Sorry for the Late Letter!

Hello!
Well, sorry I am emailing a couple days late. Wednesday there was a big mess up at the Library so we didn't get to email. But don't worry, I have permission to be emailing today so everything is good! P-day was a blast and I'll talk more about it in a little bit!

This week has been a very busy one full of A LOT of things. We got back to teaching Lewis and we gave him another baptismal date of Nov. 13, the weekend before Sis. McMillan goes home. He is a great guy and has a strong testimony so we are praying that things follow through. Sis. McMillan and I have been a bit frustrated just because we have been working so hard but no one seems to want to progress. This area is for sure harder than the Bronx was as far as baptizing goes. We get a lot of lessons each week and we contact ALL the time but for some reason it has been tough. Luckily, we continue to go forward and do the best we can! We realize we are given trials to help us grow. I was reading a talk from Pres. Uchtdorf today and he talked about how it is the way that we react to our trials that define us, not the trials themselves. Boy have I learned that (and continue to learn that) on my mission! But it is so true. We have so many things thrown at us that we can't control. We have to do the best we can on the things we CAN control and leave the rest to the Lord. I am grateful I get to learn this lesson here on my mission because it is one that is applied to life in every aspect!

We had really good district meeting on Monday from Elder Shepherd. He asked us some questions about what are purpose is as a missionary. It was all stuff that we kind of got to ponder for ourselves. We have missionaries in all different stages of the work in our district so it was cool to see the different outlook from everyone and learn from everyone else. It was great!

Halloween was interesting! The night before we had a ward Halloween party that was a sight to be seen. For any of you who have been to a Spanish ward party I am sure you can only imagine! It was fun! We had a couple of investigators go and they enjoyed themselves. Then on Halloween we had to be in at 6. Before we got in the house we were walking around and saw all the kids in Halloween costumes. They all go trick-or-treating really early and they don't go to apartments, they go to the stores and bodegas... interesting. That night, Sis. McMillan and I did a puzzle and ate mango sticky rice! YUM!

This last P-Day was so fun! We had a district outing and went to central park. I just love that place! It is SOO pretty in the fall with all the leaves (of course I got some AWESOME pictures!) We walked around and just enjoyed the brisk fall day! We even found an ice skating rink that you can bet I will be asking for permission to go to! How fun would it be to go ice skating in central park! We ate at this place called "The Shack Shake" Oh yum it was so good and had amazing burgers, my favorite!! It was a great P-day!

The reason I didn't email yesterday was because we had the Sisters Lunch up in Scarsdale with President and Sister Smith. It was a great day! First off, we met the AP's in the Bronx and they drove us up to the mission home. It was such a beautiful drive! I am pretty sure I drove Elder Fox crazy because I wouldn't shut up about how beautiful it was! I hope I can serve upstate at some point in my mission. Being in the city for almost a year makes you miss the trees. I got to see so many sisters that I hadn't seen forever too! Sis. Baxter being one of them. It was so great to be gathered as sisters and be able to spend some time with President and Sister Smith. They talked to us for a bit and then we got to do a question and answer time with President Smith... it was wonderful in every way!

All in all life is good! The work is hard but it is oh so worth it! I love being out here and I am pretty sure time is going WAY too fast! I can't believe my McMillan is leaving me so soon! Ahh! Oh and the little ciesta that Brian gets to have sounds wonderful, there are no ciestas in New York... haha! I love it!

Con amor- Hermana Passantino