Jessie and Hermana Miller - December 2010

The Christmas ornament Jessie refers to in her email

Email received 12/15/10

        Thank you so much for the perfect ornament I love it!!! And i am glad you’re not sending it cuz I would lose it lol.... and yes that is the exact same Hermana Miller who is my trainer. (Hermana Miller also has a blog.   You can find it at:  http://hermanamiller.blogspot.com/   She is Jessie’s first companion in Puerto Rico.)   She is from Buffalo, New York, but her parents are now in Utah. She is 6 ft, so we probably look a tad bit funny together, but its cool. So hmmmm so much to tell you let's see if I can remember it all. Sorry last time the only time I had was to write the email after that I had no other time to write to anyone else. Also you’re not going to like me, so I asked the ccm president if I could have special permission for emailing the pic and he said no, then I went to walgreens when I arrived here and my card wasn't working at the machine, and then today I forgot to bring my cord, to download and email it to you. Sorry so today we are going to walgreens and I'm going to try again and send you my mission pic.... its not great, but it will work, I will give you a few to choose from hopefully its not to late. (I asked for a photo for the family Christmas letter)   ………………….

I am in the city of San Juan, in Guaynabo you can check it on a map, definitely not the best looking place lol.... the people are very kind though. It's challenging because they say they have faith, believe, and obedient, but they don't show it. So that is something Hermana Miller and I are trying to figure out (so) that (we) can help these people take action! That is one thing the Puerto Rican people do not like to show action, they all believe it’s the heart, they tend to me lazy and somewhat stubborn (extremely kind-hearted and sweet spirit's).... so that is our goal with the people we teach. Our goal in the mission is to recruit the menos activos- less actives because there are so many, so we don't really have investigators cuz we're just trying to get the already members back. It's really sad because there are about 16,000 members of the church on this island, but only 3,000 are actually active INSANE eh.... so that is our job. Also crazy thing so once Hermana Miller leaves in April, I'm the person to be in charge of this area cuz I'm going to have to stay here for at least 3 transfers. 1 transfer= 6 weeks…………………. And its interesting cuz everyone raved about how beautiful pr is, but it's not that pretty and that could be cuz I live in a city.  The houses here are interesting very retro, and they all have bars so we have to yell to see if someone is home. Also our place is interesting. I'm starting to get used to it and not mind it as much, but it’s very petite... I don't know if I wrote in my last letter, but we can't flush TP so we have to throw our tp after using it and I thought it would be so awful and smelly, but it’s honestly not as bad when you get used to it.

    So Spanish has been very stressful for me, cuz I feel like I am getting worse, other missionaries think I'm doing well, but in all honestly it’s not good. The accents are really hard to understand, so it’s definitely a challenge for me to respond back because I don't want to say something that won't relate to what is being spoken. So I rely a lot on Hermana M. and try to listen to her and follow her., but she gets frustrated because she does most of the teaching which I feel bad, but I just don't know what to say. We have had some tensions and it’s been a challenge, but we are still working on it. Some days are good others are not, so this has been a very hard experience for me, and I feel bad cuz she is going to end with me. Just keep praying please I really really really need them …………..

      Okay let me give you some better news.... after last pday we had the chance to have a hermanas conference at the mission office. The conference was all the hermanas in the mission (which isn't it crazy I'm serving in PR East mission area), (Jessie’s mission call letter said she’d be serving in the Puerto Rico San Juan West Mission.   Shortly after she received her call the East and West missions were combined into one.   That’s why it’s ironic she’s in the East side of the mission), anyways we played games at night because it was after our pday which ends at 6 and so we got to know one another a little, and then had a sleep over. The next morning was the conference, it was a full day experience.... it was good, but most of it was in Spanish so it was hard to understand it all, but bless hermana M cuz she translated a lot for me which helped. We watched the other Errand of angels and had a lot of food and speakers. One of the activities which hermana M. and I didn't care for was washing one another’s feet. This was our 3(rd) day together and we both hate feet. So we did a super quick rinse to one another and that was it lol. We got cute little lotion, spray body kits and it was a good time to get to know the sweet sisters here. Then we had our planning session which took 3 hours out of our day... it was good and it seemed like the spirit was helping us figure out good plans for our menos activos and I had suggested a lot of ideas which we wrote down, but then when we were with the people, my lesson plan was shut down all of sudden and we changed. So yeah....

     We had a chance to go to the mall in Carolina which is in our zone and sing (in the mall Christmas songs) with all our zone and pass out pass along cards. It was fun and it was really good to go to a mall. Also we got to see some of our hermana friends from the conference. Hermana Ghersi and Moldovo are in our zone which was so fantastic too see them, they are the ones from the ccm. Even Hermana Ghersi is on my district which is wonderful, I love that girl. We also had our first district meeting together yesterday and that went well and was enjoyable. We have a good group and hermana M and I had to teach them about difference between teaching a lesson while contacting and one with a cita (app). I've noticed I am a million times better when I teach in English than I do in Spanish, I just have the spirit with me more and I really can get my thoughts out... dang Spanish lol. Also I forgot to mention that I came here for the ward Christmas party the food was great, met the ward members, and they played PR music and sang PR Christmas songs. It’s interesting cuz they people here don’t know the Christmas American songs in the hymn book, many people do not speak English here. It’s not like the US at all. It was good though I had fun at that. Our ward is very small, just as many people here as there are in KW (Key West).

     One day we were walking and making contacts at a neighborhood and we saw this woman who was putting her kids in the car of her ex- husband and we started talking to her and she did not seem interested at all, but she told us to hang on while she put them in the car. Then the kids left with their dad, and they woman started talking to us. We contacted her and asked her questions... she was really thinking (which is a sign that they could be interested), then she interacted and kept listening. During our contact we started to teach her the first lesson. She was still interested so we were like this could be someone ;) so she then offered to let us in. We got to teach her the full 1st lesson and she was kind and interactive. We gave her an invitation to read and pray... so we really hope that she will do those things and have the desire to learn more. We have an appointment with her this sat... so we are really hoping that she will let us in and become a progressing investigator. That was a good experience. Also the other day we were driving around (which by the way, I am going to hold off getting my license as long as I can, cuz people here are crazy drivers, not as bad as the DR, but still. We also have this rule that I have to help my companion back up and so I get out the car and help every time, and we always have to park in backup) anyways... so we were searching for an inactive in the ward directory and we were going to the houses and asking if the people knew this one member. So no one knew him, so after we tried contacting them talking about the gospel. One girl answered and she is 16 and was interested in our message, her mom allowed us in, she listened here and there, but the 16 year was the one who was listening the most. The family were Jehova's Witnesses, …………..... but she took a Book of Mormon and seemed very interested. We'll have to see how it goes cuz I don't know how her mom felt about the whole situation.

   The last story is about a couple name Rafaella and Pedro. Pedro is not a member, but Rafaella is and she is inactive, starting to go to church again. Sweet older couple. Apparetly both us and the elders teach them. So we visited them and taught them about the scripture, commandments, and prophets. (we don't use the discussions as much cuz they are for investigators, but we teach non actives so it’s different) Anyways apparently he has told everyone he will get baptized, but he won't accept the days that the missionaries have given him, so the missionaries said he could choose, and he claims he will receive an answer to a certain day. Well this has been going on for awhile and personally I think it's becoming a joke, so i don't the missionaries they need to give him a day and say this is it or nothing. Because he could just be giving us all a hard time and instead of realizing this is not a joke. So I recommended that we pray and fast as 4 missionaries to figure a day for his baptism than represent the date and explain that we a source of his answer that we prayed and are trying to help him receive that answer. So we prayed and fasted and have chosen together Jan 15, so next time we see him we are all going to be there together and be 4 witnesses and testify to him. I really hope this will be a spiritual moment for him and he will know of its truthfulness.

………………………..

   

LOVE YOU!!!!

ME

Email received 12/8/10

          Como esta? So I am alive and you should be receiving another letter saying that I am alive and safely in PR. Yesterday was an extremely long day and so is today.... I think they all think we are superhumans.... its kinda crazy. So I have a new companion and her name is Hermana Merril ( I think she has a blog online that you could check) anyways she is from New York and will be leaving in March. She is 6ft very tall and nice. I feel some tension and awkward with us, but hopefully it will get better. I think we are definitely still in the new comfort zone stage, so pray things will go well. I feel that she is worn out and it's hard cuz I need motivation and I have some and want to do more work than it seems she does. So we will see. I've had the chance to meet a few missonaries and tonight I will have the chance to meet all the sisters at a sisters sleepover conference thing. So that should be fun! It's interesting cuz we have tons of rules here, we can't have any ipods at all, we cant visit tourist places so our Pdays will be lame, we can only write on pdays and much more. ................I'm serving in the city of San Juan in Guaynabo, its a little ghetto lol and was part of the East mission side. It's only me and Hermana Miller in our place and we live in a small building behind a house where an older single woman lives in named gaga (spanish prounciation). Our apartment is extremely tiny and it will be a humbling experience. Our water is cold (except it was warm for me today), we can't flush TP (so so so so so gross) we have to throw it in the trash, and we can only have one or two lights on. Its small and falling apart. We do have a car, but the people drive crazy, its every man for himself.. lol but I won't lie its a million times better than DR. There was one time at the DR where I was on the temple grounds and you can stand there and see a street... so I was looking and a car was driving up the street in reverse, going opposite direction from traffic I have no idea how that happened, but it was bizarre.

      Anyways today has been long its our pday, but I have been waiting all day to get my interview with the president.... I'm the last one, so I am writing this as I wait for him to get me to finally have a 10 min interview. Spanish here is crazy I have no idea how to speak i feel like, so can't wait until that miraculous moment where I can just speak and hear it the way I do with english. oh p.s. before I forget don't send dearelders anymore cuz now you would have to pay for them. So just regular mail to the mission office is best. Today there was a woman who came into the mission office and was crying and trying to find the true church. Very sweet woman eagerly searching different churches to find the truth. We had the chance to be one the of the sisters to sit with here. She had another pair before us that taught her the first lesson. Anyways we had the chance to find out about her situation and she had some interesting fews on things. She had felt the spirit here which is good and definitely something. The only thing is I had no idea what she was saying I was so so so lost... ahhh.... after I looked at my companion and said what did she say lol. My companion did all the talking, cuz I had no idea was she was sharing with us and I didn't want to say something at the wrong time, so I just smiled and showed that I cared. Her name is Maria and she was a very kind, sweet woman, she kept saying we were like angels. One concern she had was about the trinity because she really things they are one and not seperate. Also from her last job she got fired because she was preaching and teaching to people about Jesus Christ, also she  said her neice talks to angels, and one time she got healed at a church but she believes its cuz of her faith and not because the church that helped her was true. SO very interesting and we hope that the missionaries can help guide her and help her to find out for herself of the truthfullness of the gospel. I think with a sincere heart, open to understanding, studying, and faith she will know this is the right place and church to be. S o please pray for Maria and still Fabrice.

     My pdays are on Wed. and good thing is our email time is however long I think.Hmmm let me think I'm trying to remember what I put in my alive letter you'll be gettting soon... but yeah. It was very sad leaving my district at the DR the night before we had the chance to have just our district sing "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" and of course I lost it... I had the hardest time singing it. That district had been interesting and wonderful at the same time. I had been with them for 6 weeks and hermana Kamisese for 9 weeks, it was bittersweet but we knew we were leaving one another for a great cause. I hope we all stay in contact and have the opportunity to share stories with one another. There are two specific people I'm gonna miss and that is Hermana Kamisese and Elder Pinkston.

 

Well I'm going to head out, sorry we still haven't had the chance yet to go to the store or anything, so I probably won't have the chance to write a handwritten letter this time sorry. . ...................

 

I love you so so so so so so much and miss you guys!!

 

Tell Kyle I say hi and WANT to hear from him!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

 

Email received 12/2/10

Hola mi marvillosa Mama!!!!!!

     Como esta? So spanish oh dear spanish oh how I wish I knew it fluently. You know how people say their spelling gets worse and their grammmar is awful, well it is definitely happening to me, seriously bad spanglish going on around here. Anyways how is the family? Thanks for the letters I got them last night and last week after I emailed you.... thanks it is so so so nice hearing what is going on and receiving letters. I seriously need a phone though it is pretty hard doing this whole writing thing and not talking... seriously it is killing me. I am the worst at it.... anyhow..... thanks for the letters and glad things are going well and you still on your toes. Sorry to hear about the christmas shopping, i would have definitely helped you out on black friday cuz you needed the help, but also especially now because I have not left this place except for one time for 9 weeks ahhhhhh going crazy a bit and antsy. It's hard cuz here they take full control of you, absolutely no freedom or time, and so many rules where you have no freedom at all. So i can't wait to go in the field and have a breathe of fresh air and be able to do my own schedule, its pretty ridiculous.... so much more strict than provo 10x.

      So I get to leave on Tuesday at 7 am and so so so so so aminado (excited) I am so ready to get out of here, and I just keep hearing great things about the mission, so I'm ready to check it out. I heard we already have our companions assigned, which is pretty exciting and our next day is pday, so I'm hoping and wondering if we get to take that pday. Things have been crazy here lately, we have been having serious senioritis here but missionitis instead, so we haven't been as dedicated as we should be which i know is bad. My district is interesting, I love them, but they do drive me crazy. We call ourselves the bi-polar district cuz we have dramatic change of emotions all the time one day so happy, laughing, straight to wanting to ring someone’s neck.... but we are good for one another.

………........ We had a thanksgiving feast here which was so so good, loved the food. We had mashed potatoes, turkey, honey glazed/cinna sweet potatoes (fav), fruit, vegetable, stuffing, and a pumpkin puie crisp, it was a wonderful meal. It was a good thanksgiving, sad thing is we couldn't take pictures. Bummer eh!!! I got the chance to meet my 1st counselor in the mission presidency of PR mission here cuz a huge group of PRicans came to the temple, so I met a few and they are super nice and talk so fast. Its interesting PRicans look like americans, they don't even look latin, they are light skinned and don't have the latin look. Interesting eh and they are petite yah! So that was cool and one of my companions friends was in the group so she got her friend to get us a bunch of junk food (we gave money) and we pigged out it was so delicious and fattening lol.

       Hmmmm we met with Fabrice he came the third time which was great we talked and taught him about the comparisons of the bom (Book of Mormon) and bible and how they work hand in hand. We taught how there is a greater light out there, what he has is good, but there is more he can learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is the restored gospel. The spirit was definitely strong and we hope he felt it. One thing about Fabrice is he likes to use logic more than feelings I think. He tends to try to understand things in a deeper logical sense than from a feeling in your heart sense, so we hope he will do his commitments and feel the spirit!!! We will meet with him one more time and try to get other missionaries to continue teaching him. Also we had another investigator but she confirmed on coming but when we got there we waited for 30 mins and she never came unfortunately!

Well my time is up..... I love you so so so so so so so so so much and miss you guys!!! Give kyle and cody a huge hug and pet from me!   (Cody is our dachshund)

Did Kyle receive his letter and money?

Alma 57

Loves-

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxdoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo Hermana Jes Comoletti

Email received 11/25/10 (Thanksgiving)

Quriedo Madre....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING COMOLETTI FAMILIA!!!

…………..

     Sorry I haven't been able to write much, just not enough time, but I heard once I'm on the field I can write letters everyday, and my email time is not limited, and my pday is things my companion and i wanna do, not set, so in less than two weeks it should get better. I've taught every lesson basically in spanish, hard, but managing. Its hard cuz I don't feel like I'm, improving, but I hope once I'm in the field my spanish will sky rocket. So we have had the Latinos here for one week and they are cool, very outgoing crowd and easier to communicate with compared to the Haitians (the Haitians didn’t speak any English or Spanish). I forgot to tell you when the night before the Haitians left we all stood opposite directions and sang God be with us til we meet again... I lost it, complete waterfall. I just had such a love for them and my heart cared for them so much, I hope they are just enjoying every moment of their missions now. Actually speaking of Haitians I got an email from Lou that he is still in Provo cuz his sinuses are acting out.... he went to the doctor and he is now waiting for the doctor’s results to get his antibiotics so he can leave crazy eh. He was supposed to leave on the 22nd, but now he will be probably leaving the same day as me. Anyways the Latinos are cool and we have one Latino sister, her name is Hm. Moldovo and she is a cutie, very outgoing and spiritual. We get along well and she's fun to be around. She speaks both spanish and english which is nice and hard because I speak more english with her instead of spanish lol which I’m not complaining, but I definitely need to practice lol.

     Today i had the chance to do initiatories for the second time at the DR temple and after we did an endowment session, and actually we didn't go with the rest of the Americans cuz the elders only did an endowment so we went with the Latins for a spanish session.... shows you how fluent I am eh..... chiste we had the sweet translator headphones because we don't know spanish at all. It was cool tho I liked it... but I'm not gonna lie I'm so pooped out doing both of them. Also another cool thing the president and his wife were in the session with us. They were the witness couple. And because today is the day of thanks, turkey day, thanksgiving, el dia de accion de gracias, etc.... we have a full blown thanksgiving meal... Cool huh?? So we haven’t had it yet but at lunch they kept telling us don't eat to much... "you’re having a big dinner." So we're excited and wondering if we are going to eat a lot of turkey how do they expect us to stay awake for our classes tonight no se!

     So all our devotionals are now in spanish and I am always lost. I understand it until my brain hurts from translating and then I just give up and zone while they keep talking I know that’s not a good thing, but hey there is so much my swiss cheese brain can do at a time. So I don't know if I told you about Fabrice at the university the Haitian that we contacted and tried teaching? It was a rough lesson we tried teaching, but he was interested in learning more. He spoke english too which was nice. Well we contacted him on the phone and he was (not) able to make it, which definitely was a bummer because we were so excited to teach him this lesson we prepared that we hope would help him. He said this Friday which i hope hope hope he can make it. We REALLY BADLY wanna teach him!!!! We were going to teach him about Christ as our shepherd and he needs to gather all his sheep in his fold, and how there is a great light, a great truth other than the bible, and that is the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon. So please pray we will have the opportunity to teach him. Cool story which we hope happens too, so last Friday we went to the university to contact and both of us felt prompted to go and talk to this girl sitting on the bench. We talked to her and tried to speak spanish lol, anyways we tried applying this principle or way of teaching we learned in class with her of really getting to know her and try to pick out a need. So we found out her family is half catholic and half christian and sometimes its hard on the family to have both. We talked about the gospel and how it blesses our families, we explained about the book of mormon and some of the gospel, and how her Heavenly father loves her so much and wants the best for her family. Then she said to us.... before you came to talk to me, I was sad, but now talking with you I am happier and feeling better. So we were glad we could comfort her and hope what she was feeling was the Spirit, cuz we definitely felt the spirit strongly. So we have an appointment to teach her tomorrow too along with Fabrice, so we hope they show up and help them!!! They both seem like great people. She even asked us where was the church.... her name is Lisabeth.

………………

 

Alma 57:27 I think ;)

Your little curly haired one-

Hermana

Email received 11/18/10

Hola....... okay I'm going to try to think of what comes to my head, its hard cuz you write so much good stuff that i want to talk about too, but not enough time at all. I am one of the non smart missionaries lol, i do the whole print and read them all in one sitting cuz i am so desperate. Today I received all my dearelder and received alot of them, and the elders were teasing me about how much did you get and all that jazz it was funny. Things have gotten better here, my attitude and feelings improved once I had the chance to talk to the president and receive the blessing from him. I love the elders here and I now have a really fun good relationship with them. Things have been good with our companionship. This week was a little rough and stressful between us, but we are definitely good. One of our elders left our district to switch with the Latinos district cuz he was bored, because he already knows quite a bit of Spanish, so this will be good cuz he will have the opportunity to improve. Spanish, spanish, spanish, a mi madre... is crazy... I am very snailishly getting it, but still frustrating. I just keep reminding myself that I've learned more and speak more now within 6 weeks than I did when i was taking spanish in school. I have taught the first three lessons in spanish, contacted, explained scriptures, and constantly listening to my teachers. I seriously can't wait for that one night where I will go to sleep and have a spanish dream, wake up and be fluent. Yes, what a wonderful time that wil be.

     The Haitians left on Tuesday and that was so so so sad. I couldn't really communicate with any of them, but I had such a strong genuine love for them. We looked at each other the night before they left and sang the song "God be with you til we meet again"... yep I was a baby, I was definitely crying, because I just loved them. I was like shoot if I am like this with them, not really knowing them, I'm going to be awful when i have to transfer and say bye each time.  It was good I had most of them sign my journal and I have their info for after. Yesterday we got a new sister, the only other one coming from the Latin group and she is from PR. She is adorable and also going to serve in PR. She speaks great English because she lived in New Jersey for 8 years and PR for 12, also she's an acting major. I told her that you were one and she thought that was cool. Oh before I forget to tell you... those glow sticks you sent us yeah we had a glow stick party in our room and danced in the dark singing disney songs. I absolutely love the hermanas here... its me, kamisese, curl, and Ghersi. We all get along so so well, alot alike.

     I heard my mission president and his wife are the complete best. Every teacher here talks him up so much, I've heard he is so much fun and just a super awesome guy. I am so STOKED to have him. The new sister told us his wife is so into having the sisters be fashionable and super cute, she recommends us on our p days to do our hair, nails, whatever girly. i was like I can't complain, saweet! So i won't have to worry about clothes or anything. Speaking of places, we finally had the chance to escape for a little on Tuesday. We had the chance to go to a store for an 1.5 hours and get the things we needed. The driving is the worst in the entire world, you think tricia or grandma are bad, no not even close!!!! Hermana curl explained it this way.....a 10 year old driving, with their eyes closed in New York city.... mom it is the scariest thing, and they have all discovered what a horn does. It was crazy so many close calls. Anyways we went to this store that had everything and hermana kamisese and i went wild with the junk foood, we were definitely having serious withdrawls... disgustingly enough we are making a serious dent and will be needing to work it out next week. Also the clothes here are so so cute. It was cool too cuz I had the chance to use my pesos, my first time using different currency I felt so legit! oh and FYI I want a dominican baby cuz they are gorgeous people and the little kids are so so stinken cute!

       Cool story, I'm not sure if I already mentioned it to you but we met a man, from Haiti name Fabrice Joseph at the university. We had a contact with him and he had heard of the mormons cuz his friend is one. His friend had invited him to go to church and he wanted to, but he has his own church services, so he felt busy to go. He also was like I have read the bible all the way through and it doesn’t say anything about J.S.? So we tried to explain the first vision and the gospel. It was confusing and I think too much for him, so we gave him a pamphlet and committed him to read it and pray to know if what we were testifying was true. We asked if we could meet him again the next time we had planned to go to the university, he said yes he would like it and gave us his number. He asked for the book of mormon in French and English. H. Kamisese and I are going to buy them for him, so he can have them to read. He also wanted to make sure it was going to be us teaching him, no one else, so we have been praying about him, putting him on the prayer roll, and definitely trying to find a good lesson for him. We are going to try to teach him how there is more to learn in the gospel, more light and knowledge, and how Christ is our shepherd and there are other sheep in his fold that he is collecting to learn and teach the gospel. I feel good about him, but so far everyone that has had someone to meet hasn't shown up, so please pray he will. We want this so badly for him!!!!! One of our teachers is going to call and confirm our appointment with him tomorrow. It was so exciting to meet him and we hope that it goes well.

     Thanks for all the letters I love hearing what is going on, so fun and interesting. I'm so glad Kyle is involved and seems like he is enjoying life a little better now. You two are in my prayers. Tell him I am so super duper proud of him!!!! Also tell everyone thank you for their support its nice having this support and love from everyone! Sometimes you definitely need it. I'll try to write you a handwritten one again, that one took along time and I have quite a few people to write this week, cuz i was a slacker last week. Sorry I can't talk about all the things you mentioned, so wish i could, i miss my mommy calls and talks. This is so hard, cuz i have something to share with you or i read your letters and i just want to pick up the phone and be like so blah blah bah, ramble ramble ramble.... lol I Love you so so so so so so so so so much mommy!!!! Thanks for everything you do for me, and your love, your such an incredible mommy!!!! muah!!!! and big squishy hug. oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxooxxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Have fun, keep being that awesome loveable smily mom!!

Love your little missionary,

Jes

Letter received in the mail on Wednesday, 11/17/10

Hola Madre!!!

Sorry my email was short, our P-days here are a million times busier and we only have like 30 minutes on the computer and 2 hours to write, clean, and get ready for dinner and also gym.   So P-days are just as busy as any other day.   Before I write more I need to mention something from experience.   When you see a sister missionary (anytime) please give her a big hug because this is hard, stressful work and we never receive affection.   It’s hard not getting affection or being held by anyone, especially being in a closed in box like here.   So when you see a sister hug her, she needs it!   I promise!

Today on our P-day we went to the university and did a service project of picking up trash on the campus grounds.   It was blistering hot, but it was good.   It was sad though cuz a lot of the students were laughing at us.   It’s sad cuz we were trying to help them get trash off and have a clean campus.   It’s all good…we were able to get out and serve others.  J

……….

I did hear from the Glod’s and that was extremely nice.   It was great to hear their family is doing well.   DearElder is probably the best (form of) communication from anyone because I found out they open your mail sometimes.   Hermana Curl had a letter opened and later read in an email from the sender that money was supposed to be in the envelope.   They stole it!   Sad eh!   So DearElder (DR MTC) is safest or pouch.

So Sunday’s are my favorite days because they are relaxing (also ice cream days), spiritual, and just nice here.   It’s so nice when we have extra time we can nap or walk around the temple.   It helps keep the Spirit.   I bore my testimony last Sunday en Spanish, it was cool to hear testimonies either in French or Spanish, no ingles.   The President and his wife are good people.   Their names are President Hendricks and Hermana Hendricks.   They were mission presidents before in Costa Rica and all their children served in Spanish speaking missions.   Cool eh!   They leave this January….Hermana Hendricks took care of me while I was sick, with cough drops.   I slept during class once, and she brought me warm lemon honey stuff which, no offense, totally tasted like I was drinking throw up……Shhh don’t tell her I said that!

So I’m super excited because we get to go to the mall on Tuesday.   The Haitians are leaving that day and we can go shopping.   We haven’t been out or bought really anything since we’ve been here.   A lot of restocking.   We’re all ready to get out a little from this box.   Cool thing we have a really tiny distribution store attached to our building and I bought the Children’s Hymnbook (Songbook) on CD for only $1.30.   Sweet eh!   And a 50 piece of Articles of Faith cards in Spanish for $.20 and gave them to everyone.   It was sweet!

I’ve taught the 1^st lesson a couple of times in Spanish and the 2^nd lesson about the plan de Salvacion.   It was hard, but my teachers said we did a really good job.   Hermana Kamisese is such a blessing for me.   She’s patient and a great motivation for me.   She has such a love for the gospel and teaching which helps me want to teach more…..cuz you know me, not a big fan of teaching.

………….

(Jessie said some private things here and then she continued with…..)….can I just say I am so grateful for men of God who receive guidance and are ready anytime!   Anyways we talked (Jessie and her MTC President) and he had good insights then he asked me if I wanted a blessing.   I wasn’t planning to get one, but I wanted one when he asked   We had to wait til after devotional cuz we were already running late.   He later came and got me and gave me a blessing, a blessing that had most of the things I needed to hear and didn’t even mention to him.   It was such a relief for me and a total answer to prayers!   I felt so blessed to have that experience tonight and know how my Heavenly Father feels about me right now in my life.   I was glad I didn’t send this yet, so I could share this story.   And one funny thing is before I left he was like “I’ll ask Hermana Hendricks to give you a hug.”   I thought that was funny cuz I didn’t even say anything about it, but Hermana Kamisese and I talked about it today.   The Lord sure does know and the Spirit guides people through other worthy members.

Before I leave, cuz it’s bedtime, tell everyone I’m sorry you’re like the only one I wrote to this week.   I’ll try to redeem and respond next P-day!   But here is a little about my small district:

Hermana Kamisese:   awesome, Tongan companion as always.   We’ve been companions for 5 weeks now.

Elder Pinkston:   District leader, from Alabama, nice all American boy.

Elder Perez:   20 years old from San Diego.   El Salvadoran.   He is the best Spanish speaker in class.   He basically translates for the rest of us.   Total goof, sometimes over the top, but very kind.

Elder Mangleson:   from Sacramento.   Very kind, quiet and loud at the same time.  He’s funny cuz he thinks he’s black, but he definitely isn’t.   Good guy.

Elder McGlauthlin:   from Arizona.   A total comedian.   The Haitians call him Jim Carrey cuz he makes faces and is funny.   He’s madly in love with is GF (sweet) and we Hermanas don’t have names, we’re just ‘Hermanas’ with a certain tone.

These are some things about them (so) you can kinda picture them.   They are a good, fun group.   

Gotta go! 

Hermana Me

Email received 11/11/10

Como esta? Mi espanol is obtenido bueno, pero estoy muy frustrado cada dia. Esta bien. We made a promise last night that we will not speak any more English, can I tell you how extremely frustrating and difficult that is. I know I've been somewhat improving so it must need something. One of my teachers joked and was kinda serious saying that when he spoke fast I could understand him, so he said I should be with the Latino group next week.... I can understand, but the Latino part was the joke. Anyways it’s hard, don't care for the language but i know it is a blessing. I am better with my cold, still have it lingering and definitely spread the plague here in the CCM, my bad, tried not too, so hopefully it will pass soon and get better. Sorry this letter is going to be a lot of whining cuz it’s been a really hard time here. I feel like I don't receive much respect from Elders, I was sick, I'm frustrated, I've been stuck in one building for 2 full weeks now, no chocolate, same food, constant brain power for Spanish, no taking pictures. I didn't receive any communication for 2 weeks, cuz mail is awful here. I'm just not really liking it here, but I'm continuing to try to stay positive. Hermana Kamisese is a great example to me.

Anyways it was so good reading your letters.... I definitely needed to hear from you and from someone. ……

There are 3 hermanas here going to PR... and Hermana Kami is the only one going to DR. The Haitians leave on Tues and they are only learning the gospel. I finally went to the universidad on Tuesday and it was definitely a nerve wrecking experience but good at the same time. We went up to random students and starting talking to them, it was very difficult understanding them, and I hope they got at a least a little something out of it. There was one that I felt prompted to go talk to and she was older... and we had some book of Mormons to pass and we had one left. We went up and asked if she had a moment and she said yes. We talked to her about the BOM and she was definitely listening and agreeing that the Lord talks to people and how the scriptures are the word of God. It was definitely a sweet moment and the spirit was there. We got her phone number and hope she will continue to listen to the gospel. Her name was Rosaly. All the Dominicans are gorgeous people and when we talked to people at the university they definitely were polite and were willing to listen. DR is pretty dirty and older. You can tell it doesn't have much money. It was finally good to step out in the real world.

We did have some of the affects of the hurricane, just rain and storming. The lights here constantly go on and off even at the temple sometimes. That happens in Haiti too and here apparently. But nothing awful happened here from the storm from what I know.

I'm sorry I don't have much time, I will try to write you a more info letter, I'm a slow typer which hurts my writing time. Thanks for your letters I always love hearing them, I definitely need it right now. Tell people on fb to write too.... I'm very shut down from the world now, no communication and it takes weeks to hear anything. Hope all is well.... Love you dearly!!!! Miss you and hope you feel better!!!!

  

Your little missionary-

Hermana Jes Comoletti

Email received 4 November 2010

    Wow this has been an interesting yet good experience here in the DR.... isn't it so crazy that I'm here living in another country.... I'm official now cuz I changed some of my money to pesos. Anyways it's good here, everything is in one building, very small.   Our rooms are on the same level as our classes and the cafeteria is downstairs, so basically everything is a closed space. I've been extremely sick with a cold, and have been spreading it. My bad, trying not too, but it won't go away.... I think everyone knows me as the sister who coughs. I got a blessing from two of my elders from the district, so that was good. 

    Mail here is slower than we thought, only 3 of us received mail for the entire week ( not me), it only comes on Tuesday or Wed. so you can do a DearElder,,,,,,,,,,... Here its kinda a no win situation with the communication, but we'll make it work. I'm now companions with Hermana Kamisese only and she's been such a sport with me being sick. I still love the other hermanas too, and we've been trying to communicate with the Haitians. We have a good group here in the CCM, and I have a fun district. Half DR, half PR.... they definitely have their times tho when you know they are 19 year old boys, if you know what I mean??!!! Anyways... its very personal here... we eat with the President and His wife and with the employees... there is a thing where every lunch we eat rice, beans, and meat, and a fresh banana, then for dinner something American or DR. Our meals are basically the same everyday, already getting tired of it, I'm in trouble lol….The people here are nice, but you can definitely see some of the cultural differences. All our classes are in full blown Spanish, so we are learning from some serious translating in the noggin. It's hard and tiring, but I mostly can understand, but really only my teachers, cuz then someone else talks and I'm lost. Spanish is hard, but I know the Lord is helping me with it. We haven't taught yet, we will be doing that on Friday at a college campus down the street, talking to real people about the gospel the real deal. So we will see how that goes. Hm. Kamisese and I have taught our teachers like fake investigators and every time they are like great job, excellent so we must be doing something right and they must understand some of the Spanish. We also went to the temple today... that was nice and its such a beautiful temple and so glad we are so so so so close to it. Just the next building over, basically we live on temple grounds. You won't get too many pictures cuz we can't take any until the Haitians leave and that day we can, and then our last day. That's it, so don't expect a card or anything. Crazy eh... they are a million times stricter than Provo, but it's good here.

Happy Halloween!!!

Hermana me... aka comoletti

P.S.   hey don't know if i said but we heard Richard G. Scott and met Elder Coleman area of the seventy!!

I found out that DearElder.com has free letter delivery to the Dominican Republic MTC via the church pouch every week.   You need to make sure the letter is submitted on their website by midnight on Sunday night and the letter will make it into the upcoming week's pouch.   No signing up needed.   Just go onto the website and click on the 'Pouch (Free)' icon on the left side of the DearElder homepage.   You need to choose the Dominican Republic MTC as the delivery location.   Jessie will be there until early to mid-December (we don't have an exact date yet).  

If you haven't used the site before it's really quite easy.   You type the letter directly onto their page and hit 'Submit' when you're done.   Then, once a week the company will print the letters and put them into the pouch for delivery.   It's a wonderful service and we've used it a lot already.

She's in the Dominican Republic!

Hola.... I am Alive... they are giving us 5 mins to tell you this....lol, I am officially in another country the Dominican Republic yah yah!!!!! I only saw the country at night when we arrived, so I don't really know what it looks, but I'm sure its beautiful. We did see some spots that looked rough or poor, which was sad, but it still seems beautiful. The MTC CCM here is nicer than the one in Provo, like the rooms and the view outside our window is a giant gorgeous temple. The center is in private area and is very nice, also the people are very kind and personable, funny! There are 39 of us all together.... 24 US, a group from Haiti serving mainly in Port au Prince for three weeks... then in 3 weeks a Latin group... Things are great but gotta go!!!!

 

 

Love you and have fun!!!

 

Hermana Jessie Comoletti

 

Don't send normal mail only dearelder and no packages.... one letter takes 2 weeks!!!! BUT please please send dearelders.... i love hearing from you!!!   (This is the DearElder.com website I mentioned in an earlier post.)

 

Centro de Capacitacion Misional

Ave. Bolivar 825

Esq. Genesis Los Robles,

Santa Domingo, D.R.

Pictures from the MTC

Letter dated 10/21/10

Hola mi amoroso Madre....

 Let me first off say YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so so much for the apples we loved them! Mi hermanas got some and my cute prima Tricia got one. And we were able little girls..... One thing tho we are getting fat if you don't want to buy anymore clothes for me I suggest cut down on all the yummy chocolately treats. ;p Love them and they are delicious and great sharing tools... heheh but when some are not eaten we become fatty's lol cuz we also eat the cafeteria food which we usually eat more than usual, plus the treats......  (she's talking about caramel/candy apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory)

Thanks for all the letters, I love them, all these RM's totally knew what they were talking about... cuz you seriously do crave letters and pictures. So on the blog let people know about DearElder.com cuz it is great!!! 

So it’s really hard to type and tell you as much as i want so I'm going to give you bullet points:

............

* So I leave on Thursday and we have to be at the travel office to leave at 3am and the flight leaves at 6am, so I believe I get to call you but we won't be able to see one another. So be prepared for  a 4am call ;) We go to Dallas, Miami, and then the DR.

* I heard the DR MTC is super super small... I talked to a sister whose sister just came back from my mission and she said when her sister went to the mtc there were only 26 missionaries in total.... talk about tiny eh and personal.  We also heard she hit a bunch of islands and she had to eat monkey... not digging that meal plan. Also there instead of fake investigators we will actually proselyte in the Dominican neighborhoods, the real deal SCARY!!!!! especially cuz Spanish is hard, I completely forgot everything, but I have seem some of the gift of tongues working. I've learned more in these last two weeks than in the entire 7 years. We are now challenged to do contacts in spanish about the restoration and families. 

* Yesterday was really neat because we sat in the main building to study and it was new missionary day, but while we sat there we talked to a bunch of Senior couples... one of them is going PCC, the other where our elders are serving, then one hawaii temple, and the best was a couple who are going to there 6 mission to the Ghana Africa Temple and they are 85 years old, talk about true servants of the Lord and who are dedicated to do his work. And he got teary eye was he was thanking us for serving... definitely a beautiful moment. It was so fun to socialize with them!

*Last night was our fake investigator training and we taught a literal 12 year old about the restoration, it was good, but hard teaching a young girl about the gospel. We tried our best and she was so cute! Also bad thing we forgot her name, cuz when we asked for it, we were worried about our next thing to say in spanish, and doing something like that is a no no so we learned our lesson... with the prayer for her we were like please bless our friend...  so hopefully she didn't catch it ;)

* I'll send my camera disk today.... its  been hard to cuz I tried getting photo copies and i waited 1.5 weeks machine  broke, lost my photos, and had to reorder, so hopefully they will come now but I will send it tho!

* Today I got my shot, not fun, but at least its over....

* Tricia's company is extremely sick and it is just awful to see her and her companions going through it.... we get to see each other everyday and eat and talk. It's such a wonderful blessing to have my cute tricia with me... and this is the most we've ever seen each other! :D

* I still absolutely love my roomies, we are having a blast, and enjoying one another.

*Please send me more cassettes but to the DR

*Letter from Ryan Johnson (referring to the letters written at her farewell open house.  I'm sending one a week to her.   They're chosen at random, a stamp put on them, and then they're sent.   Most don't have names with the return address, so I never know whose letter is going out.)

* We have a lot of mexican leaving missionaries way awesome, tell him congrats and he might have a really hard time getting a visa, many of those elders have been here for 12 weeks.  (about our friend, Boston, who was just called to the Mexico Villahermosa Mission.)

*I'm doing well still overwhelmed, alot  to take in gospel wise and definitely trying to fight satan... can't wait to leave here tho...

*Goldfish only have had 5 and the rest to everyone else, many happy girls and the box is almost done. Thanks a bunch for the goodies!!!!!!!!

Love Hermana Me 

Jessie's Testimony (received in the mail 10/16/10)

Today Jessie sent us her written testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.    Since she is in the Missionary Training Center learning Spanish so she can communicate with the people of Puerto Rico and its surrounding islands, she sent us her testimony in Spanish.   I don't know Spanish and Jessie is still learning, so please forgive any blatant grammatical or spelling errors.   I simply typed what I thought I read on her handwritten note.   For those of us who don't speak or read Spanish I will try to get this translated and then post the translation, too.

I forgot to share my testimony with you madre,

Me gustaría compartor mi testamonio con usted ese se´que Jesucristo es el hijo de Dios y él murío por las persononas en el mundo.   Jesuchristo tuvó el expiación por mis percados y dar felicidades.   Sé que Dios o mi Padre Celestial es un amoroso Padre Celestial y él envío nos aqui aprender y progresar en nos vidas.   Creó que José Smith y Thomas S Monson es llamadieron de Dios y tambien el evangelio es verdadero sé que la iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos días es verdadero y el libro de Mormón tambien.    Se que nos Padre Celestial ama sus hijos!   En el nombre de Jesucristo.   Amen.                                                           
                                                                                                                                                    

My dear friend, Rossana, translated Jessie's testimony for us.  

Here's the English version:

I would like to share my testimony with you: I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and I know He died for the people of this world. Jesus Christ atoned for my sins and gives me happiness. I know God, my Heavenly Father, is a loving father, and He sent us here to learn and to progress in this life. I know Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson have been called of God, and that this gospel is true. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and so is the Book of Mormon. I know our Heavenly Father loves His children! In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

PARTS OF A LETTER HOME (dated 10/14/10)

¿Qué tal? Which means what´s up?... Las cosas are bueno y estoy consado cada dias. Alrighty so I only have 24 mins to write and answer everything... fyi you write alot, I don't have enough time to answer everything. We only have 30 mins to email and then one day a week until 6pm to write ahhhh lol.... I'm doing good madre, things have been super hectic, spiritual, and I'm so pooped out! Thanks for the pic of Kyle Love IT!!!! I'm glad you got my letter and thanks so much for the awesome box of birthday fun! It is my roommate not companion, we room with 3 sisters who are from a different district and are called to Argentina. They like it and it was nice to have some color in the room! I just recently met my branch president and he is a sweet man and yes tricia and I are in the same  zone which consists of 7 girls and a bunch of elders. We have the exact same schedule and the great thing is we get to see and talk to each other everyday!!! oh yeah I got to see Natalie as she was heading to her room for the first time. She was nervous, but she'll fit in here well.  ......

My spanish is getting there, but not as well as I hoped. I am in the beginners, but we are doing things that are advanced. We are actually accelerating faster than Tricia's district. We have to bear our testimonies all the time in Spanish and teach the first discussion also in Spanish. We did it in spanish before english weird eh.. I have seen hermano reed and he has been kind to me, every time he see's me he asks if there are any messages i would like to forward on to you.

 

I keep seeing more familar faces and it's great seeing all these friends from all over the place. I'm fitting in well and still loving my companions and district... the elders are a total hoooot, really funny boys. I bought a tape recorder cuz I'm really bad at the whole journal  thing, so i'll try to record my stories through that. We have to study at 7am, then breakfast, then class for 4 hrs. then lunch, another 5 hr class, then personal 3 hrs study, and the dinner, gym, and more studying... we run around  and study that's about it. We can only write letters on thursday, but i love getting them. Everyone is right, letters are so fun to receive. And yes i would love to talk your ears off, that would help me so much, cuz I can't call and do it and then i don't have time to write it all, also my hand is seriously cramping with all the writing and typing, i'll be buff only in the arms and hands, and flabby from all the food here everywhere else. jk

 

........ the food here is not that great! PUR-SJUW 1028 means Puerto Rico San Juan West leaving 10-28........ 

 

So so so so glad to hear Kelly got a job and it seems like something good, let her know I'm thinking of them and give them a big hug from me. ........I'm going to soon send you my camera card, can you please download them and send it back.... Thanks a bunch for all the yummy treats love them!!!! Keep doing dear elder, tell people to talk to me that way too along with my address.  (side note from Mom......DearElder.com is a website where you can send free letters to Jessie at the Provo MTC, online.   Just click on the Provo MTC icon on the left of the homepage and you can write her a letter which they'll print and send at noon.   They do it daily Monday through Friday.   Don't forget, she leaves the Provo MTC for the Dominican Republic MTC on October 28th, so your letters need to get to Dear Elder before noon on October 27th.)

 

I only have 6 mins and i'm a slow typer but i want to share another story with you...yesterday we did a training where we had to pretend to teach someone and we had an old man. We planned to teach the first discussion but the lesson shifted with his needs while getting to know him. He was mentioning about how so many religions are contradicting each other and how he would ponder about the things they teach... such as God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost ... I got to share Grandma's story and we were able to talk about prayer and the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Definitely a touching discussion and drew close to my heart... it was beautiful and spiritual.... sorry they are going to log my off soon....

Jessie and her cousin, Tricia, in the MTC

JESSIE'S FIRST LETTER HOME

Hello to all of Jessie's friends and family following her blog.   Yesterday her first letter home arrived in the mail.   Here's some of what she said:

ALOHA.......Oh, I now mean HOLA!

     So, they are now finally allowing me to write you and Kyle a letter.   They just have us moving 24/7, but in all honesty I'm absolutely loving it here!   The Spirit is definitely powerful here and it's amazing how many missionaries there are.   I've run into so many people, people I wasn't even expecting to see.   Quite a few from Hawaii (BYU) and a girl from Springville (the one going to Ecuador) and a girl from one of my classes in Idaho, and my friend going to Sweden, and Tricia.   So, so awesome seeing that cute prima (cousin).   We ran into each other the first day and found out, crazy enough, we're in the same zone, same exact branch and schedule, except for classes.   Crazy thing is there are only 8 sisters in our zone and maybe 15-16 elders and we got to be in the same one!   SAWEET EH!
     I adore my companions, Hermana Curl (Houston, TX, Puerto Rico and 26 years) and Hermana Kamisese (California, Dominican Rep, 22).   Also, she's Tongan and I know her cousins in Hawaii (they work in the PCC).   I was so blessed to get cool, chill sisters and it sounds like we have similar reasons for being here.  They are going to be fantastic missionaries.   We are all having a rough time with Spanish, but we're trying to practice on each other.   On our second day we already had to pray in Spanish (and for) the rest of the mission and possibly teach the first discussion (20 mins) in Spanish on Monday.   Yeah, so not ready.   They seriously haven't given us enough time to even have personal scripture study.
     So far I'm fitting in my small district of us 3 Hermanas and 6 Elders.   We get along well and I'm so impressed with how mature these 19 year olds are.  They are complete gentlemen and definitely have their own unique story of why they are here and how they gained a testimony.   Very powerful group we have.   We are all outgoing personalities trying to work hard....2 elders - Columbus, Ohio & 4 elders - Paraguay.  We definitely know how to invite the Spirit into the room.   Oh, also the two teachers we have are fairly new returned missionaries, so they are my age.........Funny small world - my Maestro Hermano Gentry is from Alpine and totally was friends with Arah Heath from middle school to high school.   Crazy, eh?!
     Our first day was overwhelming, but good.   One of the activities they had us participate in was a mock interview where they had fake companions come and teach this fake investigator.   Once the missionaries came and started the discussion, a staff member stopped them and asked us how we felt about the discussion and what we would want to change or add.   It was great listening to different missionaries teach what they knew and testify.   I had one chance to answer the investigator's questions and the Spirit was so strong and I testified that despite the fact our family is a little broken here on earth, I firmly believe we will be together forever.   It was definitely a special, uplifting moment for me and the Spirit was speaking through me.   It was cool cuz after an Elder who basically kept answering for these mocks, who seemed to know what he was doing and saying, came up to me and thanked me for making that comment because apparently that is what he needed to hear that day!   That made me so happy, that I can use the Spirit to guide me to inspire and touch others!    This gospel is so beautiful and true.   I feel so blessed to have it and believe!   I love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ so very much!

*****Jessie also sent a scripture reference..........2 Nephi 31

Everyone LOVES Letters!

Hermana Comoletti entered the Provo MTC on Wednesday, October 6, 2010. 

Hermana Jessie Comoletti
MTC Mailbox #258
PUR - SJUW 1028
2005 North 900 East
Provo, UT 84604 USA

(Hermana Comoletti LEAVES Provo on OCTOBER 28.
She will then be in the Dominican Republic MTC.)


Dominican Republic MTC
Av Bolivar #825
Los Robles
Dominican Republic


Puerto Rico San Juan Mission
Urb. Jardines de Caparra
500 Calle Marginal Norte
Bayamon PR 00959
Puerto Rico