Mi Testimonio.

Hola Amigos Y Familia!

It was good to talk with some of you guys via SKYPE yesterday! Wow all those little nieces and nephews are growing like crazy!

This week was pretty good for us. Last Sunday night we met a cool girl named Joselyn, and she is GOLDEN! We have only known her for a week, and she has already accepted to be baptized on the 30th of May. She is progressing way nicely. We are getting ready for the baptism of Isabel this Saturday. She is the best, and is really excited for her baptism. 

Ha Ha, for P. Day on Monday, we played a huge game of Capture the Flag with the Zone. It was a blast, and probably one of the first times that Capture the Flag has been played in South America.

Well, I gave you guys a good update on SKYPE yesterday, so I thought I would take a few moments to write my testimony. 

     A testimony, I decided is something that begins as a seed, and then grows and grows the more you nourish it. I have been nourishing my testimony exceedingly this last nine months, and it has grown so much.

I have literally seen miracles in my nine months here in Perú. So many miracles, that it would be impossible for me to name all of them. 

I have learned that the best way to be happy and feel peace in my life is to forget about myself, and lose myself in the service of others. I have experienced firsthand all the blessings that you can receive when you serve the Lord. I know with all my heart that this is the work of the Lord, and I am beyond honored to be one of the Lord’s chosen servants to help bring to pass the work of salvation.

I know that life isn’t always easy, but I know that the way to be happy is by having faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ and his Atonement and Gospel. I know that Jesus Christ gave his life for us so that we can be free. I know that the way we can overcome any worry or difficulty in our life is through accepting Jesus Christ and his Atonement. I know that he gave his life for us because he loves us, and little by little, day by day, we can feel the real power of the Atonement in our lives.

We are so blessed to have the fullness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I know that Joseph Smith really was a prophet, and that he was an instrument in the hands of God to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth.

I have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, a book that many people take for granted, but a book that really changes lives. I have seen this firsthand. I know that this book is a sacred volume of scripture, that really contains the words of a living Heavenly Father, and it has no place, forgotten on dusty bookshelves and nightstands. We should treat the Book of Mormon like the sacred text that it is. We should read it, discover it, and let it change our lives. It has changed my life, and I know that it can change the life of EVERY Child of our Heavenly Father.

I know that the missionary work that I am doing here in Perú is marvelous, and it is a work that will continue until the word of the Lord has penetrated EVERY continent and whispered in EVERY ear, this glorious message that will lead us to an eternal life, in the presence of our families, and our loving Heavenly Father.

This is what I have to share today, and I testify of these words in the sacred name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love you all so much, and I hope you have a great week.

Con Mucho Amor, 
Elder Reschke

P.S. I do NOT have an accent! 

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What was your favorite part of SKYPING this week?

Seeing you guys in real life was the best part.  Oh, and the nieces and nephews.  They are growing like crazy.  

Did you know tomorrow is Dad’s birthday?

Yes. 59, right?  And Dad is fantastic.  He really is the best Dad in the whole wide world, and I don’t know if he realizes how amazing he is!

Did you know it is Abigail’s birthday Wednesday?

Yep, and that is crazy how fast Abigail has grown up!  Ha ha.

We liked hearing you speak Quechua so well.  Do most missionaries speak it?  

Some missionaries know a phrase or two, but I would probably say that I speak it more than most.

What are you doing for P. Day today?

Well, the Zone is playing kickball for P. Day, but there is a good chance that my companion and I will have to bag that to go to Megaplaza and do the wedding papers for a family that wants to get married, but I don’t care because I don’t mind helping out.  Plus, that probably means we get to eat at Megaplaza, which is a bonus:)

                                        Cool new bean fruit I tried called pacay. 

      (Pacay, or ice-cream bean, is a tree that contains a podded fruit often cultivated for the edible white pulp surrounding large seeds.  It is a legume tree native to South America.):

                     My picture was the meme of the week that they shared with the Zone.
                                    (Important person in Comas with a Colgate Smile.):

             A good food from the Jungle that Isabel cooked for us called tacacho con cecina.
 (Roasted banana Amazonian cuisine dish from Peru.  It is usually served with grilled bits of pork.)

                                                       Peruvian dog of the week:

   Lazy dog in the chapel that WOULD NOT LEAVE.  We were nudging it and everything,
                        and it refused to get up and leave.  It is not Pablo the dog.
         Pablo is shorter and black, and we love Pablo.  He is always welcome in the chapel.

                                            Cool service project we did up in the hills: