Hello From the Upper East Side!

Yes, it is true. Just a shout out to all my friends who love Gossip Girl... I am currently emailing from the Upper East Side. I feel totally out of place but it is fun to walk around and see all the "rich people stuff". We had to come down to Manhattan today for a doctors appointment for Sister Child so we've been having some fun. We walked around Central Park and got to see all the famous places. It was a blast. I love Sister Child, we just get along so well! We also got some cupcakes from Crumbs and so we are just happy campers. Now, the weather is a different story. It is hot and humid and I am pretty sure I am a walking sweat ball. I am sure you can imagine how my hair looks in this weather. Ha ha. I am SO grateful Sister Smith said we could wear sandals and no nylons. Thank goodness! They weather is a bit nuts-o here but it's fun!

This week has been a good one full of appointments (believe me, when your days are filled with appointments it is a GOOD week!) We have a baptism this Saturday of a little girl names Mayeli. She is 8 and her older sisters and grandma are all members. She is so cute and way excited for baptism. We are also have China's baptism next week. She is amazing and I can't wait for her to get baptized!

We have been working hard trying to get missionary work started in Co-Op city but it has proven to be hard. We got kicked out of a shopping center by police for handing out free DVD's haha. They have a lot of rules there. We'll keep working though. Heavenly Father will open a way.

This last week was stake conference and it was awesome! We had Elder Ringwood from the Seventy come and it was great! We also got to go to the fireside he did for the youth because we brought Marlon. I am always amazed at how strong the spirit is when all the Youth are gathered. It is amazing. Being able to be in that room with the youth of the church just gave me that boost I needed to keep going. I am so grateful to have valiant youth around here. Believe me, it is so hard for them but they work hard and I love it. The spirit is so strong! We were able to chat with Elder Ringwood after which of course was amazing as well. How lucky we are to have servants of the Lord come visit here!

All and all this week has been great. I am so grateful for all the love and support I have! Thanks for all you all do! Be strong and of good courage :)

Con Amor- Hermana Passantino

PS: Pick up line of the week... I was teaching English class (to a whole ONE person) and he says, "How do you say, You have beautiful eyes" (He said that in Spanish) ugh... as he stares at me in the eyes.... ooooohhhhh boy! Ha ha, I just laughed and changed the subject. I am so happy we have companions that are with us all the time!

Melissa and her new companion Hermana Child's at the Yankee Game!

You could say Hermana Child's and Hermana Passantino are very much alike!

Showered in Pink! There are pretty areas in the Bronx!

Our Zone with Elder and Sister Robbins

Our District's Last Cyle

Melissa and Yanely Gonzalez

Antonio's Baptism

Good News In The Sister Missionary World!

Well, let's just say, it's been a rough week but we have good news for the world of Sister Missionaries in the NY NY North Mission. We no longer have to wear nylons and ugly closed toed shoes! That's right! Sister Smith told us that because the summer is so humid and gross we don't have to wear them and we can even wear cute sandals. I am sure you all know how excited I am about that. Too bad I can't wear my flip flops, ha ha, but I'll count my many blessings.

As I said, this week is what I like to call a "real" missionary week. Sister Child and I had very high hopes for finding new people to teach. These last couple of weeks we had to drop a whole bunch of people that weren't progressing. So we had goals of finding news and those goals aren't really showing themselves as of yet. But it's ok. We have had a lot of days where we go out all day with high hopes and come home with sore feet and frustration. But we have seen the little miracles in every day and we keep going on. The good news is, is that we have 3 people lined up for baptism. They are progressing and have testimonies of the gospel, most importantly, they have enough faith to ACT. That really is the defining line, if we will act on what we believe. I have been reading a lot of faith and action and how much they are linked. We can't expect to be blessed for just asking, we need to DO all we can, then we will see the blessings. They HAVE to go together.

This last week we had the privilege of spending time with Elder Robbins for the Seventy. It was awesome and I was able to learn so many things. I am grateful we have those chances as a missionary. I was uplifted and boy did I need it. Ha ha. Sister Child and I are doing great. I love her so much! She is a hard worker and an amazing missionary. We laugh so much but we work so hard. I love her!

Today for P-day we just played some basketball in the church. I think I am getting old because my body is kinda hurting from it. Ha ha, I haven't played that hard for a while but it was fun and good for me.

Well, not much else to talk about this week. I love and miss you all! Keep doing the little things! They are what matter most! LOVE YOU ALL!

Con Amor- Hermana Passantino

Estoy Feliz!!!

Hello Hello Hello! How is life going for everyone? I am doing just wonderful. It was so fantastic talking to my family on Sunday. It was the best treat ever. I feel like I had more to talk about than on Christmas because I've actually been out in the field for more than three days. Ha ha. I loved all being on the same phone call because it felt like we were just sitting around as a family laughing and joking. It was wonderful. Although, it did make me miss my family so much, it also gave me a renewed sense of determination to do my best. I LOVED IT! I hope we get to do the same thing when Brian is in Argentina so that I can still talk to him :)

Things here in the Bronx are going well. Sister Child and I are working hard and finding a lot to do. There are SO many people here in the Bronx, sometimes you just don't even know where to start. Ha ha. We are still working with Fermin who should be getting baptized soon and we are also working with China, the soon to be step mom of Jarynett and Jordan (My first baptisms here). She'll be getting baptized soon and I'm so excited. Before we even started teaching she knew it was true. Talk about finding the prepared!

This last week we got to go to Francesco's house and eat. He is an inactive member we ran into on the street. He's from Italy and made some good food (Of course nothing compares to my dads food but he did ok :) It was fun to throw some Italian food into the mix of Spanish food I have been eating. We had a mothers day party at the church which was really fun. We sang at it and also read this poem in Spanish. Everyone seemed to like it. I love parties in this ward. They really know how to have some fun!

I've been reading this talk lately called "The 4th Missionary". It talks about the kind of missionary we can be to actually help others and help ourselves. It is amazing. It has helped me see the things I need to work on as a missionary. This is one quote I loved from it.
"The purpose and central blessing of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It is to incorporate into your character the qualities of His character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence and capacity to the next, and from there to the next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows you."

I just loved that. Everyone knows that change is hard for me but I feel like I am learning more and more on my mission how good change can be. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to change and make myself better every day! The opportunity for us to do that is what makes it possible for us to return and live with our Heavenly Father again. What an amazing blessing.

I hope everyone is doing well! Until next week....

Con Amor- Hermana Passantino

Argentina!!!

As you can tell by my subject line.... I AM SO EXCITED BRIAN IS GOING TO ARGENTINA!!! Oh my goodness! I can't even begin to explain. When I found out, the Wilhites called to tell me. I was on a walk with Sister Child and Marlon... They called and I screamed and then started crying. Ha ha, Marlon laughed at me. It was so exciting. Man, I can't wait! I am happy Brian will have an accent from Argentina. Their Spanish is so pretty! My Spanish is so mixed up because I have so many different accents coming at me. Anyway, I just can't wait!

This last week with Sister Child has been amazing. We are totally revamping our area and I am so happy about it! We work so well together. She is such a wonderful person and I know I am going to learn a lot from her. I am so excited for this cycle!

So, good news of the week. Antonio got baptized on Saturday! He kind of went MIA and then I had a feeling to call him at a certain time and I did... and he was ready! It was wonderful! He was confirmed and bore his testimony on Sunday and it was so nice to feel of his spirit. He is so cool. He has a kid named Mario who is the cutest little boy ever. Sister Walker got to come for it too so that was exciting. We all got to hear her sing one more time!

Since being companions with Sister Child we have taken a taxi twice. My first times on my mission. Ha ha... they were actually not too scary. If it were my choice I would not do it very often. He he :)

Our apartment is SO hot! We live in a room that has no windows and just has a skylight. So, we have the sun beating down into our room and it creates an oven type of thing... yeah.... it's hot. We kind of die at night. We have 5 sister living in our apartment now so it's crowded but fun.

Sister Child and I spent a good amount of Monday creating our "Missionary Play Book" it is so cool! We are setting up and planning for situations that might come up and it has helped so much. We always have something ready! I'm pumped!

Today we got to go to another Yankees game. It was fun because they actually won this time. It was a good P-day!

Well, I love you all! I can't wait to talk to my family on Sunday! I AM SO EXCITED!

Con Amor- Hermana Passantino

PS: Be on the look out for me talking about Wonda and Fermin. We are determined that they will be baptized this month! They are both amazing!