Another Snowy Day in NYC!

Hello hello!
Well, here I am emailing from a city covered in white freezing cold, fluffy wet stuff. We are planning a snow day in central park which would be a BLAST and I have wanted to do it since I've gotten here. We just have to wait for the ok from President before a bunch of missionaries take over central park and make a bunch of missionary snow men. Ha ha, I think I am so creative! But you better believe that it will be happening if we get to! If not, maybe I will just make one at a park by our house, although, after seeing Elf, a snowball fight in central park would be a blast as well. But maybe not with the elders, just because they throw hard and I don't feel like getting a snowball to the face!
This last week has been a bit rough for Hna. Anderson and I. We both were hit with some weird sicknesses that took a bit to get over. I think Brian's strep throat got sent to me through the computer! Ha ha, just kidding. I didn't get it near as bad as him but I was down for a bit. I will have to agree on what he says when talking about the blessings of health. It is so wonderful to feel healthy and well so that you can go on and preach the gospel. Luckily, this week we are both feeling a lot better and we are working hard. This week has already started out well and we are excited to see results!
This week we have decided to work on having confidence in our message. Sometimes when we contact people or we go tracting, we just feel like we bugging people and that they just don't care! But this week we have been trying hard to focus on the fact that we have a message that is going to change their lives! "This isn't a high school football game for goodness sakes, this is eternal salvation " (That is a quote Brian used in his last letter to me and I loved it!) We also have been focusing a lot on acting and not "reacting" to different situations. I think a lot of times we blame so much on "what other people do" when in reality, we have the choice to act on our own! No one can make us act or feel one way or another, we get to choose. Isn't that cool? We can always be happy! So, as Hermana Anderson and I walk down the street and get rejected 20 times in a row, we still keep smiles on and keep going, because we can act!
Anyway, I hope everything is going well where all of you are! I heard it is pretty cold all through the US so try to stay warm and I will be doing the same! Thanks for all your love! Until next week...
Con Amor- Hermana Passantino
PS: We got to teach a Buddhist guy this last week. It was interesting but he was really nice. We meet to many cool people out here!

Ususally the international sign for choking means I'm being SERIOUS!

Ha ha, oh man, my subject line makes me laugh. Let me explain the story. So, Mondays we have district meeting and then we all go out for lunch as a district. We went to this Diner called Georges which we all love so much. Anyway, we were all eating and all of the sudden, Hna Walker made Elder Hellburg laugh. He then started choking on his hamburger. He is always joking around and we all thought he was kidding. There were about 4 of us there that were CPR certified but no one thought he was serious. He finally stood up and made it very obvious that he couldn't breath. I was far away from him but stood up to run and help when when the "white hand book" rules popped through my head and I thought, "I can't touch him!" ha ha, well, I yelled at Elder Fox to help him and he just poked him, thinking he was still kidding. Finally as I was about to hurdle over the table to get to him, a little Hispanic man helped him out and the food was dislodged and he was ok. We all laughed about it later but it was scary at the time. Later, Elder Fox said, "We need to come up with a sign so we know that you aren't joking" Elder Hellburg then said, "Usually the international sign for choking means I'm being serious!" It was funny and we all laughed about it later but it was pretty scary at the moment!
This week has been wonderful! We now have three baptisms set up for March including Maribel! Woo hoo! We showed her the new Joseph Smith movie but she told us she has prayed about him early in the week and knew it was true! I am so excited! She is so rock solid and is going to make an amazing contribution in the church. She is already sharing it with so many people. I just love her!
We got hit with a lot of snow this last week. On Friday we spent two hours shoveling snow by the church. It was fun but we were soaked! The Wilhites made us muffins and hot chocolate when we were done which was awesome. I just love them! On Saturday we had another youth activity and we talked about the Title of Liberty and then made our own. We then went outside and had a giant snowball fight while "protecting" our titles of Liberty! It was a blast! Who knew you could have so much fun playing in the snow in a skirt! Speaking of the snow, east coast snow is the pits! It is soooooo slushy. In fact, there is this awkward kind of snow here that is like half way between snow and rain. We say "oh great, it's slushing outside!" It's funny. I am glad that winter is ending! I am hoping next winter I will be upstate in a car or something, I am sick of cold feet!
We had a miracle of 7 people at church on Sunday! That never happens. One was a new investigator named Jesus. He is awesome and I love speaking Spanish with him because I can understand and he teaches me a lot. We were going to pick him up for a family home evening and in our planner we put "Pick up Jesus" it made us laugh and so as our back up plans we put "hang out with the 3 Nephites" oh man, missionary humor is so lame but oh so funny!
We had interviews with President yesterday and those were wonderful! I love my mission President! He is truly called of God. I talked to him about how great the work is going here and it seems as though Sis walker and I might be staying another cycle together. There are no for sures but we are hoping, the work is in full force!
Update on moving, we are moving for sure but we will not be moving till the end of March or beginning of April. Hopefully I'll still be in here in the Bronx, transfers are in about 2 weeks!
One thought I would like to share is from a letter I received from my friend Elder Hendricks who is serving in Argentina right now. I'll just quote what he said, It's long but good!
"As Pres. Uchtodorf said in conference, "It is often the trial of adversity that we learn these most critical lessons that form our character and shape our destiny. The things the Lord can do with us are incredible. We just need to let him do it! Trust in him that he knows best! One last quote by Pres. Howard W Hunter. 'If our lives and our faith are centered on Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on Christ and his teaching, no other success can ever be permanently right' These are the days that shape who we will be the rest of our lives. And if we choose Christ and live his teachings, everything will turn out alright. And we will be as a diamond upon black velvet. Shining out despite all the challenges and struggles around us"
I loved that and I don't have much to add to it. It was a very uplifting letter.
I love you all! Thanks for being so wonderful and supportive. Have an awesome week!
Love, Hermana Passantino!