Elder Jacob Kartchner
Arcadia California Mission
170 West Duarte Road
Arcadia, CA 91007
Write soon and often!
More pictures coming soon...
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Where is Arcadia?
Like me, some of you might be wondering where Arcadia, California is. So I thought I'd put a little map on here where we can all see that it's right near Los Angeles. I guess Jake will be enjoying some milder weather as we head into winter. We'll get his new address posted this week, but in the meantime, you can still write to him through dearelder.com. Writing to missionaries is a great Sunday activity. :)
Monday, October 11, 2010
Visa Update and Spanish Testimony
Jake leaves the MTC tomorrow, but he still hasn't gotten his Mexican visa. While he waits, he has been (temporarily) assigned to Arcadia, California. He has a great attitude about it even though he just found out last Thursday where he would be going. In a letter to me (older sister, Summer) he said:
"My new call is...Arcadia, California! It's going to be awesome. I see this as a blessing. Now I get to go to two places and meet more people."
Maybe he is just excited to be leaving the MTC. :)
A funny story...So, we have known for a while that Elder K. wouldn't get his visa in time and he told mom a while back that he would get his new (temporary) assignment last Thurs. Thursdays are his preparation days and the days when he sometimes has a chance to email so mom was eagerly waiting for his email that day. At 10:10am she received a message with the subject: "I got my new call!!!" and this is what it said,
"I am feeling a lot better now. The cold only lasted a week or so. It's good to hear that everyone is doing well. I am glad Levi is taking off so well. It just shows that he can do more thatn we think if we just push him to do his best. Sounds like the corn maze was a blast. I could imagine every part of that story as if I were there. Can't wait to see more pictures of the house--it sounds great. I wish I could go visit Justin with you guys, that sounds awesome [Our brother lives in AZ]. I thought about if I got reassigned to Arizona and how cool it would be but..... its not Arizona hehe. I will tell you that I leave Tuesday but I am going to make you wait to get my letter to find out where hehe. I know it's not very nice but you need to feel some of my pain lol. Be ready for a Spanish phone call in the near future. I love you all. I will send out a letter later today."
What a little punk! You can imagine how mom felt about that. :) Luckily Jake was able to make a 2-minute phone call later that day to give her the news, though I don't think it was in Spanish!
Speaking of Spanish, below is a short video clip that Jake sent with his MTC pictures a couple of weeks ago. It is a video of him bearing his testimony in Spanish. He says it is not very good and he will look back on it and laugh when he is done with his mission. While the latter is probably true, I think his Spanish is coming along nicely, don't you? And isn't he a cutie?!
"My new call is...Arcadia, California! It's going to be awesome. I see this as a blessing. Now I get to go to two places and meet more people."
Maybe he is just excited to be leaving the MTC. :)
A funny story...So, we have known for a while that Elder K. wouldn't get his visa in time and he told mom a while back that he would get his new (temporary) assignment last Thurs. Thursdays are his preparation days and the days when he sometimes has a chance to email so mom was eagerly waiting for his email that day. At 10:10am she received a message with the subject: "I got my new call!!!" and this is what it said,
"I am feeling a lot better now. The cold only lasted a week or so. It's good to hear that everyone is doing well. I am glad Levi is taking off so well. It just shows that he can do more thatn we think if we just push him to do his best. Sounds like the corn maze was a blast. I could imagine every part of that story as if I were there. Can't wait to see more pictures of the house--it sounds great. I wish I could go visit Justin with you guys, that sounds awesome [Our brother lives in AZ]. I thought about if I got reassigned to Arizona and how cool it would be but..... its not Arizona hehe. I will tell you that I leave Tuesday but I am going to make you wait to get my letter to find out where hehe. I know it's not very nice but you need to feel some of my pain lol. Be ready for a Spanish phone call in the near future. I love you all. I will send out a letter later today."
What a little punk! You can imagine how mom felt about that. :) Luckily Jake was able to make a 2-minute phone call later that day to give her the news, though I don't think it was in Spanish!
Speaking of Spanish, below is a short video clip that Jake sent with his MTC pictures a couple of weeks ago. It is a video of him bearing his testimony in Spanish. He says it is not very good and he will look back on it and laugh when he is done with his mission. While the latter is probably true, I think his Spanish is coming along nicely, don't you? And isn't he a cutie?!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Conference in the MTC
Excerpts from a letter to Jake's sister:
Si, es verdedero, estuve enfermo, pero ahora esta bien. Yo siento mucho major. Entonces esta bien aqui. Esta semana fue un poco loco para mi.
That's all the Spanish you get for now. :) It's not very good Spanish, but it's understandable I hope. So I will be going to Mexico eventually, but for now I am headed to .... Arcadia, California. I am super excited. I leave Tuesday some time. I find out later today what time. If you are around when I call home maybe we could chat in espanol.
We do learn very fast. We have two teachers that are recent R.M.'s that teach us a ton. Other than that we have tons of just study time where it is just us and we study on our own. It's really tough at times. Every Wednesday night we have a TRC ( I don't remember what it stands for :) ). At this TRC we have an "Investigator" (they are usually R.M.'s or BYU students who speak Spanish.) Anyone can come and volunteer to do it, member or not, so you never know. Anyway, we start with a task like meeting them on the bus or a store or something then we set a "return appointment" got plan for ten minutes then teach them a lesson. It's great! I hated it at first but it helps teaching in Spanish so much. Oh and as we do it someone watches us via video camera and judges how we do.
Conference here was awesome! It's so much easier to sit and watch it ALL here; in fact, I think it was a first for me. The Spirit is so strong and it teaches you so much. Elder Holland's talk Saturday morning really got me. It was about being grateful. Every talk was awesome. My mind set here is so different; things just stick out in my mind differently.
Hasta
Elder Kartchner
Monday, October 4, 2010
Last week to write to Jake in the MTC! Jake only has one week left in the MTC. He is not sure where he will be going, because he has not received his VISA. Many of the missionaries are having their calls changed.
Jake Is excited to share the Gospel and his testimony!
Jakes Testimony
"I don't think I can do full Justice in this letter to how I feel, but I will try.
Plain and simple no doubt in my mind this church is true. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not just a part of our lives, it is our lives! This is the reason that we are here. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is everything. Before coming here I knew this, but here things just click so simply. I know without a doubt that it is true. We are either growing closer to God or growing apart, there is no third direction.
I am starting to better understand what charity is. Charity is one of the biggest parts of this GOspel. Without it we aren't coming unto Christ. A big part of charity is sharing what you know ,having others come unto Christ with your help. If you understand this Gospel you should be dying to share it. The more that I understand, the more I want to get out of here and start telling everyone! Through reading the Book of Mormon and prayer there is no way that you can deny this is true. I feel so bad for those without this knowledge, because What is lie to them? Joseph Smith was a great prophet of God, who did great things. I have a realization more and more , this is not about Joseph Smith. This is about what he restored. He restored the full Gospel of Christ and the Priesthood Authority, to live it. This is His Gospel. We need accept Him and use His Atonement. If we do this then anything and everything is possible. This is why I am here. I cannot sit around and call myself a follower of Christ. I need to be helping others learn what I know. I know this to be true in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
Jake Is excited to share the Gospel and his testimony!
Jakes Testimony
"I don't think I can do full Justice in this letter to how I feel, but I will try.
Plain and simple no doubt in my mind this church is true. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not just a part of our lives, it is our lives! This is the reason that we are here. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is everything. Before coming here I knew this, but here things just click so simply. I know without a doubt that it is true. We are either growing closer to God or growing apart, there is no third direction.
I am starting to better understand what charity is. Charity is one of the biggest parts of this GOspel. Without it we aren't coming unto Christ. A big part of charity is sharing what you know ,having others come unto Christ with your help. If you understand this Gospel you should be dying to share it. The more that I understand, the more I want to get out of here and start telling everyone! Through reading the Book of Mormon and prayer there is no way that you can deny this is true. I feel so bad for those without this knowledge, because What is lie to them? Joseph Smith was a great prophet of God, who did great things. I have a realization more and more , this is not about Joseph Smith. This is about what he restored. He restored the full Gospel of Christ and the Priesthood Authority, to live it. This is His Gospel. We need accept Him and use His Atonement. If we do this then anything and everything is possible. This is why I am here. I cannot sit around and call myself a follower of Christ. I need to be helping others learn what I know. I know this to be true in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
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