Morgan's letter 23 / 2014 (forgot a weeks entry) Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii 6-16-14

My Ohana,

Am I really sitting at the computer emailing my family again???.....What the Heck. Well i dont even know what to say. This whole week is like a big huge blur! It was the Last week of the Transfer, and ME and Elder Morco were working our butts off trying to get everything done to wrap up the transfer. We had lots of service, lots of awesome lessons, and lots of fun!! 

We found out transfer news................. Me and Elder Morco are STAYING TOGETHER!!! That means that Elder Morco is going to kill me, ( He will be my last companion). So we are super excited because their is tons of good stuff going for us this transfer. We have a bunch of Amazing Investigators that are for sure going to get Baptized this transfer, or I will Die trying. ( Haha its a joke cuz im gonna die this transfer haha =P)

So we have an investigator Kitana, she is going to be baptized this coming Saturday June 22. She is a 16 yr old girl who the young women's really fellowship into our ward. So we have been teaching her, and review the Baptismal Interview Questions this week with her. She is super solid and awesome! Pray that all will go well.

Lindsey and Dominick are doing good, we had a couple lessons with them. One on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. After the lesson she told us that she really wants to be baptized. She told us that she wants to wait because she wants to get baptized with her husband, and not leave him behind. Dominick is not ready yet, he wants to learn everything and has a few concerns were trying to work with. But i feel like they can be ready this transfer to pray for them. 

We Had a really amazing lesson with a 13 year old boy named LJ. He is not a member, but his Grandma and Grandpa are less active in the church. So we taught him the first lesson, the Restoration this week. We had lots of visuals and pictures in the lesson to make sure he could pay attention. He asked lots of questions and really learned a lot too. 

Heavenly Father is really blessing us in the Wahiawa 2nd ward, he has prepared and provided so many people for us to teach, we just gotta get out there and find them. I'm so grateful to be a missionary, i love visiting people, and talking to people. And getting to teach about Jesus Christ, what a special opportunity i have. Its kind of a bitter sweet feeling coming to the end of my mission. I have 6 weeks left and im super sad to leave the Islands, and sad to no longer be a missionary anymore. But i am super excited to see all of your beautiful faces again, and spend time with my wonderful family. I love you all, thanks for everything. 

Love Elder Morgan Durocher

Ethan's letter 23 / 2014 (forgot a weeks entry) Viedma, Argentina 6-19-14

Dear Family,    

 I cant believe it has been another week and I am here at the computer again writing for the past week. It was a pretty good week here. We went out working last Monday at 6pm when P-Day was over, and we were contacting. The first door that we knocked someone came out, her name is Veronica. She said that Missionaries had passed by a couple weeks back or so and never came again. She told them that weekends are the best to find them at home, but they never passed by, so we set up a appointment to pass by Saturday, but before we left we were able to teach a quick lesson on the Restoration and have a prayer with her. It was really awesome. 

         Then we continued contacting in the same street and a half a block or so away we contacted another house, so it was the second house we contacted for the day. Out came a women named Natalia and she said right of the bat, "want to come in??" We were like YEAH!!! haha it was pretty awesome, and her husband was home to, but we just talked to her. We started talking to her and she says she always talks to the religions that pass by, so she let us talk with her. We got to know her a little, she has a son Mateo(Matthew) whose 6 years old, and Sebastian whose 4 years old. Mateo has Epilepsy and doesn't have movement of his arms or legs. He basically can only move his head a little bit, his eyes, and his mouth. More then that not really. He cant talk, see, or hear. She said its because of something she did during her pregnancy, that guilt really weighs her down. We don't know why she says that but she says it was her fault that he is like this. We also found out that she lost both of her parents and she is having struggles in her relationship with her Husband. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and gave her the Book of Mormon and marked 3 Nephi 11 to read. 

      We passed by two days later and she hadn't read or anything really so she committed to read.  We passed by Saturday Night and she had kinda read the pamphlet of The Plan of Salvation, but she had look in the Book of Mormon in the bible dictionary or topical guide in the Book of Mormon to find scriptures about The Plan of Salvation and she was reading in Alma 39-42 and marked it up with a color pencil and was sharing what she liked. We then asked if she prayed about the Book of Mormon and she said that Yes, and as she was reading, thinking, and praying that she knew the words are the truth and the Book of Mormon is she. She also had asked for Forgiveness for her Sins and Wrongs in the life and she felt like she got the answer that its the truth and she was forgiven. She had a bright LIGHT in her Eyes and she was smiling like crazy. She said that she would be coming to the Church, but.... she didn't make it.. we aren't sure why though.. but we will pass by to find that out. It was amazing to see that Light, which is the Light of Christ enter her eyes. it was Amazing!!!

   THE WORLD CUP!!! Wow yesterday was Fathers Day, Happy Fathers Day DAD!!!!! and also Argentina had there first game in the tournament. NO ONE WAS IN THE STREETS!!!! No one wanted to hear because they were with there family and watching the game.... haha it was a long long day and we didn't have much luck... but Argentina WON!!!  When Messi (he is said to be the best soccer player in the world) scored and the Apartment building that we were in went CRAZY!!!! I thought that the buildings were going to collapse because of how loud and crazy and jumping and hitting things. Man it was so crazy and it lasted for minutes! everyone of every age yelling GOAL!!!!!!!!  haha now that was an great experience to see and hear. 

  Dad Thank you for all that you do for me and for the family! I am so grateful for you in my life! I Love You so much!!!

  Love you All!!!! 

Con Amor Elder Ethan C. Durocher!!

Morgan's letter / photos 24 / 2014 Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii 6-23-14

Aloha Family,

We had an awesome week! I wanted to share a little bit about our baptism on Saturday. So The baptism started at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. We had some youth giving the talk on Baptism, and the Talk on Holy Ghost. They did an Awesome Job. She was baptized by Bro Alailima from the Ward. Then the 2nd Counselor talked about his own conversion back in Peru. And our bishop shared some closing remarks, the spirit was their so strong, Testifying of the Truth of whats happening. And i just remember such a special peace that was there, the spirit was so strong. Then we had dinner afterwards. We ended up having 4 dinners that night, all of them different parties that we got invited too. And Here in Hawaii you show respect by eating all the food that is offered you. So holy smokes i ate more food then i ever remember eating before, i was so stuffed! We got so much leftovers to take home, that it all wouldn't even fit in our fridge. Elder Morco confirmed her the next day at church.

We had some awesome service projects this week. This morning for about 4 hours from 9-1 pm, we helped the Plouzek family. They needed a room painted, to me and Elder Morco got to work painting the whole room, and also helping take all the boxes from the Attic to the Front room for the movers to grab. It was awesome to do service, even on a P-Day! :)

So we had a lesson with Lindsay and Dom on Friday. We talked story for a little while, then we invited them to come to Kitana's baptism on Saturday. I look over at Lindsay and she is smiling, nodding yes, and happy, i could tell she wanted to go. Then i look over at Dom, and i see a frown, and i instantly knew he was going to make an excuse that he couldn't go. But what came out of his mouth shocked me even more. He told us that he didn't want to investigate our church anymore. That their are doctrines that he doesn't agree with. He said that he prayed about it, and feels like God wants him to keep looking at other churches. We shared our testimonies and invited him to pray about it more. He said we can keep coming over to hang out with them, but he doesn't want us to teach anymore. I think maybe someone at work told him some anti-mormon stuff. Because he has been progressing and growing so much! He quit drinking, he said multiple times that he feels like this is the right place, so i don't know what happen. Satan got him distracted, I'm not sure. Were not whats up with Lindsay, cuz she knows the church is true, and knows the book of Mormon is true. 

So pray for them both, its so hard to see someone who is so close fall away. 

Well i love you all, thanks for everything! :) 

Love Elder Morgan Durocher

 This is us Elders at Pearl Harbor doing service! :)

 You get a grey pearl harbor shirt if you have volunteered on the Ship and done service 10 times, so we all got a shirt!

 This is a picture of the Baptism that we had this last Saturday

 This is me and the Plouzek family! They are moving to Virginia, they are in the Navy

Ethan's letter / photos 24 / 2014 Viedma, Argentina 6-23-14

Dear Family,  

 The Mondays come faster and faster! We had a pretty good week, the World Cup has made the work harder and we haven't been able to teach many people due to that... We did teach though so that's good! We taught a guy whose name is Marcelo and his wife Pamela. The are of the beliefs of Buddhism, but are the kindest people I have met here in Viedma. They believe that the most important is to do good and be a good person. That they need to be the best person that they can be and help others and be nice to all that they meet! I am so grateful for the chance i had to talk to them and understand a little more about what they believe. We taught them about The Restoration of The Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it was lost at one point in time and then it was brought back and Restored onto the earth. They wanted to learn all they could so they could understand better our beliefs and so at least the message is with them and in can start to work in their souls. We we pass by this week to talk a little more.

    The Zone Leaders did a dive bomber on our house and left their house just to live with us because they felt that's what the spirit was telling them... not really sure why but that's whats going on in the house... Its hard to get to our studies on time when we have limited time to shower, get ready, etc.. but I'm looking at it as positive as I can! I just hope that I can better myself every day that I have.

   Now for what I learned in the scriptures...

    1 Samuel 16:7 READ THIS

    It talks about how Christ looks at our Heart, he doesn't look at what we look like or our weaknesses, HE LOOKS AT OUR HEART! Our heart has our true hopes, dreams, intentions, thoughts, loves, etc... He doesn't look at who we are right now, but he looks at what he knows that we can become!

    Then the next one what in-

   1 Samuel 17 READ THIS(or just the story of David and Goliath)

      Goliath is like the Challenges, Sins, Worries, Problems, etc.. in our life that we face and at times they look as "Goliath." They look HUGE and as if we couldn't over come them, every part of our body and sometimes others say that we cant overcome it or beat it. That's what EVERYONE said to David! They told him that he is crazy and was going to die, Then Saul came and gave him a bunch of stuff(armor and weapons) and David put it on to see what it was like, and then took it off because he wasnt used to it. He was used to his sling and rock, he used the talents and Items that God Gave Him to overcome the challenge infront of him. On top of that he KNEW that with God on his side that he would be able to do anything! He changed it so that Galiath look like the small one and that he was the GIANT because he had the Lord on his side.

   I know that this is true for us, that when we confide in our families and the things that God has given us, we can overcome ANY problem or challenge that comes our way. I know that The Savior is here for everyone of us and we just need to let him in as he is knocking on the door to come in and help. Please Please Please trust in the Lord thy God with ALL Thy HEART!!! Trust in the people who are there to help and God has given us to overcome the world.

I love you all so Much!!!!!

Con Amor, Elder Ethan C. Durocher!!

 Ethan had xrays taken for clues to his Migraine headaches.  Turns out he has Sinusitis, Arthritis and his neck is too strait!  Interesting!

Morgans letter & photos 22 / 2014 Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii June 10, 2014

Aloha!

We had an awesome week! Let me first explain why I am writing on Tuesday! :) So On Monday we started a service project at 7 am, we did some yard work for an older couple. That lasted til about 9 am. Then we headed over to another persons house to do more service. So we were riding a golf cart a couple weeks ago and the axle broke. So the member has a friend who is a backyard mechanic, he found an old rusty axle that matched. So we helped the mechanic out however we could, and eventually we got the axle swapped over and the new one on and the wheel back on. We got done with that at about 2pm. Our Zone was meeting at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) for out P-Day, so we headed over to Laie. We had fun at the PCC, and saw all the Shows, and all the villages and the Polynesian dancing. Awesome P-Day! Then we headed home for dinner, and didn't have time to email. So since we did service yesterday, we get to email today to make up for it! :) It was an awesome p-day, we were busy the whole day! Which made for a great day!

So Friday and Saturday we were helping out at Youth Conference all day long. Youth Conference was supposed to be like a mini MTC, so all the people learn how to be missionaries. So they asked the Full-Time Missionaries (US) to help out. The 100 or so kids were split into 6 different missions. And the goal was to teach them how to tract, so they could go out into the community and invite people to come to the Family History Fair that the youth were doing Saturday. So we gave 6 different 35 minute long trainings. Our Training was to help the youth learn how to talk to people about the gospel, and how to tract. So first be blindfolded 1 companion, and the other had to guide them through the obstacle course. We were trying to distract them and confused them. Then we talked about the importance of the Spirit, and listening to it, and following it as we are doing missionary work. Then we did a role play in front of them. Then we had them knock on doors and talk to fake investigators. Then at the End of the Day, all the 100 kids went out into the community knocking on doors for an hour, and inviting them to the Family History Fair. 

Saturday was the Family History Fair, tons of people came out to learn about family history, and to do their own family history too. Their was like 10 different stations, with the last station the missionary table. Where we talked to people about the Plan of Salvation, and why we care about family history, and what we do in the temples. What a great activity!

Most exciting thing that happen to us this week is..........OUR INVESTIGATORS CAME TO CHURCH!!!! =)  We are teaching Lindsey and Dom, a young couple. They came to our ward for the first time, and they loved it!! So many people came and talked to them and helped them feel welcome! I have never seen someone so fellow shipped and welcomed before! I was so happy and excited, what a great day!! 

I love you all, hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Morgan Durocher

 Youth Conference - Mini MTC

Me and My Bro Elder Dzieman

 Part of the Zone

 Visit to the PCC for P-Day  - Tahiti rocks!

 Dinner appointment in the mountains above Honolulu