Feliz Dia De Gracias. (Happy Day of Thanks.)

Hola Familia Y Amigos, Y Feliz Dia De Gracias!

(Hello Family and Friends, Happy Day of Thanks to you!)

This was a very fun week. For P. Day last Monday, we went to a park and played  "Capture the Flag," and none of the Latinos had played it before, but they all loved it! We watched a movie afterwards.

This was my first real week in the area, so I got to know the people in my area a little bit more, so that was good. On Tuesday, I gave a Zone Training on the parable of the three missionaries: “Wiley Coyote, El Chapulin, and Rocky”. (Don’t even ask for an explanation). But it all boiled down to this: Diligence, Versus Intelligence. There are so many missionaries that are super diligent but never see fruits because they don’t do things intelligently. Likewise, there are a ton of missionaries that are super intelligent but never see fruits because of a lack of diligence. 

For each member of the Zone I printed off a picture of Steve Prefontaine with my favorite quote by him: “Dar Algo Menos que lo mejor de ti es sacrificar el don.”  (To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.) Friday, my Companion and I went around with the mission driver and Sister Erickson to do room revisions of all the rooms in the Zone, and everybody had the picture of Steve Prefontaine taped up on the wall.

On Thanksgiving, my Companion and I wanted to do something to get the Zone pumped up, and all the American missionaries seemed a little down because of the lack of Thanksgiving dinner. So, after a lot of talking to people, coordinating, and phone calls, we managed to organize a complete Thanksgiving dinner for the Zone with Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Vegetables, Rolls with Jam and Butter, and hot apple pie for dessert. The American missionaries were practically in tears, and everyone else loved it too.   It was a great experience. 

We had interviews with President Erickson on Friday, and we made some specific plans to help the missionaries. We had a baptism on Friday, but I’m not gonna count it as one of my converts because I didn’t teach her, but we are happy she was able to be baptized.   There were some problems with the font, and it was spewing up sewer water from outside and we couldn’t get it to drain. Needless to say, we had to relocate the baptism to a chapel up in the hills. 

Enough about the Zone, In OUR area, we have 4 progressing Investigators, one of which we have a baptismal date for the 12th of December. His name is John and he is super cool. 

Yesterday, we brought the whole Zone to the Ward Missionary activity to sing “Called to Serve” for the opening hymn. We were practically the Tabernacle Choir or better:) 

Yeah, sorry for this email that was all over the place, it was kind of a crazy week. BUT, the work of the Lord is progressing here in the Zona Carabayllo, and I am grateful for that. Thanks for all your prayers and keep me posted with all the fun stuff that is happening! 

Love, Elder Reschke. 

P.S. For P. Day today, we have planned "La Carrera Asombrosa" AkA THE AMAZING RACE/URBAN SCAVENGER HUNT. 

Should be fun with tres leches cake for the winners:) 

P.S.S.  The scorpion death toll is now at 3. We got another one this week!

Questions Elder Reschke Answered this Week:

Over all how was your week?

This was a good second week as Zone Leader. I am thoroughly enjoying life.  The thing about being a Zone Leader, is that you are CONSTANTLY on the telephone!  But it was a good week.

How is your companion?

Things are great with my companion, Elder Romero, we get along great.

Did you get your Christmas packages?

Yes, I got the packages!  Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much.

The turtle cookies are so delicious.  So, I think that the gifts you sent for kids,

I am going to send with a Ward member who is going to visit a village and help them out.  I feel like this would be a good place for them.  

Thanks a million!

Miracle of the week?

Our Zone is a lot more happy than before.

Scripture of the week?

Juan 1:4 (I think he means John 1:4)

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

       Elder Reschke received the homemade cookies I sent.

        (*Note from Mom:  When Jake was little, we had a neighbor named Spud. 

    Spud had a ladder that Jake thought was so tall, it went on forever.

      He was very impressed with this tall ladder. 

        And so, from the time he was three years old, 

                        Jake would always say to me "I love you higher than Spud's Ladder."

    This became a little tradition with he and I.

And even now we always end our letters with 

         "Love you higher than Spud's Ladder."):

                                                               Baptism this week:

                                                          Colorful Peruvian dancers:

                                                                    Peruvian dancers:

                                                           Peruvian Thanksgiving:

                                Yes that's a roll of T.P. on the table (we forgot to get napkins):

                                   Peruvian Thanksgiving.  The Bishop helped us out.
                                            A lady in the Ward made the pies,
                 but we had to coordinate everything and make lists of the food to buy, etc.,
                                 they had never made gravy so I had to explain that.
                                                                    They did a great job:

                                                               Peruvian Thanksgiving.

Plot Twist of the Century.

Hola Familia Y Amigos. 

This was a week full of surprises. First off, on Monday they surprisingly told me that I had a change of area.  Didn’t see that one coming, because I only had one transfer in Trapiche. So, after barely unpacking the suitcases, I packed them again. The next day, they announced that Elder Reschke would be the new Zone Leader of the Zona Carabayllo. Totally didn’t see that one comin´ either! So here I am, writing you from Carabayllo with my new companion and fellow Zone Leader, Elder Romero from Honduras.  This is his last change in the mission, and he has a lot of experience. 

This is going to be quite an adventure, but mostly I am just excited for this great opportunity to serve and help others. They say that the Zone Leaders always lose like a solid 10 or 15 pounds, and that they never sleep because the phone is always ringing off the hook, but bring it on! 

Now, I am in charge of the following:   Zone Trainings, Zone Meetings, Nightly Verification, weekly numbers, finances of the Zone, materials of the Zone, letters and packages, work visits to all parts of the Zone, P. Days, and pretty much EVERYTHING.

I am honored that the Lord has trusted me with this sacred responsibility, and I am ready to serve him with all of my heart might mind and strength.

There are 16 people in the Zone, 10 Elders, 6 Sisters.   Our apartment is nice. The area is loaded with cool members, and is very flat except for a hill.

My first area, was in the District of Carabayllo.  The Zona Carabayllo is in the District of Comas still, but is called Carabayllo because of the Stake here. 

In my first area, I had a whole six weeks to get to know my area. NOW, I had 5 days to get to know the whole entire Zone. This week I was in my own area only one day, because for five days I was traveling from area to area to visit and see how the work is going there.  I met tons of cool people this week, and did a lot of climbing in the very tip top of the hills.  I met a family that gave us fresh Cachanga, which is a traditional Peruvian fried bread.  It is so good.  I met a family that cooked us some tasty American pancakes, and I was able to help the other Elders and Sisters of the Zone.

I gave my first Zone training on Tuesday, which went well, and the Zone seems pretty cool. This is gonna be a wild ride, but I am super excited! If anyone has any suggestions of cool stuff I can do with the Zone, any suggestions would be appreciated.

I have dedicated myself to this sacred responsibility, and I am super excited to help be an instrument in the Lord’s hands and help and serve the people that live in the Zona Carabayllo.

Un Abrazo Fuerte, 

Elder Reschke.

P.S. We discovered this week that Bananas and Sprite don’t mix well in you stomach.

 Don’t try it. 

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week.

Miracle of the week?

Miracle of the week is that Bety in Trapiche got baptized on Saturday!

Scripture of the week?

1Nephi Chapter 13.  That is a solid chapter!  Read it!

Did you get your package?

The package got delayed because the had sent it to my old Zone and I got changed so the old Zone had to send it back to the office and they are going to give it to me this week.  I am super excited!

Are you happy?

I am super happy. This is going to be such an adventure.  

                                                        Elder Stoker and Elder Reschke:

                               Hermanas, Elder Reschke, Elder Romero, Elder Gil, Elder Stoker:

                                               Elder Reschke and Elder Romero.
                                            (This is Elder Romero from Cuzco.
Not to be confused with Elder Romero from Honduras who is Elder Reschke's companion.):

                                                     They feed us well.  Such good food:

                                                    Saying good bye to my old area:

                                                                          Good bye:

                                                                Good bye:

                               (Although he was only there a short time, Elder Reschke loved
                                         Trapiche and the people there that he served):

                                                                          Trapiche:

                                                              Good bye Trapiche:

                                                      Elder Reschke and Elder Pastenes:

                                             Next week I will explain how I got ahold
                                                 of an authentic Krispee Kreme donut:

                                       Elder Romero, Elder Reschke, Elder Gil, Elder Stoker:

                                                  There are scorpions in my new room.
                            The death toll (of the scorpions of course) is already at two.  Score!

Amazing Week.

Hola Familia Y Amigos,

Do you like the creativity of my subject line?  I say AMAZING WEEK because there

really is no other way to describe it.

I honestly have no idea what is happening here in Trapiche.  The Lord has blessed us so much lately with SO many amazing people to teach, and these people are progressing rapidly. We have 3 baptismal dates, and many people with which we are ready to talk about a baptismal date.  We also have some families to marry for December, that will definetly get baptized as well.  

We were blessed with nine investigators in the chapel yesterday, and they all enjoyed church quite a bit.  

We had a neat experience this week, when we saw a one legged man wheeling himself on over to his house, and we ran over and wheeled him to his house.  While there, we contacted his wife and nephew and set up an appointment to visit with them.  We visited  them twice, and met their other nephew, and they are very excited about our message.  Yesterday we were able to bring the four of them to church, including the man with one leg, who came on his crutches.  THAT is dedication.  He is a real nice guy, and of lack of a better word to describe him  

I would have to say “Jolly”.  I have a lot of faith in this family and know they will progress well.

Preparing for baptism, we have David, Betty, and Nelida.  They are coming along well, and we are going to keep visiting them this week.

Other highlight of the week is that I “sacrificed” the World Cup.  Ya know why?  Because the night before the World Cup, as we were getting pumped for the game, the Zone Leaders asked me if I wanted to accompany a big group of recent convert from the stake to the temple to do the work for their ancestors.  I was instantly like…OF COURSE!  As much as I love the World Cup, I hadn’t been to the temple here yet, and have been anxious to go.  SO, Tuesday, I FINALLY made it to The House of The Lord, here in Peru.  It was so beautiful, and we helped by being witnesses and doing confirmations.  The Spirit was so strong!  I am so happy for the great opportunity I had.  I was able to swing by the temple store after, and pick up a couple of little things to throw in my Christmas package I am sending home.

I am so grateful to be a missionary.  I know I say that a lot, but it’s the truth.  I honestly love it with all my heart.  Being able to see all those recent convert get to the temple was just a joyous sight.  It made me really reflect on the Joys of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This church is true, this gospel is true, and Jesus Christ LIVES and LOVES US.  Hope y’all have a great week.  I know I will.

Love,

Elder Reschke.

P.S.  My team only took 3rd place in the World Cup, but that’s probably because one of their prime defenders was busy on one the Lord’s errands:)

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What is the miracle of the week?

The miracle is that I got to go to the temple.

What is the scripture of the week?

The scripture of the week is D & C 39.  The whole chapter is about baptism. 

 It is super cool; read it!

                                                                          Lima Peru Temple:

                                                                      At the temple:

                                              Elder Gill and Elder Reschke at the temple:

                                                                      At the temple:

                                                              The temple is beautiful:

                                                    The road we walk down each day:

                                                               Elders:

                                                    Christmas package heading home:

Hola from Peru.

Hola Familia Y Amigos,

This was a solid week here in Trapiche. For P. Day,we played soccer all day and had pizza for lunch

It was pretty chill. This week we are actually having P. Day tomorrow, because it is the WORLD CUP!!! A.K.A. The mission wide soccer tournament. 

The team is looking pretty solid, so we are excited. 

This week was a good week of teaching all the investigators. We met some cool new investigators who have some potential:  Herbert, Monica, Nelda, and Nora.  We will see how they can progress.

We spent this week preparing Betty for her baptism. She is super excited, and is going to be a great member of the church. 

This Saturday one of the Zone Leaders came with my companion and I.  We had a solid day, and by a miracle while knocking doors we found a cool less active lady who was in great need of the missionaries when we arrived. She was happy to see us and she came to church on Sunday! 

We had an intense lesson with Rony and Vanessa, and arranged a baptismal date! I asked them if they would pay 100 soles to be an eternal family.  They were like “yeah”.   I said what about 10000 soles to be an eternal family and they were like “yeah”.   Then I said well the solution to be an eternal family is a lot easier than that, and it’s free!   I then invited them to be baptized on the 21st of November and they said yes!  It was a very powerful moment.

Oh, and Lily is progressing nicely. She believes in God now, and understands a lot about our purpose here on earth. We are probably going to invite her to be baptized this week. 

Well, that is all that is new with us. 

Hope you all have a great week, and let me know if anything exciting happens! 

Love, 

Elder Reschke. 

P.S. RIP Energy Solutions Arena.

P.S.S. Stay tuned til next week to find out whether or not Elder Reschke will be a World Cup Champion!

P.S.S.S.

Happy Birthday Mom!I hope you have a fantastic birthday, and a fantastic week.

(Surprised I remembered?)  Well, you can’t forget your own Mom’s birthday!

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What is the weather like there lately?

Summer is coming so it is getting hotter and hotter. 

The dust and the cacti make it seem a lot hotter than it is.

What kinds of trees/bushes are there in your area?

There are a ton of cactus, palm trees, aloe vera, banana trees,

tropical flowers, bamboo type trees, desert plants, etc.  

There is also, one type of pine tree which is kinda cool!

How is your companion doing?

He is solid.  We work hard together!

                                                                       I love Peru:

                                Chicharron De Calamar, Con Canchita Serrana Y Chifles
                                (calamari with roasted corn kernels and fried banana chips):

                                                     Our room.  I have the bottom bunk:

                                                                       Selfie of the day:

Seems like Missionaries Always Baptize the Haircut Lady......

Hola Amigos Y Familia!

This was a solid week for Elder Gil and I here in Trapiche:).   Monday we had a good P. Day and went to Chili´s and got burgers. I also bought the Reschke Family Christmas, so get excited. 

We had a good week, and have a lot of people progressing. Rony and Vanessa (the cool family) came to church for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved it! (Just a side note, that Rony used to play Pro Soccer, so that’s kinda cool). We had a good week teaching them and are ready to talk about a baptismal date. We also took out a baptismal date for our haircut lady, Bety, who is way cool. Antonio was able to come to church too, and we got the girl who doesn’t believe in God to come to church too. I’m almost positive she believes in God now. All in all, its been a great week, and we are excited for the progress of our Investigators. 

    Neat experience of the week: We were out working, and all of the appointments fell through. We were like, “Well lets head on down to the village by the River Chillón to see how they are doing down there.” The family we were going to visit wasn’t home. and I said, "Okay obviously we are here for a reason. Heavenly Father wouldn’t have brought us all the way over here for nothing, so lets go find out why were are here in this very moment." We kind of felt the feeling to head over to this tiny little blue house, right on the very edge of the forest, and either the door was open or there was no door, I’m not sure which, and we peeked in and there was a tin roof, dirt floor, and walls that didn’t even come all the way up to the roof, and a kind of sad looking lady sitting on the bed reading a newspaper. We contacted her, and it turns out they have tons of problems, and she spends the majority of her time at the hospital because her stepdaughter is really sick, etc. We shared a nice message with her to cheer her up, and we are going to visit her because she is really cool. I know that THAT is the reason we felt the prompting to head down to the village by the Rio Chillón in that moment. 

       Did a fun work visit with Elder Stoker, who is finishing up his second change in the mission. He is from Syracause, Utah and we have a lot in common. We visited one of his Investigators with a baptismal date, and did inspired questions to find out her real necessity. We were able to get her to open up a bit and explain what her worries were, just because we were focused on the INVESTIGATOR and not just on the lesson we were going to teach.

   Halloween was fun. Once again, there were a gazillion little Spanish speaking Spiderman’s and Disney Princesses running all around, and knocking on the little corner store’s for candy.

 In two days, we did 64 contacts. Not bad huh? All in all, twas a good week. I am so excited for the work of the Lord here in Trapiche, Peru. I know that the Lord has assigned me to this area for a specific reason, and little by little, I am being led by the spiritual promptings to meet the people that the Lord is preparing to receive the glorious message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There is nothing that I would rather be doing in my life right now than exactly what I am doing. Thanks for all the support, and I love ya´ll so much. 

 Love, 

Elder Reschke. 

P.S. There was a traffic stop this week and all the Busses and Convees were stopped for a day. I had to call up everyone in the District and tell them to STAY AWAY FROM PUBLIC TRANSIT, until everything got cleared up. 

P.S.S. I was able to enjoy a nice Dr. Pepper this week, imported straight
from the Ol´ U. S. of A. 

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

Did you get the package YET??

Yep got the package!  Thanks for everything.  The ties are beautiful, and the snacks were tasty.  That was very nice of you guys to send a package, and they are always fun to open.  Elder Gil says “Muchas Gracias.”

Are you staying off the roof there?

Mom….Roofs in Peruvian culture are different.

Everyone goes on the roof…it’s just what ya do!

What do they grow in the fields by where you live?

They grow Cilantro, corn and roses.  They sell the roses to flower shops!

You mention the forest. What kinds of trees are there in the forest?

It’s not really a forest, it’s kind of more like a little jungle.  Full of banana trees, palm trees, and tropical plants, bamboo, and I’m pretty sure sugar cane too.  And some normal trees too.

Miracle of the week:

The miracle is that lady down by the river.

Scripture of the week?

Helaman 5:45. 

 “And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven,

 and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire,

 and they could speak forth marvelous words.”

(I have been thinking a lot about the blessings of the spirit lately.)

Do you like my running picture?  You can't keep me off the track!

                                                                      The goat herder:

                                                  Halloween Ghost Peeps in Peru:

                                                                     On the roof:

                                                  The fields and forest (or jungle):

                                                  Dropping off our laundry this morning: