Here is the latest post.  Also, if you want to email Jake, his email is:  Jacob.Hirschi@myldsmail.net

Wow it's freezing here! Send me all the coats you have!
Just kidding, it is true that it's getting cold here, but it's definitely bearable. Mom I appreciate the gloves and hat and priceless PJ's you sent me:) I did get your last package by the way, sorry I never acknowledged that. I think I'm good so far as far as things I need. The good thing is that I actually have a car in this area, as opposed to bikes like my last area. We have a certain amount of miles that we have to stay under each month, but usually we have access to a car all day. This is really nice when the wind hits you like a brick wall in the morning. We did have multiple miracles happen this week, and the weather was the most appreciated probably. So this week, we counted out that we set a record of 28.5 hours of service this week. This is totally abnormal, but we got a friendly call at the beginning of this week and we had no idea what we were getting into. There is a lady who used to come to church, but doesn't anymore, who the other Elders who live by us ran into. This lady was moving into the same apartment complex as the Elders. They asked the lady if she needed help moving, and of course volunteered me and my companion as well.
We spent three pretty much full days at her apartment, packing boxes, playing Tetris in the truck with all the boxes, and loading unloading, with a couple flights of stairs in between. The miracle comes in because the weather was pretty much great whenever we moved this lady. But right when we finished moving her, it turns freezing and rainy outside. Yeah it was quite the experience, but the light at the end of the tunnel was reached after 15.5 hours or more of moving her. We also raked multiple yards this week, and moved two other families besides this lady. Apparently everyone loves moving right before it gets cold here in NY. But keep in mind also that we only had one completely healthy person moving out of the four of us. My companion and another Elder had serious back problems two weeks ago, so it was a miracle they could lift anything, let alone the 300-400 pound freezer we had to lift into a truck. My knee was fine during it all, but still not 100%. Overall, a great week.
Also I went to the Doctor's Assistant and he said that it's probably a small meniscus tear, but nothing's for sure until I get the MRIs done. They should be scheduled hopefully for this week. Surgery would be minor and wouldn't necessarily have to happen now, so I may be able to put it off til after the mission or later if I even need it. We'll see, but we're all hoping to play basketball today, so we'll see if everyone comes out alive and healthy!
Thanks for all the emails, sorry this one went long- Love you all!
Love,
Elder Jake Hirschi

Hello from Roc City-
I've been in Rahhhchester for about a week now. I've loved everything about, and I think I'm really going to miss this area when I eventually leave it. So I've turned a new page, washed an old rag, made a new bed whatever you want to call it here in Rochester New York! I said so long to Buff City and was sad to see it go. But I still have all the memories and things I learned there with me always. My new companion is Elder Bird. He's a stud, really. So missionaries go on missions for two years, right? That's 24 months (right?;)) and Elder Bird has 1.5 months left!!! I'm going to send him home, and that will be a sad day. He's super relaxed and we really connect well. There is one problem, though. We're both broken! Not really, my knee is actually  quite good even though I haven't quite seen a doctor haha but he's had some back problems for years. This week he started experiencing shooting pains, and he'll see a chiropractor this week. Our mission president is a chiropractor himself, but unfortunately according to mission rules, he's not allowed to operate on missionaries. There's also another missionary in our area who also threw out his back this week. Us kids are getting too old for some of this stuff...anyway, yes in answer to literally everyone's universal question: it is getting cold here in NY. But just so everyone knows, I bought a coat. It's a ski jacket, and yes it will keep me warm. Plus, we found a jacket in the closet of the apartment (which is a way nice apartment haha) so I'm all set! Thanks for the concern though.
So something cool happened this week. I'm supposed to go to Brazil, right? Well we were eating dinner with some members of the local congregation and we started talking about Brazil. Guess who lives next door to them? A Brazilian family! It was crazy so we went over and talked to the family-they love talking Portuguese grammar so I'll be over there quite a bit. This week was filled with lots of little miracles like that one. There are many people in the world though, that know that if they turn to the gospel, they will be comforted. They are just unwilling to change. We as mortals are naturally hesitant to change. But if we make the effort to wake up to get to church, or sit down with our family and read the scriptures, or talk about religion in general, then we see the blessings. I know it's hard and sometimes just not on our schedule, but keep Heavenly Father on the schedule! I'm not lecturing you, I'm just acting as if you are people we teach haha!
Have a fantastic week!
Love ya,
Elder Jake Hirschi

From October 14, 2013:

 We had a wonderful family come to church this week, and I fell in love with their really cute kids. The night before the dad had played video games with the twin boys (spitting images of me as a kid, with  the buck teeth and all...) until 3:30 am, on the condition that they have to go to church the next day. I loved that haha my job in the middle of sacrament meeting turned into being babysitter for the kids. They were really good but in serious need of paper to doodle on in the middle of the meeting. We had a great luncheon thing after church, and our congregation was so welcoming to everyone, visitors and members. I love bringing families to church because I know the massive difference the gospel has made in my life, and in my family life. I would not love my family as much as I do if they hadn't brought me to church. All the family and friends that came to my farewell, I hope you felt welcome when you came because we know as missionaries that friends and love are so important when you're put in a new environment, like coming to a new church. This week was just great I felt the Spirit a lot when talking to people and planning to meet with people. Attitude determines altitude, and in this case my altitude can really make a difference and change people's lives, so I have to have a positive attitude! thanks for all the mail and packages (I did get the satchel I will wear it as requested by the mission president although I don't want to:) ) Love you all!
Love,
Elder Jake Hirschi

Hello everyone- as the blogmaster and mother of this wonderful missionary, I want to apologize for getting a little behind on his blog!  (We won't tell him until he comes home :) ).  Anyway, some of the posts are a little out of order.  I am recommitting to keeping the blog updated in a timely manner.  Just to update everyone, Jake is serving in Rochester, New York, on a temporary reassignment, as he is still waiting for his visa to Brazil.  This is a very common occurrence with missionaries heading for Brazil.  Sometimes the visa's take many, many months to come through.  He is anxious to go to Brazil, but happy to be serving in New York!  Thanks for following Elder Hirschi's blog!

From October 7, 2013

Hi from the great city of Buffalo!
So this week was amazing here in Buff city. I've never fully appreciated or looked forward to (or stayed awake throughout for matter) General Conference until this year. We tell so many people about how we believe that God works through a modern day prophet today holding all the keys of His Priesthood, but we rarely have a voice to match him with. This week was General Conference, a massive broadcast where many church leaders, including the Prophet and the Apostles give us council for our day. It is broadcasted into something like 85 languages live? Practically anywhere in the world people have access to the words of our leaders today. No one tunes in closer to conference than the missionaries. Since the Prophets tell us what God wants us to be focusing ontoday, missionaries make sure to take as many notes as possible to relay to those who are looking for the gospel. One thing that really stood out to me in this semiannual conference was President Thomas S. Monson's talk during Sunday morning. In all the years we've heard President Monson, I don't think I've ever seen him cry or stray away from his typical emotional personality (the happy sing song voice of his). This conference, his talk was based on his love for his late wife, and no one listening could deny the emotional strain losing her took on him. What this showed to me is that he is real. He knows struggle, he experiences difficulty, and he's not just some man who tells us to power through our problems while he doesn't have any. It doesn't matter who you are, rich or poor, black or white, male or female, everybody has experienced some kind of pain and heartache. Even the Prophet of God. This made so many of the other talks more meaningful, because strength through trials was a big theme. The Prophet has to struggle just like we do. But more importantly, Jesus Christ struggled not only just like we do, but so many times over he experienced the pain we experience. If we can look to him, whether you are just an average joe or if you are a prophet of God, you can have strength through trials. A ton of people we teach are going through some serious trials that I've never experienced, and so we focus a lot on conquering your specific trials and recognizing them as sources of strength and catalysts of faith. Sometimes it's hard because I've never experienced anything like what people here have experienced, but that's why we help people gain trust and faith in the Lord, not in us.
Two missionaries from our district were waiting for visas to get to Argentina, and they came on Saturday! I was happy for them esp because one of them has been waiting for about 6 months or so! A sister missionary that came out when I did just got hers too!
So somewhat funny story: We were eating fruit and cinnamon rolls as a ward before the Sunday morning session of general conference started, and apparently there was a stranger who walked in (there's prob around 30 people already), stayed for about 15 minutes, and then left after snatching one of the iphones of a young mom in the ward! It had a pink cover, and she immediately called the police haha not sure what they were going to do about it though...downtown buffalo is a rough place and I feel like the police have better things to do than search for missing Iphones. I'm not actually serving in downtown buffalo don't worry mom plus the elders that are there have to be home pretty much before dark so everyone is kept safe!
Thanks for all the packages, letters, and emails I love them all!
Love,
Elder Jake Hirschi

Most recent post from October 21, 2013

Hello from Buffalo New York!
Unfortunately, this is perhaps the last time I will type this phrase.....I'm being transferred to Rochester City area! I'm really excited to start a new experience in the actual heart of Rochester haha it'll be different for sure. So yes I am going to get a new companion, whose name is Elder Bird. Elder Allen is getting a new visa waiter (missionaries temporarily waiting in the States for the Visas to go elsewhere aren't true missionaries in this mission, we're "visa-waiters" JK I love it here!) whose name is Elder Holmes I think. So this morning I packed up my suitcase, and backpacks and tomorrow morning I will start a new phase of my mission in Rochester, NY! Typically missionaries stay together for about 2 or 3 6week periods, then one of the missionaries will get "transferred" to a new area, within the boundaries of the overall mission. My mission goes from Lake Erie and basically Niagara Falls farthest West, to the Finger Lakes on the East border. So I'm actually going a relatively far distance to my new area. This week was a fun one. Only a couple hours after I finished the email home last Monday, we started playing hockey with some newly baptized members, a really cool family. We played a little basketball and soccer as well, and right before we were about to leave I hurt my knee somehow playing soccer, but it should be up to snuff in the next week or so.
---insert for my mother...--- mom don't freak. Don't start trying to call the mission etc etc haha the President's wife is our caretaker and she takes care of stuff like this. Let me just explain to you what happened so you can give your diagnosis. I kicked the ball, no other contact occurred, and my knee locked up like it has done before in past years. Usually I just straighten the knee and I hear a pop and everything's fine, and that's what I did this time too. But even though it popped back or "unlocked" there was still some sort of knot that prevented me from straightening my knee at all. For the first day at least I could put no weight on it. The next day I hopped into zone meeting haha and another stud missionary looked at it. He said I was positive to the apley's and mcmurrays tests with lateral pain along the joint line in valgus at 60. I don't know what that means, but it has gotten a ton better since then. I got a blessing tuesday night and now I can walk without crutches but with an obvious limp. I can straighten it almost all the way with a little pain but I think there's some fluid buildup that's preventing it from fully extending. Sis francis hooked me up with a doctor I'm going to as soon as I get to Rochester on Wednesday probably. So it's no big deal, it's just hard to do missionary work when you're crutching around and not biking...---(resume)
All this means is that missionary work is a lot slower than normal, seeing that we can't ride bikes like we normally do. This week was also rough because we see what people need in their life to make them happy and they just choose otherwise. The happy moments of a mission outweigh all the hard disappointing times, but that doesn't mean you won't have many disappointing times as well. I can't but help to think about how much disappointment Heavenly Father feels as He sees exactly what we need to do to make ourselves as happy as possible, and then witness us refuse to take the right paths all the time. It must be really frustrating! I think as we go through life it's a lot easier to take a step back and really scrutinize our small decisions. The small decisions inherently combine to create bigger things, and a basic outline of where our lives are headed. If we direct the small and simple decisions based on what will make us the most happy in the end (not necessarily the easiest or most convenient now) then I bet we would avoid a lot of life's difficulties. For example, when our lives are really busy and we have a thousand things to do, it is really inconvenient to sit down and pray to Heavenly Father to know He's there, and to let Him know that you're still listening. But I know that if we take time out of our day and really focus on what prayer does for us in the long run, we will have a happier, more peaceful life filled with more concrete perspective and understanding. Then when we run into life's tribulations, we can fall back on the same being that we've been kept in contact with the whole time. We will know that He's there, in the good times and the bad. We don't have to feel like we're alone. So many people don't take time to do the small and simple things. I know I didn't before now. But it's so important, and part of my job as a missionary is helping people see the bigger picture, and ultimately come closer to Christ. No one here is perfect (my family is pretty close regardless of what my mom says in her emails:)) but everyone here has a perfect example to look towards. Thanks for all the emails and letters!
Send letters to this address now that I'm moving and I don't know my new address yet:
460 Kreag Road