Morgans 5th letter & photos in 2013

Dear Family & Friends,
So I'm writing back home on Tuesday again, instead of Monday. Monday I had 2 appointments in Kaneohe, I had a Dentist appointment with Dr Millar, and then 3 hours later at Kamisugi Orthodontist. The Dentist filled in my Gap in between my teeth with composite material, the same thing they did to Annie. So now the Space is gone, he did a good job, it looks nice. Then i got an impression for a retainer at the Orthodontist. I picked up the Retainer Today (Tuesday), and they charged $350. I gave them my home Debit card, and she swiped the card, and it said it was expired. I didn't realize my card expired 12/2012. She asked if i had any other way to pay for it, and i said no. So she just typed my Credit Card number into the computer, and changed the expiration date, and it was able to charge the card. So i need to get my New Debit card from UCCU. Did they send it home mom? They should have.
 
We had to move our investigators baptism to February 10th, that's when the Bishop wanted it, and its gonna work better for Luke and Keana. Last Saturday we had a member named Kyle come out with us for 4 hours. He is 18 years old, and saving up for a mission. We were able to teach a bunch of lessons with him. and We taught a Former Investigator about Baptism, and then Invited him to be baptized, and he accepted! So now we have 3 Baptisms in February. Its amazing how the Lord prepares people, and its just our job to find them, and commit them, and help them along. We had amazing spiritual experiences with Kyle. He had a great time. On our way walking home, we walked past the Koki's house and they were having a huge party. They invited us 3 to come eat dinner at the party, and since we didn't have a dinner that night, we accepted. They had some delicious food there. And I saw a lady that i recognized from Waianae, so i chatted with her for a little bit.  Her name is Pinky, and she was one of our investigators Me and Elder Pincock were teaching back in Waianae. She knows the Church is True, and she knows the Book of Mormon is True, and most of her family are members, but she doesn't want to give up Drinking and Smoking. Then a little while later i ran into a guy named Warner, who also was one of our Investigators from Waianae. We had taught him the Restoration, but then he jumped off the face of the earth. We could not find him, or get in contact with him for like 1 1/2 months. It was good to see him, and i was able to talk to him a little bit. I encouraged them both to keep meeting with the missionaries back in Waianae.

On Saturday we had a Zone Flood in my area Auwaiolimu. So all 18 missionaries from the zone came to my area and tracted for 1 hour. We got a lot of Potential Investigators from that, so we need to go visit them this week and see if we can start to teach them.

In 1 week we have transfers, which i really hope we both stay, or else one of us are going to miss the 3 Baptisms we have coming up. Me and Elder Shepherd have both been here for 3 months, so Either one of us could go.

So our Church is under constructions, they are completely re-modeling the Bathrooms. They found tons of termite damage in the walls and roof and so they ripped everything out and are replacing everything. Some sub contractor is doing the job, and is taking a long time to do it. So its been a huge inconvenience to the ward. Bishop got Porto-Pottys for the ward to use. The Kitchen is connected to the Bathroom, so that's out of commission too. So we have had to cancel some ward activities that were going to happen at the church.

Umm so i cant think of anything else from this week. Hmmm let me see.. Yeah i think that's everything. I love you all, thanks for reading.

Love Elder Morgan James Durocher

Looking out the WWII Look Out at a bunker on Mt. Coco Head

Morgan on top of a WWII bunker on Coco Head Mtn.

Elder Yamashita & Morgan

Elders Orberg, Yamashita, Durocher, Miller, Richards, Dorff, Gardner

Atop a bunker at Mt. Coco Head, Oahu, Hawaii

Morgans Fourth Letter in 2013

Dear Family & Friends,
I don't even know where to start! Today we went on a fun hike called Coco Head. The hike was straight up a mountain, hiking up the old rail road tracks like stairs. The hike was so hard and tiring. there was a lot of people hiking too. When we got to the top we saw the Winch that would tow the carts up the mountain. Everything was all rusty. There were World War II Barracks at the top of the Mountain. And It had a really good view. Ill try to send some pictures. it took like 2 hours maybe to hike up, and down. 

Sunday night we had dinner with the Keawe's. He is the Young Men's president so just told us to come to the church to eat. The Youth had a Fireside and then were having dinner after the Fireside. So we just ate dinner with all of the Youth. It was really  fun to talk to and play around with all the kids. Then that night we went up to the Koki house to have a lesson with Luke and Keana. Luke is getting adopted by the Koki's, His parents abandoned him, and hes been living on the streets, or jumping family member to family member. The Koki's are trying to get custody through the court system. Keana is the Girlfriend of Maka, the Oldest son of the Koki's. They are both new investigators of ours. Luke and Keana have come to church a few times and are liking it. They are both 17 years old. We taught them the Restoration on Sunday night. We had the whole family involved in the lesson and the spirit was there really strongly. After the Lesson, Elder Shepherd Turned to Luke and Said " Luke will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood Authority of God?." That's the exact line the Quorum of the 12 Apostles want us to use when we invite someone to be baptized. He said Yes. Then Elder Shepherd looked at Keana and said "How Bout'ch U?." I was surprised with the Casualness of it, and him not using the line. But walking home he said he Forgot her name and just said How Bout'ch u?. After a second of silence, she said yes too. I'm really excited for them. They're Baptism is on January 31st. Please pray for them that they will be protected and strengthened as their baptism comes closer and closer. I'm excited this will be our first baptism in this Ward!! 

We had Zone Conference on Wednesday. Where 2 zones come together, and the Assistants to the President, Sister Dalton, and President Dalton, train us and teach us. That lasted for 8 hours long. Then That night we went to Outback Steak House. We went there because we broke our high water mark in the month of December. President Dalton says if anyone breaks their high water mark, he will take the whole zone out to Dinner. The High Water Mark for Honolulu Zone was 30 in one month, and we got 33 Baptisms in December, breaking it by 3! Dinner was really good, and we got a group picture there. President Dalton told us we had 1124 Baptisms as mission in 2012. The most the Island has ever had in 160 Years, since the Mission opened in 1850. The Mission had 166 Baptisms in the Month of December. It was really cool and spiritual having them all train and teach us at zone conference. 

Well i love you all, i hope all is going well. I sent a CD with the MRI in it because im not sure if the MRI place sent it to doctor Reichman yet. 

Elder Durocher

Morgan's Third letter in 2013

Dear Family & Friends,
So this past week has been a pretty good week. I'm sending my letter out on Tuesday instead of Monday because most of Monday was spent doing service and so we had no time left to email.

 So Monday all 20 missionaries in my zone met at the Tabernacle at 6:30 AM, and then left to the Waialae Country Club Golf Course to do Volunteer Work. The Golf Course is on Beach front property in Honolulu, and has a huge hotel called the Kahala Hotel for people to stay at. Its cost around $50,000 down to become a member, and then $500 a month. The Golf course hosted the Sony Open for 2013, which is a giant Professional Golf Tournament. The were about 40,000 people that came through that week to watch. Our job was to take down chairs and tables and stack them, so you can imagine how big the Job was. We worked for about 6 or 7 hours just stacking chairs and tables on pallets, and doing a few other jobs. They fed us Breakfast and Lunch. After we were done, they gave us a free Hat, and a Free polo golf shirt. They showed us the dolphins at the Hotel. The Dolphins were in a giant pond, pool thing. Their were 5 dolphins and we got to see them really close up. If you pay money, you can go swim and play with the dolphins. Then we went in the Kahala Hotel and they show us a hall that has a picture of some of the Celebrities that have stayed there. Their was so many famous people on the wall. We got home at about 3 pm, and then showered and got ready. We had dinner with the Saffery's at 5:30 pm, it was their son Shawns birthday, so we went to The Spaghetti Factory. It was super fun, their whole family was there, probably like 30 people.

So on Sunday, we had like 15 white tourist that came to church. We get tourist every once in a while, because our Church is Auwaiolimu, so its at the top of the alphabet, so  a lot come to our ward. 1 of them sat down next to me, so i started talking to him. His name is Dave Neilson, and he goes to school in Washington. He used to live in Salt Lake City, and Build houses in Cedar Hills. I found out he helped build most of the houses in our neighborhood in Cedar Hills. I was describing where i lived, and he knew exactly where it was. He Worked for Dakota Homes, which is the company that build a lot of the houses in Cedar Hills. He says he remembers building the Johnsons home. It was  really fun to talk to him. 

I got your box in the mail on Monday. The box was super beat up, but everything inside was fine, besides the cookies. They were turned into powder dust. Thanks for sending all the stuff mom. 

Last Monday for P-Day we went to the Zoo. We were there for about an hour and a half. All the Missionaries in the zone were there, and it was a really fun activity. I took a lot of pictures there, ill try to send some of them. 

I cant think of anything else. Have a good week everyone!

 Love Elder Morgan Durocher

Morgan and Elder Mafi from his Zone

Morgan on a Giraffe at the Honolulu Zoo

Morgan's Companion, Elder Shepherd

Elder Kipaimoa, Elder Durocher, Elder Gardner, Elder Orberg, Elder Ewar

Baby Blessing of Hayden Andrew Durocher

In other news of interest for the Durocher's, Nicholas & Michelle blessed their new baby, Hayden Andrew Durocher on Sunday, January 6, 2013.  He was born on September 25, 2012 in the early hours of the morning, weighing in at 6 pounds 10 ounces.  Hayden is a content happy child and Cambree loves her little brother.

Morgan's second letter in 2013

Dear Family
Im glad Mom got my box in the Mail this week. Yeah the Box was super heavy, and packed super tightly thats for sure. The Claw thing that you saw in there was from an In-Active Member back in Waianae. Its a Chicken fighting spur/claw. Its illegal to do, but a lot of people in Hawaii Fight Chickens. The Police dont really stop them either. Its super popular though. So they Tie the Spur onto the chickens foot, and then the chickens fight to the death. He gave me some of their old Spurs and thats what i sent home. I figured i didnt need to carry all that stuff around with me.

So this has been a pretty fun week. Monday was our Normal P-Day, and for New Years Eve we were allowed to stay up until 1AM. So 4 of us elders just played games late into the night. Tuesday was a Non-Proselyting day, so we had another day off. We went to a Members New Years Party and ate lots of yummy food. Then the Rest of the Day we just chilled as a zone, with all the missionaries in Honolulu. On Wednesday all the Missionaries in Honolulu went to Pearl Harbor to do Volunteer Work. We got there and went aboard the USS- Missouri. They had us move some flags around, and then sweep the deck again. Then me and 3 other people went somewhere else, and stripped paint off of some machine gun turrets. They took about 3 or 4 hours. Then we went on a mini Tour of the Battle Ship. We went inside of one of Turrets. It is a 17 Inch Barrel and like 50 feet long. It can hit targets accurately like 23 miles away. So we got to see where they loaded the Cannons and How they aimed it, and watched a short movie about it. Then we were able to go to the Top Tower where they drive the boat. It was really fun. Then we went down and look around in the Boat.

While touring the boat i saw someone that i thought looked kind of familiar. I asked one of the guys where they were from. And They Said Orem Utah. Then i asked The guy if he went to Lakeridge Junior High and He Said Yes. Then I asked if his name was Mckay Hatch. And He said yes! We used to be friends back in junior high, and i havent seen him since 9th grade when we moved. I was able to talk to him for a little while, he just got home from a mission near Turkey. He was on vacation with his family. Mckay's mom asked what My moms number was so she could call her and send her a picture of us. So after i left she called mom and had a nice little chat with each other. It was super awesome to run into him. Just the week before i was thinking about how Totally Awesome it would be to run into someone i knew back home in Utah. and It actually happened! What are the odds of that!?

Sounds like all the family is doing well, and the Baby Blessing went smooth. Good job Nick on the blessing.

On Saturday we had a zone exchange. So all the missionaries in the zone switched around with someone else. I ended up going with Elder Orberg who is in the McCully Chuukese Ward. I had some spiritual teaching experiences teaching some of the Chuukese people. Around 5 pm we got a call from a Rocky Mathias who was a member of the McCully ward. He said he needed some 20 Chairs for a Birthday party. We called up the bishop to make sure that was okay, and they we delivered the chairs to him. He Invited us to come eat with them so we did. I was talking to them for a while. I found out they lived in Utah for like 20 years, in Utah County. And They moved to Hawaii less than a year ago. Then they brought a giant plate of food. It had rice, Potato Salad, Spaghetti, Chuukese Banana with coconut milk on it, there were 3 colors of banana, redish, yellow, and a greenish one, there was mussel on the plate, Ribs, Shrimp, Pork, Teriyaki Chicken, a whole cooked fish, and then a Raw fish with the head still attached and the Eyes still in the head. It looked like it just died. I ate everything else just fine, and then i got to the Raw Fish. It was huge, like 14 inches long. But i ate it, it actually wasnt as bad as i thought. I was proud of myself. Then they Served Desert which was Pudding, and Cake. It was totally a Chuukese dinner.

Thanks for the News from home, and that analogy was cool to hear. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder Durocher

From the Tower on the USS Missouri, Honolulu, HI

Elder Dorff in front of the famous 'Sailor kissing woman' statue from the photo

Morgan First Letter of 2013

The Picture is on Top of Diamond Head Hike, its a really popular tourist hike (with Elder Yamashita, son of General Authority, Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita.

Dear Family

I was so much fun talking to everybody on Christmas Day. It was great to hear everybody's voice, and to hear from everybody. It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to the next time i get to call home for mothers day. 

So I've been having some really weird dinners over here in Auwaiolimu. Haha try to pronounce that word!! :) We had a Big Slab of Salmon which was okay, beside them having put 2 inches thick of Mayonnaise over the whole fish. and Then baking it. Then tons of Raw Onions on top of the Mayo. It was not the best way I've ever had Salmon before.

For New Years Eve tonight, we will celebrate it as a Zone with all the missionaries, and we are allowed to stay out until 1, and then wake up at 8AM. Tuesday is another Non-Proselyting Day. And THen Wednesday we are Going to Pearl Harbor, on board the USS- Missouri to do service again. Im excited for the next few days, they should be really fun. 

Today i bought a Jesus Book. A Jesus Book is the New Testament Translated into Hawaiian Pigeon. Heres a funny Verse. 

John 3:16

Jesus say, "God wen get so plenny love an aloha fo da peopo inside da world, dat he wen send me, his one an ony Boy, so dat everybody dat trus me no get cut off from God, but get da kine life dat stay to da max foeva." (John Tell Bout Jesus 3:16)

Haha ive been flipping through it a little bit. its pretty funny stuff. 

The work has been going kind of slow in this new area. Hopefully it will pick up soon. We have a referrals from people that will hopefully get baptized, they have the potential. I think walking so much in this area has been helping my back feel better. Except for i get super sweaty every day. It finally cooled down here in Hawaii. I can manage the Temperature now.

I forgot to say in the last letter. But we had a Christmas Eve Dinner, and Elder Shepherd my companion was Santa Claus!!! All the Kids were Hawaiian. So a White Santa scared the crap out of most of the little kids. He made like 10 kids scream and cry, when the parents made them get close to Santa Claus for a picture. It was super super funny!!

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Me on the Side, Sadie Saffrey in the Middle. The Saffreys are an awesome family from the ward, we eat at their house every single Monday. 

A gigantic Centipede!! They can get up to like a Foot Long here in Hawaii, this was just a baby one!

 

This was on our Hike to the Top of Mount Olympus i think its called. We hike for like 5 hours and finally got the the top. This picture is like 1 third of the way up the mountain. I hung my camera on a branch and did the timer, which is why the picture is tilted haha. When we finally got to the top of the mountain, there was thick fog. if the fog wasn't there we could have seen like half the Island.

Me, Elder Yamashita (The son of Elder Yamashita in of the  Quorum of 70), and Elder OrBerg

My Retainer broke again. Sister Scott wants me to ask you what you want me to do. Either i can get it glued again and hope it doesnt break again. Or i heard about a procedure where they grind a slit acrossed the back of my front two teeth, and put a wire in the slit and glue it in. Then My teeth wont hit it because the wire will be kinda inside of my teeth. Just a thought?

Any word from Doctor Reichman with my Back MRI??

I sent a package home, of mostly just junk i don't want to have to carry around with me everywhere. There is a bunch of papers i don't need. A Book of Mormon in Samoan, Tongan, and Hawaiian. And Some Samoan Language learning books. And My Quad Scripture set, because i never have used it. I already have one and dont need 2. I sent a Hawaiian Calender, a Wooden Rice Spoon, and a Frog for Mom for Christmas and just for fun. And there's the 2 watches in there, and a stocking you sent me