Piranha For Dinner Today.

Hola Familia Y Amigos:)

So I am going to eat a piranha for dinner today. Pretty excited. That being said, this week was pretty good. We find out about transfers today, and I am pretty sure I am going. Don't know for sure, but probably. So I’ve been packing! haha.

For P-Day we had a BBQ at the chapel, and then had sack races and an apple bobbing competition. I rocked the apple bobbing. 

Service on Wednesday was fun...it was like the closest thing to an American service project that I’ve done here in Perù...cleaning up a backyard....the only thing Peruvian about it was the fact that it was moving avocado tree branches, chopping down a banana tree, and cleaning up Inca Kola bottles. 

Friday we had a good lesson with a new investigator. Elder Aoki and I taught him about The Book of Mormon. The Spirit was WAY strong, and he accepted an invitation to be baptized this 14th of Febrero. Don’t know if I’ll be here for his baptism, but what’s important is that he is accepting Christ in his life. He came with us to church yesterday for all three hours. 

Oh, and ya know you’ve been in an area a long time when you start to know the people that drive the motos and convees haha. But this area is absolutely amazing and I love it. 

The members here are so loving it’s incredible. They bought me a nice Peruvian leather coin purse because I am leaving. Had a good splits with Elder Aoki. He spent the night on what was probably our last time doing splits. What an incredible experience to be able to preach the Gospel with somebody that I have known for so long. 

We had pancakes for breakfast. (Teaching Hna Norma how to make pancakes was like the best decision of my life. She is pretty much expert by now:) 

But yeah that's about all that is new here in Lima. To close, I have been studying The New Testament and Jesus the Christ in depth. They go hand in hand, and this week I have really realized all the amazing things that the Savior has done for us. The only way we can be happy in life is if we accept him! 

Love ya´ll so much, and I wouldn’t doubt if tonight I become the first Cottonwood High School alumni that has ever eaten a piranha. Ciao:) 

Con Amor, 
Elder Reschke

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

Will you be happy or sad to get transferred?

I would be fine either way.  If I stay, it’s for sure three more months here...so that would be cool to be here for Domingo’s Baptism  If I go, I get to see more of Peru which would be neat as well.

What are you doing for your P. Day today?

It’s P. Day “Free Day” since changes are tomorrow.  If I go, then I am going to go around saying goodbye to everyone.

Weather update?

It’s still pretty hot like normal cause it’s still summer!  Winter will come in a couple of months I believe.

                          

                                                                Inca Cola truck:

                      Translation:  "Here everything is cool, motorcycle, taxi driver, and music."

                                                                   Hills in Carabayllo:

                                                Elder Reschke, Elder Aoki and a family:

                                                                        Working day:

                                                  Elder Reschke and Elder Aoki on splits:

                                                     Typical day in Peru:

                                                                  Summer in Peru:

                                    Motos. When they go off road up in the hills I kind of
                                     feel like I am on a jeep safari in Moab or something:

                                                               Missionary transportation:

                                                                            Taxi van:

                                                                          Bus:

                                                        Lunch with the District:

                                                                   The marketplace:

                               Vegetables in the marketplace.  The marketplace is just like a big
                               Farmers Market every day.  The sell everything you can imagine:

                                                      Melons at the marketplace:

 Traditional Peruvian clothing.  There are quite a handful of people dressing this way.
 I sometimes feel like a big crane picked them up from the Sierra and dropped them here in Lima:

 Chicharon.  It is fried pork and, it is, like Andy Griffith always says, "GOO-OOD!"

                                             Elder Reschke, Elder Quille, and a Peruvian lady:

                                                  Preaching the gospel with Elder Aoki:

                                        I got mail!  One package, and a letter from the pouch mail:

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS to me:)

Hola Familia Y Amigos!

 Hope you all had a great week! My week was pretty busy, but it was just great. We did a way neat service project on Wednesday and moved a giant pile of dirt away from this guy’s house up in the hills. 

We had some way good lessons this week...a bunch of people that were super interested. Transfers are in a week, and they haven’t announced them yet, but Elder Aoki and I are pretty sure we are going. So we already started packing our bags. Haha.

 Saturday was my birthday, and it was a fantastic day. We woke up early to play soccer as a Zone. Hermana Norma made pancakes for breakfast, so that was fun. We had Adobu (chicken, rice, coconut milk) for lunch...it’s like a dish from Arequipa, Peru. Pretty tasty. Then I guess it’s a Peruvian tradition to crack eggs on your head and dump a bunch of flour on top. That was fun to clean up:)  Good thing I had a comb to get the dough out of my hair! That night the A_____´s threw a little party for me. They sang Feliz Cumpleaños, and then we had this REALLY tasty chocolate cake that they got from a bakery. It’s also a tradition to smash the cake in the persons face after they blow out the candles. Then every one of them went around in a circle and said something nice, it was really a neat experience seeing how loving the people of Perú are towards some Gringo, stranger to their country. It was the best, and I know I am going to remember my 19th birthday for the rest of my life! 

Saturday night we swung by an Investigator named Alexandra. She is pretty cool. We taught her about the importance of the Sabbath Day. She made a huge sacrifice to come to church. She works ALL NIGHT until 8 in the morning. She came home, got an hour of the sleep, and then got up and came to church with us at 10:30. I know that she is going to receive lots of blessings for this sacrifice that she made. Really, that is something that we should all keep in mind. When we get out of our comfort zone and do something that we know is God's will we are ALWAYS going to receive great blessings.

 We also saw the Power of the Priesthood in action this week. We gave a blessing to a girl who was really sick, and immediately after she looked a lot better and a lot happier. 

Well this week was a good week, and I am looking forward to this upcoming week. I gotta leave Progreso with a bang! I am excited to go work this week. I hope ya´ll have a great week! 

Con Amor, 

Elder Reschke

P.S. GO PATRIOTS

                                             Breakfast pancakes:

                                                                   Birthday lunch:

Peruvian tradition; cracking an egg on the birthday person's head, and then adding a cup of flour:

                                                                              Birthday cake:

                                                            Elder Reschke's 19th birthday:

                                                                 Birthday party for Elder Reschke:

                                                                  Zone Service Project:

 

                                                      Peruvian tradition; smashing cake:

Birthday Guinea Pig?

¡Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

Hope you all had a great week, I know I did. So weird food of the week: Chicken Intestines! I later found out that there is a very good chance that they were actually dog intestines. Pretty tasty nevertheless. 

Lets see so for P.Day last week we went to the mall Plaza Norte. We were on a mission to find Dr. Pepper. In the Metro in the foreign foods aisle, we found a bunch of American Brand Names. Including Dr. Pepper and Kit Kats. The DP was good, but I must say I was thoroughly disappointed with the Kit Kat. 

Quechua phrase of the week: Upalla Shimi (Shut your mouth). Hopefully I’ll never have to use that one. haha.

So something I really like here is, at lunch a lot of times we have homemade limeade. Just a bunch of fresh limes, real sugar and water. Pretty refreshing.

There’s lots of really pretty colorful tropical flowers here.

Saturday we had service as a Zone and it was like something straight out of a National Geographic show. The 23 of us moved this giant mountain of sand from the street up a trail to this house that was up in the hills. Everyone is pretty sore but it was awesome. Afterwards, the family cooked Pachamanca De La Tierra (remember where they just throw a bunch of meat in a pit in the ground and bury it and it cooks?) Very tasty, and the Peruvian kids went around filling up our glasses with orange soda. It was the best feeling in the world, just being able to serve the Peruvians, and seeing how appreciative and grateful they were for the service that we did. 

So we had another neat experience...we found a wallet in the street with a bunch of money and credit cards in it. We called the guy, and met up with him to give him his wallet.Then of course we contacted him, and set up an appointment with him. He is a pretty cool guy. Just goes to show that the Lord works in mysterious ways to make missionary opportunities for us. 

This week we watched “The Book of Mormon, How Rare A Possession”. Pretty cool movie. Check it out if you haven’t seen it. But, it really strengthened my testimony of  The Book of Mormon. We are so blessed to have a book of scripture like that in our lives, yet so many of us take it for granted. It really is another testament of Jesus Christ, but so many times it just sits on our shelves gathering dust. If you have The Book of Mormon, read it! It will change your life, I promise. 

Love you all so much, and I hope you have a great week. Send some of the cold air down this way, that would be nice:)

Con amor, 
Elder Reschke

P.S. I may or may not be having a birthday guinea pig this Saturday. Cross your fingers:)

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week: 

I know it’s Summer there.  What is it like?

It’s like Summer in Utah, hot!  But it feels hotter because the sun is stronger.  We are drinking way more water than usual.  We managed to stow away with six jugs of water this month and the other companionship was mad cause they only got four!  

Any new bugs?

With the heat coming, there are more and more bugs.  I think we have termites in our room....but nothing that a little pest spray can’t take care of.

Where do shop for food or snacks?

We buy stuff in the market. It’s easier than taking the bus all the way to Metro.  We also buy a lot of stuff from the little tiendas.  They have them on EVERY street corner.

Does anyone have a garden there?

Some people have a little fenced in garden that they take are of.  Like the richer people that live down below.

How are things with your Investigators?

We are teaching a lot of people.  We are going to have to leave Jhordan behind or a while because he is not doing his part.  We found some cool new people this week.  The problem is that they work a TON so they are hard to find or can’t come to church for that reason.  Also, the grand majority of the couples aren’t married so we an’t baptize them.  But, this is a relatively high baptizing part of the world nevertheless. 

  

The little buildings on the hill that are half the size of my bedroom back at home in Utah,

 are people's homes.  Very humbling to see this:

                                             Finding Kit-Kat's and Dr. Pepper in Peru:

          This is not a real building, but rather a mural.  Picture Elder Reschke and Elder Aoki:

                                                                 Peruvian Monopoly:

                                                                           Dollar ties:

                                         American candy in the foreign section at Metro:

                                          Houses on the hill.  Most do not have electricity:

               Zone Service Project.  It took 23 people about 3 hours to move the sand up the hill:

                                             This is the house we did the service for:

                                                                 Houses on the hill:

                                                               Houses on the hill.

                                There is a water tank on the hill to provide water to the houses:

                                      Paths to the houses that the missionaries visit:

                                                     Elder Aoki and Elder Reschke:

                                                       Elder Reschke and Elder Aoki:

                                                    Peruvian outdoor toilet:

                                               Moving sand.  It was a great workout:

                                                         Service project moving sand:

                                                      It really is amazing here.
We are so blessed to live in America, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to experience this:

                                                                   Elder Reschke's area:

Feliz año Nuevo!

Hola Familia Y Amigos,

Y Feliz año nuevo! This was a very eventful week for us. Let;s see, so New Year’s Eve I killed a chicken! It's name was Carlito. But yeah, I cut its head off...and then I helped Hermana Vega prepare and butcher it...good skill to have! So if anyone has a chicken they need butchered, you know who to call. We pulled out it’s liver and all the unhatched egg yolks and cooked them up and ate them. I also had pig skin with the hair still on it...it was tasty! 

Last week for P. Day we had a bbq and water fight.

New Year’s Eve in Peru is poppin! It reminded me alot of Christmas Eve, except the fireworks were like twice as crazy. More fireworks ( and louder) than you have ever seen in your life! The A_____s brought us a midnight dinner, so that was tasty. 

The big thing in Peru is wearing yellow on New Year’s. They also make these scarecrows out of all their old clothes from that year, and then at midnight they light them into these huge bonfires! It’s pretty cool. 

But yeah 2014 was a crazy awesome year, and so eventful and amazing, but I am looking forward to all the new and exciting things that 2015 will bring. 

New Year’s Day we had interviews with the President, and that was good. He is such a spiritual giant! Hermana Erickson gave me some homemade banana bread since my birthday is coming up, and it was delicious. So yeah that’s about all that’s new down here. 

On Friday night I was on splits with Elder Sangama, and I just had a feeling we should head down this one street. Turns out that we found this awesome family and taught them the Restoration. The Spirit was SO strong, it was incredible. It was a cool experience, but I’m just a little bummed they don’t live in my area!

      But this week, was the hardest I have ever worked in my mission. We had 29 lessons, and 101 contacts. Like our President says, “working hard is the solution to ANY problem that you have. You are happiest when you are working hard”, and I know that to be true! Hope you all have an amazing week, and I hope you all have an amazing 2015, wherever in the world you may be.

Con Mucho Amor, 
Elder Reschke

P.S. Hopefully the Ghost of Carlito doesn’t come and haunt me in my dreams!

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

Is it getting hot there? When is the peak of Summer there?

Goodness, it is like roasting here!  I think peak of summer is right about now.  In his weekly letter this week, President told us we don’t have to wear suits to interviews, Zone Conferences, or to church for the next three months because it is too darn hot!

Did you get any Christmas mail?

I got a nice Christmas letter from Lizzy and Andy, Grandma, and President Owen with a cool ornament of the Salt Lake Temple.  Also two “dear elder” letters from you guys from Pearl Harbor Day.  Thanks so much!

                                                           

                                                                The city of Lima:

                                                              Pigs in the marketplace:

                                                                           More pigs:

                                                   Elder Sangama and Elder Reschke:

                           
                                                                         City of Lima:

                                      Happy New Year from Elder Quille and Elder Reschke:

                                                            Carlito the chicken:

                                                         Ready to butcher a chicken:

                                                               Butchering a chicken:

                                                                           Chicken:

                                                               Plucking the chicken:

                                                        Chicken all ready to cook:

                                                     Inside parts of the chicken ready to eat: