ATM..........

This week has been normal for the most part. We had specialized training last Wednesday from 8am to 5pm. President Gelwix talked a lot about the ATM (Awake The Members) and how we can help the members in the Fresno North Stake do missionary work. He wanted us to customize are lessons and to work even more with the members. Something my trainer always likes to tell members is that when Jesus Christ comes 2 things will be going on.... Temple Work and .....wait for it.....MISSIONARY WORK!  Halfway through the training all the missionaries got one on one with our stake president (President Witt). He told us that out of the 11 stakes in this mission we beat all other stakes in different categories except investigators and so he is going to talk to all the bishops and push the ATM.

Yesterday during ward council our Bishop asked us to invite the young men in our priests quorum (who are seniors) to find a friend that will be baptized by the end of the summer. So fast forward and we sat in the priests quorum class and we read Alma 16: 16 which talks about who the lord has prepared the hearts of the people to receive the word. And I  told the young men.. " will you find a friend that will be baptized by the end of the summer". It was pretty funny because most of their eyes became huge haha....they all accepted and I left them with promised blessings that when they go on their missions they will be that much more prepared to teach the gospel.

Right now my companion Elder Robb and I are teaching 4 investigators and we need to get at least 20! So when we ride on our bikes we talk to everyone and anyone about the church. We were able to get 4 referrals from our Zone Leaders and we were able to set up an appointment with one of them. An 11 year old girl named Alora will probably be baptized by the end of June. She loves the church. Her grandma and grandpa are members but her mom is less active. She will be attending girls camp this year which is great.  That was my week.

I got to go but I will talk to you soon!
Love,
Elder DeMarco

May21, 2012

Hey dad!  This week has been really great.  I got my new companion Elder Robb! He's from highland Utah.  He was a zone leader before and he leaves in 3 months. He reminds me a lot of Elder Gagne because he is a skinny white boy haha. I do miss my trainer Elder Fisi'ihoi but I will get to see him during mission conference on June 16th (That’s Elder Blanchard’s Birthday!!!) So it’s not too bad.

 We recently got 2 new investigators from the Missionaries in Orchardview.  One of them is a 50 year old man named Charles and he has a great desire to be baptized but he has trouble understanding a lot.  So we are going to take it slow with him and see how things work out.  The other guy is a referral from the YSA missionaries and we tried to meet him yesterday but he wasn't home.  So we will try tomorrow afternoon and see if we can get him.

 Other than that not much really happened this week.  I had dinner with the “D” family yesterday and Sister “D” has a Corgi Welsh named Looey.  He is about 2 years old .... she takes him out to dog shows and he has 14 majors.  He needs 1 more in order for her to start breeding him.  I told her about uncle Bruce and how he loves Corgi's haha.  At the end of dinner I asked if I could take some pictures and she said yeahh.  So make sure you tell Bruce and show him the pictures too.

 Hope everyone is doing well and thanks for the pictures of Josh, Sam, Ashley and her prom date… they are pretty cool. Talk you soon.

 Love,

Elder DeMarco

Great Stake Conference

This week has definitely been eventful but the busiest days this week
were Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Wednesday: I went on exchanges with Elder Prosbt, a Spanish speaking
missionary and he came to my area.  It was fun leading and being with
him.  We went and saw some former investigators and then helped a
family in the ward move from 6-9pm and boy did that family have a lot
of stuff ha-ha.
Thursday:  I went on exchanges with Elder Knudsen a Hmong missionary
from NEW YORK! He came to my area and most of the day we taught
members and less actives.  We helped another sister in our ward move
from an upstairs apartment to a down stair room so that was pretty
easy.
Sunday: We had stake conference and it was really great. One of the
messages was about service and that we should ask ourselves each day
"who did we give service too".  Right after stake conference me and
Elder fisi'ihoi went to the Bishop’s office because 5 men in our ward
were receiving the melchezidek priesthood and they wanted us to be a
part of it. We were probably there for at least an hour till we
finished but it was worth everyone second. Bishop Pauline asked each
of the men to bear their testimony and it was an amazing thing to see
how far some of these men have come from and how grateful they are to have
the gospel in their life. It strengthened my testimony knowing that
because we have the priesthood we are able to truly bless our families
life and those around us. Right as we were going to leave Bishop
Pauline pulled us aside and told us that we had a big part in helping
those men come unto the gospel and he thanked us for helping them
prepare themselves to receive the Melchezidek priesthood.
Now to talk about Mother’s day :)
So I will be calling around 5pm California time so that will be around
8pm New York time and I will be calling moms house phone and if you
see this number..(sorry…had to delete that part out) It’s me haha.  So talk to you soon.
Before I forget, another Apostle... Elder M. Russell Ballard is coming
to our mission June 16th!!!! (thats Aaron’s birthday) How awesome is
that?!?!?
Love,
Elder DeMarco
P.S .Where is Aaron and Brian’s blog haha?