Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been wonderful! It has been very busy. We had seven meals provided for us last week which was a blessing. I don't know what it is but people must know I love strawberries because we had 5 cartons of them by the end of the week. They were delicious. It is strawberry season here. Yes, this means that is warm here.
We had 70-80 degree weather this week! It was beautiful!
Last Monday for P-day we went to the Circus Museum here in Sarasota. They actually have two museums and John Ringlings Mansion that you can tour. The one museum was a miniture circus. Everything was 3-4 inches tall. It was incredible detailed. It was just like going to the circu except for a little bit less movement. It was really cool to see though.
My companion and I have been praying for new people to start teaching. It is awesome how God answers prayers. On Tuesday we were helping a member move into her new house. A man came to the door with her persciptions and I ended up teaching part of the first lesson and giving him a Book of Mormon. It was a really neat experience. I am so glad I have a good testimony to share with people.
We also had a great experience of finding on Friday as well. We have a standing appointment with a Spanish family on Friday nights. The girlfriend is a member but her boyfriend is not. They have a four year old and a 18 month old child. They always fix us the best food. My favorite is something called sopas. It is thick tortilla's pilled with beans and cheese. They are amazing. This Friday we decided to make them food. So we made them lazagna. I had never done this before because my mom is allergic to tomatos. The lazagna turned out amazing!
Anyways, when we went to our appointment the girlfriends sister was there. She is also a member. She talked to us about her live in boyfriend. She said that he doesn't really believe their is a God, but he doesn't want to talk about religion with others. We told her that her and her boyfriend should stay for dinner and we would soften him before we talked about God. He soon came in from outside and started asking us questions about God. He has all the right questions and he is really searching. So we taught him and he still wants to learn more. The spirit is what taught him and he wants to meet with us as often as possible. By the end of the time teahing him he was believing that there is a God. It is a small step but one in the right direction!
Well, I love you all. Have a good week! Thanks to all the support you give me!
Love
Sister Comte
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
March 16th Email
Dear Family and Friends,
What a glorious week it has been!!! Life is good when you are serving the Lord. Good things are happening in Sarasota, Florida! This week a man by the name of Dave Deyoe was baptized. His wife is a member and we have only been teaching him for about 2 months. He loves the church and will do whatever it takes to live it. I know that he will be a strong priesthood holder! The baptism was small but the spirit was really strong. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and when I stood up to give it the whole thing changed. I just felt I should shard something else so I did. I turned out well though! This couple is really looking forward to being sealed in the temple in a year. Everyone at church loves the Deyoe’s. It is awesome to have a ward that will support recent converts. We spent a lot of time with them this week. We had fun watching Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. They liked it themselves!
This week was Zone Conference. We talked a lot about fierce finding and prayer. A lot of this work is praying like it all depends on God and then working as though it all depends on you! With God this work is easy and fun. I love this work and can’t wait to teach others about what I know. I think that some of the most sacred experiences are when people want to go to the temple. This gospel brings so many blessings to us. If each of us could fully grasp the eternal perspective of this life we would be so much better off. It is all about eternal life!!!
On Thursday we went and visited with a lady in our ward that I had an automatic connection with. We have been trying to see her for awhile and we finally did get over to her house. She is the sweetest lady and is going through kindof a hard time. Her husband is somewhat of an inactive member. But this lady is strong and continues to bring her three children to church even if he won’t come. This is hard but she knows it is the right thing to do. She talked to us a lot about giving up our fears and filling our lives with love. That is how she lives everyday! Not in fear but in love!
On Friday night we had a really fun ward activity. We had a fund raiser for girl’s camp. We had a spaghetti dinner and a desert auction. The spaghetti was really good but the best part was the auction. Sister Stewart and I had made truffles that looked liked missionary tags. But after they were made we tried some of the other truffles we had made and they were disgusting. We were embarrassed to take them but we did. They sold for 20 dollars. A lot of people were generous. A man in our ward that couldn’t be there gave me a hundred dollars that was to be spent. I had a lot of fun auctioning for him. Another person gave us 35 dollars for caramels. But the caramels went for $50. So we got him something else. It was fun to be with our ward family!
After the baptism yesterday, we went to a fireside. David Osmond spoke about overcoming adversity. He is related to the original Osmond’s. His dad is Alan. He has a really neat story about having MS and still finding joy. He told us that “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” It is all is the way we look at things. He has an amazing voice and he sang a little bit for us. He is a really neat guy. He quoted from the Wizard of Oz something that I thought was really profound. At the end of the movie, when the wicked witch is melting, she says to Dorothy “ Who would have thought that a sweet little girl like you could destroy all my beautiful wickedness.” We can all destroy Satan but we have to continue to press forward in the cause of righteousness.
I love you all so much and hope that you will take the things I write to heart. Thank you for the continued support. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love
Sister Comte
What a glorious week it has been!!! Life is good when you are serving the Lord. Good things are happening in Sarasota, Florida! This week a man by the name of Dave Deyoe was baptized. His wife is a member and we have only been teaching him for about 2 months. He loves the church and will do whatever it takes to live it. I know that he will be a strong priesthood holder! The baptism was small but the spirit was really strong. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and when I stood up to give it the whole thing changed. I just felt I should shard something else so I did. I turned out well though! This couple is really looking forward to being sealed in the temple in a year. Everyone at church loves the Deyoe’s. It is awesome to have a ward that will support recent converts. We spent a lot of time with them this week. We had fun watching Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. They liked it themselves!
This week was Zone Conference. We talked a lot about fierce finding and prayer. A lot of this work is praying like it all depends on God and then working as though it all depends on you! With God this work is easy and fun. I love this work and can’t wait to teach others about what I know. I think that some of the most sacred experiences are when people want to go to the temple. This gospel brings so many blessings to us. If each of us could fully grasp the eternal perspective of this life we would be so much better off. It is all about eternal life!!!
On Thursday we went and visited with a lady in our ward that I had an automatic connection with. We have been trying to see her for awhile and we finally did get over to her house. She is the sweetest lady and is going through kindof a hard time. Her husband is somewhat of an inactive member. But this lady is strong and continues to bring her three children to church even if he won’t come. This is hard but she knows it is the right thing to do. She talked to us a lot about giving up our fears and filling our lives with love. That is how she lives everyday! Not in fear but in love!
On Friday night we had a really fun ward activity. We had a fund raiser for girl’s camp. We had a spaghetti dinner and a desert auction. The spaghetti was really good but the best part was the auction. Sister Stewart and I had made truffles that looked liked missionary tags. But after they were made we tried some of the other truffles we had made and they were disgusting. We were embarrassed to take them but we did. They sold for 20 dollars. A lot of people were generous. A man in our ward that couldn’t be there gave me a hundred dollars that was to be spent. I had a lot of fun auctioning for him. Another person gave us 35 dollars for caramels. But the caramels went for $50. So we got him something else. It was fun to be with our ward family!
After the baptism yesterday, we went to a fireside. David Osmond spoke about overcoming adversity. He is related to the original Osmond’s. His dad is Alan. He has a really neat story about having MS and still finding joy. He told us that “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” It is all is the way we look at things. He has an amazing voice and he sang a little bit for us. He is a really neat guy. He quoted from the Wizard of Oz something that I thought was really profound. At the end of the movie, when the wicked witch is melting, she says to Dorothy “ Who would have thought that a sweet little girl like you could destroy all my beautiful wickedness.” We can all destroy Satan but we have to continue to press forward in the cause of righteousness.
I love you all so much and hope that you will take the things I write to heart. Thank you for the continued support. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love
Sister Comte
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
March 9th Email
Dear Family and Friends
I don’t know where the time has gone this morning and I hope I have enough to write all that I want to say! This week has been wonderful! On Tuesday during studies someone knocked on our door. This never happens unless we are expecting it. The man that knocked was selling prepaid legal and once we told him who we were he told us that we probably weren’t interested. But we did talk to him about the gospel. He said he would come to church and we are hoping to start teaching him!
We are working with a wonderful family right now, the Deyoe’s. The wife, Sherree, is a member but her husband, Dave is not. Dave is getting baptized next Sunday! Sherree has four kids that she has adopted, three of which live with her. The 14 and 15 year old are really neat. We have been trying to teach them for weeks. The 15 year old, Mary, wants to go to girl’s camp. The ward has really pulled together and welcomed them in. We had a break through this week because of the ward. The 14 year old came to mutual and wants to come again. This family is great and it is wonderful to see them embrace the gospel. We talked about temples last night and how they can be sealed for all eternity in a year. This is one of their goals now! It was exciting because they stayed for all three hours!!!
Just because I am on my mission doesn’t mean I don’t get to play with children anymore. I know that God has given me many opportunities to teach and play with kids here on my mission. This last week I made missionary tags for some kids in our ward. Their dad is our ward mission leader. They have some really cute kids. I am attaching pictures so that you can see them with their tags! I still love the children!
On Tuesday night a lady from our ward died. Her name was Crystal She was 45 but was suffering from many health problems. She was in a wheelchair and had a trach (don’t know how to spell it.) She was very sick and her living conditions were horrible. She was the only member of her family and was inactive for many years. It was just in the last 6 months that she decided to come back to church. She died at the spiritual high of her life. Her family though had a hard time with it. The funeral went well though. It was interesting because some didn’t agree to what was being said by the bishop and others from the ward. This lady could do here on earth what she wanted most to do. What she wanted most was to sing and dance. A lady from the ward was teaching her sign language and at the funeral signed a song for the lady that passed. I know that Crystal is singing and dancing in paradise today. What a comforting thought! I hope I go at my spiritually high point. Sister Stewart and I sang “Each Live that Touches Ours for Good.” It turned out really nice. It was a great missionary tool because it sparked people’s interest and we talked to a few people that want to know more about the gospel!
We had a baptism yesterday. A young boy by the name of Bryce was baptized. He is 12 and he loves the church. His dad is a member and so is his grandma. It was a great baptism with lots of people there. The spirit was really strong. The family, his dad, grandma, aunts and uncles, have been inactive for years but most are coming back now. It is awesome to see this family progress. Bryce wants to share the gospel with everyone he sees. He asked if we could come swimming next weekend with him and his friends We had to let him know we can’t go swimming so he decided that we could just come and sit by the pool!! HAHA
We had a wonderful training this week on prayer. I fully believe in the power in prayer! Someone said this “The most important appointment of the week is the one spent on your knees.” We must first spiritually create our day and then physically do it! We do something here on our missions called a mighty prayer of faith. We express gratitude and are very specific about those we are praying for. I encourage all of you to prayer whenever and wherever you can. I promise you that you life’s will be better. I know they will improve!
Thank you so much for all you do. I love you so much!! I continually pray for you all. I know that my Savior lives and the He love us! Keep on praying!!!
Love
Sister Comte
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
March 2nd Email
Dear Family and Friends
Its time for you favorite email of the week! I love this work so much. I think it is so much fun. It brings others a lot of happiness but it brings a lot of happiness to mine as well. The things people say to you are so funny. You never know what people are going to say to you. It brings me great joy to meet others and hear about their life stories.
This week has gone by so fast. We are now at the start of a new transfer. Sister Stewart and I are both staying together. We are really excited about it. The work is going really well and we are teaching a lot. Time flies when we are so busy. The last six weeks have escaped us and we are starting another cycle! It is crazy how fast time goes!
Yesterday was Fast Sunday and it was a pretty normal day. Nobody said anything weird. Some lady said that her mother had had an emergency this week. Her daughter has had seizures her whole life and when anything happened she would say “Make the safe call.” She meant by that to call someone in the church because they were always willing to help. Of course, if it is a medical emergency than you need to call the ambulance. But she likened this to spiritual emergencies in our lives. When we are going through trials, make the safe call to our Heavenly Father. He will always be there for us.
We are teaching a really neat family right now. The wife is a member and her husband is taking the discussions. They are like our parents. They are always watching out for us. The wife has adopted four children and has two of her own. The husband has no children but takes care of his wives. All the children are older, the youngest is 14 and they have a 15 year old as well. They are really cool. We hope to get them involved in Mutual. The kids want too especially the 15 year old. We taught Dave, the husband, about the Word of Wisdom this week. He was very accepting of it. He wants to be a member and has felt the spirit. It is really neat to see this family come together! I love seeing the beginnings of an eternal family!!
I love you all. I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord. He has blessed me in do many ways. It is because of him that I am who I am today! My companion and I have started a new thing where we sing to end each lesson. This brings the spirit into the end of the lesson that we will leave with them. It is the spirit that has a big job, not us!
Love
Sister Comte
Its time for you favorite email of the week! I love this work so much. I think it is so much fun. It brings others a lot of happiness but it brings a lot of happiness to mine as well. The things people say to you are so funny. You never know what people are going to say to you. It brings me great joy to meet others and hear about their life stories.
This week has gone by so fast. We are now at the start of a new transfer. Sister Stewart and I are both staying together. We are really excited about it. The work is going really well and we are teaching a lot. Time flies when we are so busy. The last six weeks have escaped us and we are starting another cycle! It is crazy how fast time goes!
Yesterday was Fast Sunday and it was a pretty normal day. Nobody said anything weird. Some lady said that her mother had had an emergency this week. Her daughter has had seizures her whole life and when anything happened she would say “Make the safe call.” She meant by that to call someone in the church because they were always willing to help. Of course, if it is a medical emergency than you need to call the ambulance. But she likened this to spiritual emergencies in our lives. When we are going through trials, make the safe call to our Heavenly Father. He will always be there for us.
We are teaching a really neat family right now. The wife is a member and her husband is taking the discussions. They are like our parents. They are always watching out for us. The wife has adopted four children and has two of her own. The husband has no children but takes care of his wives. All the children are older, the youngest is 14 and they have a 15 year old as well. They are really cool. We hope to get them involved in Mutual. The kids want too especially the 15 year old. We taught Dave, the husband, about the Word of Wisdom this week. He was very accepting of it. He wants to be a member and has felt the spirit. It is really neat to see this family come together! I love seeing the beginnings of an eternal family!!
I love you all. I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord. He has blessed me in do many ways. It is because of him that I am who I am today! My companion and I have started a new thing where we sing to end each lesson. This brings the spirit into the end of the lesson that we will leave with them. It is the spirit that has a big job, not us!
Love
Sister Comte
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
