we sing I am a child of God (Sister Talbots idea haha). We talked to him for about an hour and taught him the Restoration about how Christs church that he established on the earth is back! He enjoyed our visit and we scheduled a time to come back to share more on Sunday! it was great!

Hi family!

I am doing good and I'm loving my new area. Here are some of the things we did..

Pat

Pat is a 79 year old woman who we are teaching. she grew up Presbyterian and loves to have the missionaries over to talk about God. She is so funny. She talked the whole time about how she has 2 boyfriends who are currently fighting over her lol it was funny.

Drina

Our appointment with a less active member fell through but as we were walking to our car we met a woman named Drina who is actually a potential we have been trying to get a hold of. She has 3 little girls who she loves more than anything in the world. She likes how our church focuses on the family and she invited us over to come share more about our faith! We are excited for our lesson tonight!

We did some service for the Food Bank with the Tongan ward elders up in Sun Valley.(home of the worlds biggest trailer park) It was really fun. We just helped pass out food to people.

Howard

Howard is a less active man who the missionaries have been teaching. He is 80 and he is a convert but doesn't attend church due to a lot of health problems. We went to his home and sat on his porch as we listened to Russell M Nelson's talk about the Book of Mormon given in the Oct 2017 General Conference and he loved it and said it was powerful! We talked about the following questions, What would your life be without the Book of Mormon? What would we not know? What would we not have? Howard shared how if he didn't have the Book of Mormon, He would be dead because He would have kept drinking and doing drugs. He said how the Book Of Mormon helped him quit those things. It was cool to hear his testimony.

A Witness and a Warning

I was given a book from my last Mission President, President Chesnut called, A Witness and a Warning written by Ezra Taft Benson. I just finished it and it was so good and powerful! It mainly talks about the importance of the Book of Mormon but it has grown my testimony of it. He talks about how we are meeting the adversary every day. The challenges of this era will rival any of the past, and those challenges will increase both spiritually and temporally. We must be close to Christ. We must daily take his name upon us, always remember Him and keep His commandments. I am excited for the Prophets invitation to read the Book of Mormon by the beginning of next year! I love the book of Mormon so much!

Joy the Crazy lady.

Okay never again. We go to visit a woman named Joy (less active) and the second she let us into her RV home, she did not shut up for 2 hours straight. I was getting frustrated because she wouldn't let us talk. We didn't even get to introduce ourselves. She told us her whole life story and named all the people she hates in our ward and why. We actually just had to get up and start walking towards the door. She was crazy.

Flood

Sister Loftice and I were doing companionship study when all of a sudden we hear a knock at our door. We open the door the find a woman who was huffing and puffing. She asked if we had a key to the Sister missionaries apartment downstairs. She said that there is water gushing out of the walls coming from their apartment. We didn't have a key but broke in using a card. and when we opened the door, there was water everywhere! It was all coming from their washer machine. We called them to come home and we all helped sweep all the water out to the street. It didn't destroy much which was a miracle. Some nice construction workers across the street let us use their water vac which helped a lot. But that was interesting!

all of the set of missionaries in Sparks are dealing with bedbugs in their apartments which have been spreading around the area. luckily, we don't have them! well yet if anything so pray for us!

Well that's all for this week, sorry I didn't take any pics but I will this week! I hope y'all have a great day! love ya!

Sister Tupuola