Lider De Distrito:)

 Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

This was a CRAZY week for us, but it was really good! We had transfers on Monday, and I am staying here in Comas, but I got a new companion, Elder Hilario, from Trujillo, Perú. He is way cool. We teach really well together because we kind of have the same mentality when we teach, and he is super pumped to be a missionary, so we work hard. He also likes to go running in the morning...SCORE!!:) 

On Monday, we ran into Tobias M. at Metro. Remember him? He was the inactive guy that we reactivated in my old area, the guy who completely changed his life! He bought us ice cream, and informed us of his new calling: 1st Counselor in the Bishopric!! I am beyond happy for him. How incredible is that?? And...guess who the second Counselor is? Augusto R., my convert!!! I am so happy for them:) 

That P-Day, while everyone else was busy packing their bags, I went with Elders Clawson, Coomer, and Mayta, and we ate in a tasty restaurant. I got this ginormous Bistek Al Pobre (steak and potatoes with fried egg), and totally conquered it:) 

They told me on Tuesday that I am the new District Leader! I am very excited for this opportunity that I will have to serve others and lead them in the mission. It’s my responsibility to call the District, give trainings, collect the numbers, and interview people for baptism. This will be quite an adventure! 

So on Thursday, I gave my first training about being a consecrated missionary. I would say it went really well! We had a great week teaching our Investigators preparing for baptism, Isabel and Ayerton. They are awesome, and I really feel the Spirit with them every time we are with them.

On Wednesday, we had to go to the offices in Independencia to go to a leadership meeting with President Erickson. It was a great meeting, and I learned a lot. My trainer, Elder Martinez, is also a District Leader in the same Zone! 

Friday we had a Ward activity, Dessert Night! It was pretty tasty and we watched Johnny Lingo. “Elder Reschke was the movie-picker-man:)”

Also, I taught the most lessons this week that I have ever taught in one week of my mission...39!  It was a fantastic week, and I learned that,  the easiest way to be happy on a mission is if you can just absolutely lose yourself in the work.  I did that this week , and it was absolutely incredible.

I know that the Lord really has blessed us with so many people to teach, and I am so excited to watch all of them progress. I hope you all have a fantastic week, and keep me posted if anything cool happens.

Sending love to The Shire,

Elder Reschke

P.S. There are these little red tropical flowers all over the place called cucarda, and you can pick them and suck out the sweet nectar.

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What is your new companion like?

His names Elder Hilario, and he has 18 months in the mission.

He is from Trujillo.  He is way cool!  He works really hard, and he knows a lot, we are really compatible together, and we are working super hard!

Did you hear Kylee received her mission call?

Yes.  I think New Mexico is the perfect place for her to serve.  I can totally picture her there. Tons of people are getting mission calls!

Do you eat beans much?

Yes we eat beans quite a bit.  The food here is way tasty!  Sometimes they joke with me that “Elder Reschke is already Peruvian, because he speaks Quechua and he knows the names of all the different Peruvian plates, etc.  Haha”

You seem to have really embraced yourself in the Peruvian culture and I can tell you love the Peruvian people as well.

That is one of the five goals of our mission.  Love the Peruvian people.  

I can definitely check that goal off my list!

Weather update?

The weather is really getting cooler at night which is nice.

Spiritual experience of the week?

The Spiritual experience was definitely teaching Isabel, the Hermana that we are going to baptize in May. She is SO excited to hear the things that we have to say. She comes to church, helps the members prepare for the activities, goes to all the activities and everything.  She is practically a member, just lacks baptism!  

                                                     A Penguin bush for Melissa:

                                      Bistek al Pobre (steak with egg and potato).
                         They put down a bunch of rice, and put a steak on the rice,
                          and then put fried bananas and fried eggs on top.
                                                           It is really tasty.  We had it this past week,
                         but, it's also what I had for my Thanksgiving dinner back in November:

                                            Elder Martinez, Tobias, Elder Reschke.
                                   We ran into him at Metro and he bought us ice cream:

                                 Elder Melgar saying goodbye to two Hermanas from the Ward:

                                                    Saying goodbye to Elder Melgar:

                                   Elder Martinez (my trainer)  and Elder Reschke are District Leaders:

                            Flashback pic of my District the way it was when I got here (Elder Aoki,
                   Elder Herrera, Elder Martinez, Elder Reschke)...all are leaders in the mission now:

                                             Elders working hard in Peru Lima North Mission:

                 Tamales!  We also had picarones, which are like these tasty fried donut things:

                                                                Ward dessert night:

 The mountain we climbed to get to an appointment. We practically had to pack a tent, sleeping bags, and some dehydrated backpacking meals get all the way up there....haha, just kidding.
                                                         I love it.  Good thing I like to hike:

                                                    Peruvian bread called cachanga.
                       This bread really reminds me of the bread they have for Navajo tacos.
                                                  It's exactly the same, and super tasty:

Bautismo of Christina and Arturo!

Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

This week was absolutely fantastic, and jam-packed! So many things happened! The highlight of the week was the baptism of our Investigator Christina, and her son Arturo. Remember the cool lady from Cusco? Well she and her son were baptized, and they are SUPER happy now. We have seen a huge change in her life, and now she is just so much happy, and feels a lot more peace in her life. So that was a really cool experience for us. 

We also found a cool girl to teach that came to our English class. We set up an appointment, and went to visit her, and she is AWESOME. She already has a triple combination that her friend gave her, and is already in 2nd Nephi. We are excited to see what happens with her. There are a handful of other people we are teaching that we are excited about as well. Apart from that, we have a baptismal date of a young man for the 9th of May. 

     On another note, we find out about transfers today and are excited to hear what happens. The Quechua (Native language spoken in the Andes region of South America)  is coming along great. I am now able to have a conversation to meet somebody, and teach a missionary lesson in Quechua. I also know how to give insults, but hopefully I’ll never have to do that. And so, I now speak the Language of the Incas. hahaha.

I did two work visits with Elders that are finishing their missions this week. We had a good time, and they taught me a LOT! Oh and just an FYI Maracuyá means Passion Fruit. I kinda just barely learned that. So almost everyday for 8 months I have been drinking passion fruit juice, and it is DELICIOUS.

We made another soccer jersey as a Zone. I sent pics, it’s pretty cool. It’s the Bayern-Munich team polo, and I sent some photos, it’s pretty cool.

   Well sorry, this letter was super random. But, the work of the Lord is going just great here in Lima Peru`. I have been working hard, and for that the Lord has blessed us with so many neat people to teach, and baptize. I know with all my heart that the church is true. I know that the Savior has a hand in everything that we do, and I know that when we accept Jesus Christ in our lives, we are going to see miracles. I hope you all have a fantastic week.  Love you all so much.

Con Mucho Amor,
 Elder Reschke

P.S. Runasimita Rimankichu? That´s Quechua for, "Do you speak Quechua?”

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

Did you get any mail this week?

Yes!  I got McKenna’s Christmas package that she sent in December.  It had some fun stuff in it!  Hurray for Christmas in April:).  I also got your package and letters from Vanessa.  I am extra excited for the Girl Scout Cookies.

Do you ever need a coat in Lima Peru`?

Just a sweater to go out when Winter comes, nada mas (no more).

And maybe a hoodie to play soccer in the mornings.  It gets a tad bit crispy at night and in the morning, but it’s not bad.  Winter is coming, and so it is getting more humid and cooler at night.  Nothing here dries….like towels for example, cause it’s so humid that you hang things up and it takes forever to dry.

Good food for the week?

The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Hna Erickson gave me after room inspections.

Good news?

I like avocado now!  I never liked it before the mission, but now I love it because they eat it a lot.  Avocado with salt sprinkled on top is delicious.  Here in Peru` it’s called palta.

Favorite Scripture of the week?

Mosiah 18:14-16: 

 14 And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit.

 15 And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to the first, only he did not bury himself again in the water.

 16 And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God.

(Kind of cool scripture, but any idea why he was buried in water also?)

Comas Zone:

                                                          P. Day with Elder Melgar:

                                                                  Elder's on P. Day:

                                    Elder Reschke's old companion and trainer, Elder Martinez:

                                                                        A bus in Comas:

                                Favorite food of the week, Reese's Peanut Butter cups
                                            from Hna Erickson after room inspection:

                                                             A birthday celebration:

                                  Christmas package arrived this week from McKenna
                                               (almost 5 months after she sent it!):

                                                                   Christmas in April:

                                                       Peruvian family with Elder Reschke:

                                                               Elder Reschke's gone Peruvian:

                                               

                                                                         The field:

                                                                    Baptism:

                                                                             Baptism:

                                                        Elder Lee and Elder Reschke.
                                  "Elder Lee from Logan is a way awesome missionary.
                       He is a great example to me and he is going to do great things with his life."

                  " 

                                                           Comas Zone Soccer Team:

                                                              New soccer jersey.
                                                No me obliguen  (Do not force me.)

                                                                         New jersey:

                                                       Elder Melgar and Elder Reschke:

                                                   Elder Clawson from my CCM group:

                                                                         Our District:

                                                            Girl Scot cookies from home:

                                                                      Peruvian Jake:

¡Cuán Maravilloso Es La Obra Del Señor! (How wonderful is The Work.)

Hola Familia Y Amigos!

       I hope all is well. This was a great week for us here in Perú, because in our area we are starting to see some fruits. Remember that cool lady from Cusco, Christina? We are baptizing her on Saturday. She is way cool, and way ready to be baptized. We also have a baptism date set for the first Saturday in May. We have so many progressing Investigators right now, thats it’s a little tough to keep track of them all! Seven of them came to church Sunday, which was fantastic. We are working really hard teaching them all, and I only wish there were more hours in the day so that we could cover more ground. We spend about 80 percent of our time hiking around in the hills and teaching the people up there. They are very open to and grateful to hear our message. So yeah, the work is just fantastic. 

          On another note, we are preparing two families to get married for the month of May, which will be exciting. And, that also means that I get to go to the Parque De Las Aguas, (Park of Waters, they do really cool fountain presentations like Disneyland World of Color.  And, the missionaries don’t go UNLESS there is a wedding like the one in May..haha), which will be fun.

         The weather is still pretty hot, although its a little bit cooler in the mornings which is nice. We have been waking up at 5:35 A.M. to go play Fútbol with the Zone in the mornings about 3 or 4 times a week, which is really fun. 

The food is as delicious as ever. In this Ward, the members sign up to give us lunch, for example, every Wednesday for a month. So it’s a different person every day, but the same people every week, and they cook some really good traditional Peruvian plates. It’s traditional Peruvian food every day, which is awesome. And, every meal they have this stuff called ají, which is basically like super super spicy chopped up peppers and stuff, and it is really spicy and good.

          On Saturday we had a fun Zone wide activity, and it was like a Game Show contest. Those who lost had to eat these really spicy peppers called charapita. It’s like the spiciest little pepper you will ever eat in your life probably!

Sorry this email is really scattered, but I hope you all have a great week, and keep me posted on all the cool stuff that happens. I know with all my heart that this church is true, and I am so so so grateful for the opportunity that I have to share the gospel with the people of Perú.

Sending love to the shire, 

Elder Reschke.

P.S. There is this certain wild dog that always hangs around the chapel, and when the doors are open it comes roaming through the chapel. I’ve kind of grown attached to it, and named it Pablo, even though I think it's a girl. I´ll send a picture of Pablo next week.

This is a drink made with barley.  It is really good with sugar and warm milk, or sometimes I put it on my oatmeal for breakfast.  When you cook your own breakfast, you get creative:

                                  This is the Game Sow contest we had on Saturday as a Zone:

                                                                Map of our area:

                                                                            Selfie:

Pascua Y Conferencia General

Hola Familia Y Amigos,

Hope you all had a fantastic General Conference and Easter. It was a pretty solid week for us. For P-Day, the whole Zone went to Chili´s! I had a rather delicious blue cheese bacon burger. After, we were at the store, and I found the cookies that changed my life. Cookies and Cream flavored Oreos. Do they have those in the USA? It's like an Oreo within an Oreo, and they are amazing.

It was a pretty good week of lessons, we found a lot of new people to teach who seem fairly interested in our message. There is one man who we have been teaching that is totally ready to be baptized. They just have to get married first...no problem:)

English Class round two on Wednesday, which went well. After the lesson, we were learning some fruits, like "watermelon, pineapple, and avocado" haha. 

The General Conference was fantastic. On Saturday morning, we went to pick up our Investigator, and he brought us down from the cerros (hills) in his old school auto. They talked a lot about marriage and the importance of family during that session, which was perfect for two people that are preparing to take that step in life. Between sessions, the Stake President took all the missionaries to Chinese Food, and I had some amazing fried rice. I think the Peruvians cook fried rice better than they do in Asia. (Lo siento, (I’m sorry) Elder Poffenberger). We really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to watch ALL the sessions of Conference, and Priesthood that night was great. I really liked President Eyring and President Monson’s talks on the duties and responsibilities of a Priesthood holder. Sunday morning session, the Stake Center was PACKED and we had to watch the session in an overflow room.

Between sessions, Hermana B. cooked lunch for us, EXACTLY what I asked for: Chicharron  with Rice, Onion Lime salad, spicy cocona salsa and cocona juice to drink. It was fantastic.  Oh and fried camote (sweet potato) on the side.

  We enjoyed the final session of Conference, and then we taught a few more lessons to finish off the day. A good lesson to this cool family that we met. An older woman and her son. She is from Cusco, and speaks Quechua, and seems pretty excited about our message. She has already been to church two times. Then we taught another family about Joseph Smith, and it was an awesome lesson.

Well that's about all that's new down here in Lima. I wanted to bear my testimony to all of you this Easter season about Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer. I know with all my heart that he gave his life for us, so that we can be free, and be better people every day that passes. I know that he was resurrected three days later, and now he lives, and if we let him into our lives, we will be able to see his hand guiding us and directing day by day. Jesus Christ works miracles in our lives EVERY DAY. Never forget it.  Love you all so much.

 Love,
Elder Reschke 

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What was Easter like in Peru?

The big thing here isn’t really Easter, although they did sell Easter candy at Metro.  The big thing is La Semana Santa which means the Holy Week.  Saturday was this holiday called Feriado which is basically the culmination of La Semana Santa.  

Are you getting any mail?

I do enjoy the “dearelder” letters.  But I think it would be cool to get a real letter through the mail sometime…that would be fun.

Can you tell me how you found your new Converts, William and Isabel?

We were just walking down the street and Isabel was struggling, trying to untangle a hose.  So we jumped up and started to help her and she was all like, "No, don't worry about it, I can do it, it's fine" but we helped her anyway, an then introduced ourselves and set up an appointment.  When we went to the appointment, her husband William was there too.  They LOVE kids, and so they were glad to have some younger people in their house.  We did service for them the next week and carried a bunch of sand for them, and then from there, the rest is history.

How is you camera working out?

Fine.  I have one full SD card full of pictures and another half full of pictures.  If I need more SD cards, I can probably get them down here.

Somebody snatched one of the Elder’s camera in the Internet place last week.  

Did you understand General Conference in Spanish?   Did you see where Elder Uchtdorf spoke in German by mistake?

Yeah, I understood the conference in Spanish..it was great. I liked the guys that gave their talks in Spanish….it was  nice to listen to the real thing and not a Spanish translation.  I was laughing about President Uchtdorf.

Do you ever see any Elders you knew from before?

Yes I have seen Elder Potter a couple of times.  And, Elder Osborn is in my Zone, which is fun.   Also Elder Clawson who was in my District in the CCM,  is in my Zone, so that’s kinda fun.

What are you studying during your scripture study?

The other day during y scripture study, the wheels in my mind got turning and I drew a whole bubble map of all the peoples of The Book of Mormon…like who split off from who and who escaped from what people to join with other people, etc.  It’s pretty interesting stuff to learn. Question from Elder Reschke:  What is your favorite book of scripture from the Old Testament and why?

P. Day lunch with the Zone at Chili's"

                                                              A great find at the store:

                                                                Elder Reschke's area:

                                                             The sun and a cactus:

                                                                 Elder Reschke's area:

                                                                Elder Reschke's area:

Easter Dinner.

Chicharron (Chicken boiled with seasonings and spices till no water remains, and then fried.  It is served with red onion and lime juice) with Rice, Onion Lime salad, spicy cocona (bright orange berry, the size of a large avocado with an intensely acidic flavor, comes from the Amazon jungle) salsa and cocona juice to drink. It was fantastic.  Oh and fried camote (sweet potato) on the side:

                                                                 Feeding the Elders:

                                                                            Inca Cola:

                                                                        Peruvian sun: