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

 

      

Busy Week!

So this week has been getting better. A family in the ward had 3 referrals to give us so we will see them sometime this week. Our goal this week is to find 2 new investigators and will be doing more street contacting/ working with members. By the way, thank you for the pictures. I enjoyed them.....ask James if he knows how to smile....and if he gives you a smart alick response, tell him to "kick rocks" ha-ha.

Things I did this week:

 

On Wednesday, 20 new missionaries entered into the mission office and I did a thing called "open your mouth". This is where you bring the new missionaries out and start talking to people and giving out book of Mormon to them. I had Elder "L" with me ( at that time I didn't know he was going to be my trainee). It was a lot of fun.....I remembered when I came in and how I was nervous to go out and talk to people ha-ha. For the rest of the afternoon I was with Elder "J" and we worked in the YSA ward till Thursday morning when we got our trainee's.

 

On Thursday all the trainers came in and Elder "G" was there ! It was really good to see him and we talked a lot about what's happening in each other's area's.( Elder "G" was with me in the MTC). All the trainers were in a room for about 1 hour waiting to get the trainees. While we were waiting, a senior missionary named Elder "M"(he's from Pennsylvania) came in and bore his testimony because him and his wife are done with their mission. They are heading back home in a week or so. He talked about how he was Catholic before he joined the church when he was 30 and what a big change he had to make in his life. He told us the importance of our work as missionaries and to never give up.  The spirit was so strong when he spoke and the room was completely quiet. I got a picture with him and his wife but I forgot to bring my camera ...sorry.

 

Elder "L" is from......Ephraim ,Utah .  He is a really nice elder and is willing to work. It's weird to be a trainer because you do a lot of talking at 1st and I didn't realize how many things I need to teach him. ha-ha.  One of the things about being a trainer is all the meetings you have to go to. Next week there is a trainer/trainee meeting and the week after that I have to go to a 2 day leadership training which probably last from 8am to 5pm. You gotta love those meetings.

 

That was pretty much my week.

I hope all is going well in New York. I will talk you to all later and tell mom and grandma I love them.

Love,

Elder DeMarco

I'm a Trainer Now!

Hey dad and everyone! I need to start off by saying that's so cool that Tyler had a lot of people at her baptism. I bet she will remember that forever. That's cool that Josh helped at the pumpkin patch. Also I can't believe that Brother Madsen is the 2nd counselor! That's so awesome. He is going to do a great job. I'm glad that grandma is feeling better, did she enjoy her birthday this year?

Missionary work time....so me and my companion Elder Braithwaite are doing fine we get along great. He is a really good teacher and he is fun to be around. We only have 2 investigators but we found 2 potentials later on in the week. While I was on exchanges with Elder Scott, President Gelwix called me around 7:40 in the morning and asked me to be a trainer. I accepted. I am really excited to be one but I'm also pretty nervous too. I hope I will be a good trainer to him. President Gelwix said being a trainer is one of the most important jobs to do on a mission because you either make or break the missionaries experience. I will be staying with my trainee for at least 2 transfers which will be till December 12th. I will get him this Thursday and I will continue to be in the Clovis area.

My companion Elder "B", is going to another ward tomorrow with his new companion Elder "C". I'm definitely going to miss him a lot and wow this transfer has gone by sooooo fast. That was pretty much my week. Make sure you tell the Gagne's that I have received Elder Gagne's letter. Oh yeah me and Elder "B" had a car for 4 day so that was greattttttt! But now it's back to biking.... I hope to hear from you soon.
love,
Elder DeMarco

Learned lot of things at Zone Conf.

Hey Dad and Grandma and everyone else!

This week has been really good. The talk I gave on Sunday went well and the members enjoyed it. I talked on missionary work and not being afraid to talk to others about it. We are going to have dinner with the Bishop tonight and find out different ways we get can more investigators.

Yesterday we had a Zone Conference with my zone (The Fresno East Stake), Fresno North Stake, Fresno West Stake and Fresno Stake. Elder Golden of the 70 came and we did a question and answer meeting. We talked a lot about revelation and how we receive it.  This video talks about it in a simple way..I hope you like it. http://mormonchannel.org/mormonmessages?v=1737858986001

We also talked more about how to "liken the scriptures" to our investigators and members. It was neat to see how much it brings the spirit in when you use the stories from the bible and book of Mormon to relate to others. It helps them gain a stronger testimony and understand that they are not alone in their trials.

Transfer calls are coming up this Saturday but I'm probably going to stay in the Clovis 7th ward which is fine with me.

Make sure you take pictures of the baptism and of Uncle Bruce's wedding.  I forgot to bring my camera but I will send some pictures next time.

Talk to you all later,

Love,
Elder DeMarco

Mini Miracle

Hey dad! How are you doing today. You having fun at work? Let's see...not much happened this week but we kinda got a new investigator that is going to be baptized. Mini miracle: so a family in the ward called the "O's" wanted us to teach their friend "M" at their house. So we set up an appointment to go see them yesterday. "M" is 23 years old and is married with 2 kids. We went and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. She understand a lot of it and she wanted to learn more. The spirit was really strong throughout the lesson and she said she wanted to be baptized. There is only a slight problem...she lives outside our area soooo... the missionaries will finish teaching her. My Companion and I were a little sad to learn she didn't live in the area but it's all good as long as she gets baptized. Also the less active family we have been working with came to church last Sunday. It was great. They really enjoyed it and hopefully they will come back next Sunday. We are going to stop by their house this week to talk to them about their daughter so we get set a baptismal date with her. Also my companion and I, along my ward mission leader, are going to speak in sacrament meeting this Sunday about missionary work. So wish me luck. I'm going to be using D&C 112: 1-13. Well, that was my week in a nutshell and don't worry... I will make sure I help the members here, I am a man of my word. Love Elder DeMarco

The Lord's Vineyard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week I worked in the Lord's Vineyard. (Jacob 6:3). The church owns 80 acres of land with a bunch of grapes on it which they turn into raisins. Members go out during January for pruning, August for picking and September for rolling. So I helped out with the picking.  Basically you cut the grapes and put them on a big piece of paper so that they can dry in the sun and eventually become raisins. Fun facts....the church has been doing this for 50 years and California produces most of the worlds raisins. It was fun do be a part of it and I got to eat some really tasty grapes.

Also our mission known as the "Lord's Vineyard" because we really do work in the vineyard.
 
Yesterday we went to the Temple.  When I went to the desk my trainer Elder Fisi'ihoi came out of a room and I was so happy to see him.  It was really good to see him for a bit.  It was nice to understand so much more at the temple. I felt more of that peace and comfort when going to the temple and I need it after working in the sun all day haha.

 That was my week pretty much we are still trying to get more investigators to teach and will be meeting with a potential tomorrow so we shall see how that goes.

And I will send you a close up of me in the next email.
I got to go talk to you later.

 Elder DeMarco