Oh Pigeon Row... What an Adventure

Hello to all! Things are going well here in the Bronx. I can't believe I am still here but I am very happy about it. I wouldn't even mind staying another cycle. On Monday we had a meeting with President and he said we might as well just change my middle name to "Olmstead" (The name of our Zone) We all had a good laugh. Sister Child and I continue to do wonderful! We are finding and working and teaching... all the good things as a missionary :) I was so excited! Yesterday Fermin accepted a baptismal date for two weeks and he is getting baptized! Woo Hoo!!!! He is so funny and we have been working with him since Sister Child got here so it's time. This will be the first baptism I've seen from a street contact. Sister Walker and I contacted him on the street right before Sister Walker left. It just goes to show that contacting works... I have been doing a lot better with it so I am happy about that. It is still strange just walking up to random people but it gets easier as you do it all the time.

So Pigeon Row has another interesting story. We were walking down going home for lunch and we pretty much tripped over this guy who was passed out awkwardly on the steps... kinda strange. We stared at him for a minute trying to see if he was breathing and he was... but then an ambulance came and turns out he was passed out from a drug overdose... gotta love the Bronx and all the interesting things we see here. We now can not contact guys our age... it's just really awkward to try to talk about the gospel while someone is talking to you about how pretty your eyes are. Ha ha... once again, gotta love the Bronx.

Not much more to update on from the last week. We just work hard every day and see miracles all the time. I've been studying the Book of Mormon so much lately and I just love it! I am in the "war chapters" in Alma and I am LOVING them. I have learned SO much and it just makes my day so much better. I get so excited to read the Book of Mormon every morning, sometimes my whole personal study gets used just reading and studying it. What a wonderful blessing it is on our lives. I hope everyone is taking advantage of the blessings and gospel knowledge that can come from it.

I love you all, Happy Fathers Day to my daddy and all the Fathers in my family! Have a wonderful week!

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

Time for Change

Well, it has happened, they have taken my "momma" away from me. Ha ha! In the mission, your trainer (for a sister) is your mom. Sister Walker got transferred. I know that it was time for change but last night was hard for me. Taking over an area scares me because everyone loved Sister Walker so much. Yesterday was a day of a lot of goodbyes and it was so sad but we made it through. Sister Walker will be very missed.

Last night as we were trying to get everything ready for Sister Walker to leave (we also had to switch rooms because the English sisters we live with are now in a trio) we got a call from Marlon's mom. Marlon is our 14 year old recent convert and he is like a little brother. We love him so much. His mom called around 11:30 telling us that Marlon was missing. It tore us up inside. It was so hard to just sit there not being able to do anything. I prayed so hard to make sure he was ok. He is a great kid and doesn't just not come home. I felt so helpless but I was reassured that our Heavenly Father would make sure everything was ok. We talked to his mom this morning and he is back safe. We didn't really get the story as to where he was but everything is ok now. I am so happy. Needless to say, Sister Walker and I have had no sleep the last couple of nights, not the best for missionary work!

I am so excited about my new companion. Her name is Hermana Child and she is from Utah. I have met her a couple different times and we just really got a long. We were hoping one day we would be companions and WE ARE! I am so excited to work with her. She is so sweet and fun! We are going to have a blast. I am still SO nervous about being in charge of this area but it will be fine. Good thing this is Heavenly Fathers work and not mine!

I am trying to think of what to talk about because this last week has kind of been a blur and I am just so tired! Oh, we met the coolest guy, Fermin. He is from Peru and he is so interested in the church! We went to his house and he made us a full meal and then he had so many questions we taught the first two lessons. He is so cool and I am excited to continue teaching him.

Antonio still has some things we need to work out but he is going to be baptized, I just know it. We have a lot of things to look forward to in these next 6 weeks. I'm excited, nervous and everything in between.

I love you all and hope you are doing well! Write soon!

Con Amor- Hermana Passantino