Que Lo Que.... Dominican Slang

Hello! Well, as you can see my Spanish may not be coming along very fast but my Dominican slang is coming right along. Ha ha, que lo que pretty much just means what's up. We teach this big Dominican family and we walked in the other day and I said that. We all got a big laugh out of it. Well, it's been another good week mainly because we had the baptism of Jarynet and Jordan! It was AWESOME! I sang in a musical number with my companion and one of the elders on the guitar, it was cool. We sang, Soy un hijo de Dios, I am a child of God. Monday it rained like NO OTHER! We have district meeting on Monday mornings and by the time I got there my coat was soaked through, my boots, my skirt, everything! I have never been so wet in my life! It was a crazy rainstorm... not the funnest to do missionary work in. New York is still crazy. We have decided to send funny stats to President every week like, how many times I avoided stepping in dog poo. Goal 50 Actual 20. Or how many times we have run to catch a bus Goal 0 Actual 50. Ha ha, they are some fun times. I think the funniest thing is to hear and see people talking to themselves, it's always awkward but they are fun to contact! We have a couple pretty solid investigators right now and we also have a big priesthood reactivation project going for the next 5 weeks. Transfers are next week! I can't believe I'm almost done with my first transfer! I am almost positive that I won't get transferred but we'll see. You will know next week. I hope that I stay here for a while. You all know how much I'm not a fan of change so yeah... but we shall see. I like the Bronx area for missionary work (never to live here for fun). The work is going well. I have found that as a missionary it is a constant struggle with the natural man, or just with your natural self.. it's hard to adjust but I'm doing it slowly. Thank you for everyone who has been writing me! It helps more than you know! Love you all!
Con Amor, Hermana Passantino

Gum Gum, Dumb Dumb?

Spiderwoman anyone???

Sister Walker and I

Holding up the Chrysler Building! No big deal...

Need I explain? I loved it!

"Homeless" Melissa with her "Bronx" laundry cart!

Hermana Walker and I with Ambassador from Paupa New Guinea

Just like children, young trees need love.

Yeah, I saw that subject line on the subway....interesting huh? Well, this week has been good! It has been super busy. We are crazy busy all the time which is a good good thing! We have a baptism on Sunday for Jarynet and Jordan and we are so excited! New York really is such an interesting place. I've stopped counting the number of car alarms I hear a day and the other day I saw a dog wearing a diaper. Weird. I think it is so funny how people just sing on the bus with their head phones not caring who hears them. We are teaching a couple different families and it is really interesting to see their situations. One lady lives in a small shack behind a house, it doesn't even have a bathroom. Our area is HUGE and there are rumors saying that they may bring in some more missionaries to this ward. That would be 4 sets of missionaries in one ward! CRAZY! We also started teaching the girlfriend of our Bishops brother. She is really prepared and I can see that going well, we're way excited about her! Like I said before, The ward is really moving in a good direction. It is crazy how much can get done when the members are involved. I was really blessed to be put in this area for my first area that's for sure. This week I heard the quote, "I've got so much to do today, I'll have to spend another hour on my knees" I really liked it because it's true. When we put our Heavenly Father first things will work out the way they are supposed to. I also enjoyed this quote "When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on a new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden" -Dieter F. Uchtdorf This week has been stressful with so much to do, I had a random 103 degree fever for a day, and just fitting everything but I've been able to find joy in this work already. I am excited for it to grow and expand. Today for Pday we got to go downtown on top of a tall building and take some pics. I'll send some to my fam soon! We also got to go to the Museum of Natural History! IT WAS SO COOL! I mean, I love stuff like that, it was just a great P-day, but super busy! I'm doing well and would still LOVE to hear from you all so write soon! Love you all!
Love, Hermana Passantino
PS: Yesterday I was given some sort of mystery meat soup... come to find out it was pork rinds... gross.

Holy Cow, it doesn't taste like cow!

Well, my time on the computer is short again because it took me about 30 minutes to try to figure out how to print everything. Bleh! But I will give a quick update. Things in the Bronx are going good. We are working up our teaching pool and have a couple of pretty good potentials. We actually have two baptismal dates in Jan which is very exciting. They are two kids, Jarynet and Jordan. Their mom was a convert but very inactive and her kids are what brought her back. They are so sweet and I am very excited about it. The Spanish is still a struggle but I try every day. I can understand a lot more than I can speak. It's hard here because EVERYONE is from somewhere different so not only am I leaning Spanish but I am trying to learn from people who speak it 20 different ways. Today I had another opportunity to go to the temple and it was great of course. The temple here is so pretty! It is crazy how it is RIGHT in the middle of the city and yet when you are inside you can't hear a thing, you feel like you are in a different world. Meeting the Ambassador of Paupa New Guinea was really cool. You all know I really enjoy things like that. Oh so I had two "firsts"this week. So, I had to eat cow stomach!!!!! It was so weird. I think it was more mind over matter though because I took one bite and had to keep myself from dry heaving, I was able to finish it though as long as I mixed it up with rice. Then, that same night at a baptism this poor kid was throwing up everywhere and my companion and I ran him to the bathroom (while he was still throwing up) and cleaned him up, cleaned the bathroom up, and then went back to the RS room where NO ONE had cleaned up that mess, so we got to clean that up to. Heavenly Father has blessed me with strength to overcome that because there is no way I could have done that before. I am once again going to try to add some pics in here, we'll see if it works this time. I miss you all so much. Thanks for the letters!!! I love them all! One quote I have loved this week is "Hold on a little longer. You can do this! You are part of a special generation. You were prepared and preserved to live at this important time in the existence of our beautiful planet earth. You have a celestial pedigree and therefor have all the necessary talents to make your life an eternal success story" -President Dieter F Uchtodorf. I know that sometimes life is difficult, and we all have different challenges, but because of our Savior Jesus Christ, we can overcome anything, because he has already done it for us. It takes a lot of practice to have faith in him. Something I need a lot of practice with but if we press forward and don't give up, we can all make it. I love you all!
Love, Hermana Passantino

New Year's Eve 2009-Eating Daddy's Raviolli's

Yeah, right before this I was saying "Get it off!"

First real day of proselyting, soaking wet with a broken umberella.

Luckily I have a coat but I feel like the Statue of Liberty looks in this picture!

Christmas Eve with the Lopez family from Mot Haven and new Christmas P.J.'s

Big New York Pizza for $3.00

My companion Hermana Walker and I getting ready to go on the Subway for the first time!

Last day breakfast in the laundry room at MTC and a visit from Mitch

Melissa with President and Sister Smith when she arrived in New York on Dec. 22, 2009

Knock! Doorbell Don't Work....

The subject line was a sign we saw on someones door and I thought it was funny. Welcome to the Bronx. Ha ha. Well, this week has been a true struggle for me, as my family already knows. I am working my hardest to get through this hard time and I am confident that I will be able to make it through. New York really is a whole new world. If someone is mad because they got called to NY and not a different country then they are in for a big surprise because NY is a different country. Pretty much every person I meet is from Central or South America. There are A LOT of people from the Dominican Republic and if I thought regular Spanish was hard to understand I was in for a big treat while trying to understand Dominicans. It's crazy! We have a couple families that we are teaching and are hoping to get some baptisms in the next couple of months. A lot of people are looking for the truth that is for sure. Our ward here is really strong and treat the missionaries well, now if only I could understand what they were saying. Ha ha. I would appreciate your prayers for the work in NY and in wherever you are living. President Hinckley said, "It will be a great day when our people not only pray for the missionaries throughout the world but ask the Lord to help them assist the missionaries who are laboring in their own ward." Helping your missionaries will bring so many blessings. NY is FREEZING! I now understand what they mean when they say that the cold here goes through all your layers and into your bones. It is crazy! Two winters here is going to be interesting. Thank you all for your love and support. I LOVE hearing from you!
Love, Hermana Passantino
PS: Random note, the Ambassador of New Guinea is coming to the temple on Friday and my companion is singing for him so we get to go meet him! Pretty cool!
PPS: These computers don't let me upload pictures. Sorry :(