Fun Activities!

So last week was normal...the weather is getting cooler except is going to rain more so I need to get my rain coat out. Which reminds me that I need an umbrella because I lost my old one somehow. I really liked the one you bought me so if you could get that one, I would be super grateful. My cold is slowly going away, I had a cough and stuffy nose. The missionaries here all must get a flu shot so I'm getting mine tomorrow at CVS or somewhere else.
  -Yesterday we had a quad zone activity. It was way FUN! took some pictures....there was a lot of different sports going on and a lot of good food like hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and everything else. There was also a pumpkin carving contest. I lost the contest but there is always next year. By the way....if you are looking to send anything...I would love some TIES! But the ties cannot be pink or paisly. Tell Joshua to stop being a bum and email me. Fun fact of the day...when I was talking with President Gelwix he said that there is around 58,000 missionaries all over the world right now and by the end of next summer there will be around 80,000! How great is that? He also said that salt lake called him and asked if he could handle more missionaries and he said yes. So...in this mission there is 224 so we will probably get around 300 next year.
  -Elder "L" and I are teaching 2 people right now and our goal is to find 1 new investigator a week so that means more tracting and street contacting. That was my week! I hope everyone is staying alive in New York. Love you all! Make sure you invite your friends to the Ward Halloween party.
Love, Elder DeMarco

October 16, 2012

Stuff that happened this week:

-Leadership was so great! I learned a ton of stuff about what I can do to become a more effective missionary/trainer. we had a special guest Greg McKeown ( he is Mormon) come talk with us. He is a business guy who travels around the world helping big businesses with their problems. He's written a couple books and stuff. President Gelwix is friends with him so that's how he came here.  We were with him for about 7 hours and all talked about the mission and how to reach our goal for baptisms.

He told us how to improve ourselves .....he said "less, but better" meaning we need to eliminate the non-essentials and focus the important principles. We need to get rid of the things which distract us and become better listeners so we can baptize! I learned more stuff but it would take forever to talk about it haha.

- We found 2 new investigators this week.  One who is around 22 years old and the other  is around 65 years old.

-Yesterday we brought "J"  to go to the temple, she wanted to go see it because she learned about it during stake conference . She is good friends with a family in my ward so the family took us all to the Fresno temple.  We were able to go inside the waiting room so she was able to see that.  We also were able to talk to one of the members of the temple presidency (President Ashcraft, I knew him pretty well because he was in my last area aka Peachwood). He talked to her about why the temple is a sacred place and how only certain people can come in. At first it was hard for her to understand it but after many questions she understood why. Overall she had a good experience and next Monday we will continue to teach her.

That was pretty much my week in a nutshell. Tell grandma that I got the package and thank you for it. I really do like it and so does my companion elder "L".  

See you later.
Love,
Elder DeMarco

Two reasons for a great week!

Hey there everyone!!!! So this week was really good for 2 reasons. Reason number 1, we found a new investigator named Bernard, he is an older gentleman who we found through street contacting. We taught him some of the restoration and he seems interested in learning more. We are going to his house tomorrow to give him a Book of Mormon. Reason number 2, the weather here is fantastic!....It's around 86 degrees so it's easier to bike and there are more people walking outside. Our goal this week is to contact at least 10 people every day.

 Yesterday we had trainer/trainee meeting. It went really well. We started off by having the trainers go in one room and the trainee's go into another. In the trainer room we each talked about our trainee's and what we like about them and what we are struggling to teach them.  President Gelwix came in and gave us training on giving our very best to the Lord. He also told us we should be squeezing every drop of joy we can out of this mission. Then he talked about making wise choices and how everything effects what we do right now and for the rest of our life.

 General conference was great as usual.  I can't believe missionaries only need to be 18 to go on a mission and if your speaking English you will only be in the MTC for 2 weeks. It's going to be interesting to see how many missionaries come in now. I know a couple young men here who are already working on their papers. Did you enjoy general conference?

 Tell Tyler that I do love my mission and that I am making many friends here from all around the world.

That was pretty much my week. Hope all is going well. Love you all.

Love,
Elder DeMarco

 

October 2, 2012

 

Hey there grandma and dad and everyone else!

I heard the wedding went well which I am glad to hear about. I have some good news....we have a new investigator from the Assistants.  Her name is “J” and she has a desire to be baptized.  Her parents won’t let her because they think she should check out other churches and see what they have to offer. So our job will be to soften the hearts of the parents.

 This last Sunday was great...after church we went to our ward mission leaders house to make some cake for some less active members and some investigators to show our love for them. Once we finished making them we went to the hospital to drop them off to a less active man named Brother “C”. He recently had surgery for his leg and so he's been in the hospital for awhile. He called my ward mission leader on Saturday and asked if he would stop by. So we talked with him for a bit and are going to give him a blessing later on in the week. It was really great to see my Ward mission leader (Brother “L”) live up to his responsibility as a home teacher and a priesthood leader. He has a sincere care for the people around and always tries to do his best to help them in any way possible. We then proceeded to go to his ex-wife’s house because she has been taking care of him for awhile and we thought she might want a little dinner. So we made her some soup. When we gave it to her she was so thankful for it. Brother “L” told her that God knows who she is and what she needs, he said  “God knows your ex-husband. When I got his phone call on Saturday I was a surprise because I’m usually not at the house. After I finished talking to Brother “C” I felt the impression that wow, God knows who he is. He knows that he is in the hospital and needs help, He knows you individually from everyone else. So remember that there is a purpose in all things and the God loves you and cares for you." The spirit was truly strong in the room and I knew that she felt it. When we got back in the car I told Brother “L” that I knew she felt something, he says "I know she did too". It made me then realize how God knows each and every one of us and will place certain people in our path so that we may bless them. My testimony was strengthened after that day. Though it was a small gesture it made the world of difference to me to see that.

 
Other than that not much else has happened this week. I hope everyone will watch General Conference this weekend it’s going to be good.

I will talk to you all soon.

Love,

Elder DeMarco