Feliz Navidad:)

Hola Familia, 

This week was a solid week for us. We did a lot of contacting and knocking on doors to get to meet new people around Christmas time, so that was fun. Everybody fed us well this week. It was a week full of: Turkey, Peruvian Christmas Rice, Panetón, Hot Chocolate, Pig, Pie, Chocolate, and I also tried something called Ceviche de Pota, which was super tasty. Normally we can’t eat ceviche, but this was an exception because the fish was cooked. But it was super tasty, and a classic Peruvian dish. This week I also ate a teeny tiny little octopus. It was the cutest thing. 

We walked into the market place, and they were blasting Peruvian Christmas music, and gave us free hot chocolate and panetón and said, ¨"Bienvenidos Al Mercado!" (Welcome to the market). That was nice of them. So, it was a nice Christmasy week. 

     On the 24th, we had the annual Mission-wide Christmas party in Tahuantinsuyo.  We had a dodgeball tournament, and a tasty BBQ. We then had a talent show, and our Zone presented our skit which was super funny. We had our Zone t-shirts, which came out pretty nice, and Zone Santa hats with our names and the logo of the mission sewed on. After the talent show, we all watched “Home Alone”, which was fun. We got little gift bags from President and Sister Erickson. We had to go to Tottus that night to buy all the food for the Zone Christmas breakfast/Secret Santa that we did on Christmas day.  That night there were a TON of fireworks, like usual, so that was fun to watch from the roof.

     On the 25th, we woke up, and opened the Christmas presents that my family sent my Companion and I. Thank you so much family!! I really appreciate it!! Then we had the Zone Christmas breakfast, and we had pancakes with toppings, eggs with bacon, and a bunch of different juices. We had a Secret Santa, and then we had a little devotional/group scripture study with the Zone. That afternoon we were super happy to be able to talk with our families via SKYPE!! Glad to see that everyone is doing well. 

     

The weekend was filled with saying goodbye, because my Companion, Elder Romero is finishing his mission and heading back to Honduras. This morning (Monday) we had another Baptism! We were able to baptize Hermano N. and he was baptized by his son which was neat to watch. I am happy for my Companion, because that was a perfect last day of the mission. Tomorrow I will get my new companion, which will be interesting as usual. 

Stay tuned. Love you all so much, and I am so glad you all had a great Christmas! It was so amazing to see a little more love between all the families in this wonderful Christmas time. I fully realized what Christmas is all about. Thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many people this year were able to have a very special Christmas season. 

 Love,

 Elder Reschke

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

How did you like SKYPING with us?

It was a really fun day, but after the third time SKYPING you run out of words.
(Last Christmas, Mother's Day, this Christmas.)

Who do you think has changed the most since you have been on your mission?

The one who has changed the most is Tess!!!!!

 (Tess is Elder Reschke’s 2 year old niece.)

What did you do with the rest of the day after we SKYPED?

After SKYPE we had a Christmas turkey dinner.  

Did you feel homesick on Christmas or after SKYPING with your family?

Not gonna lie, I don’t think I felt homesick at all.  

I am just so happy to be here.

Any last words for today?

I wanted to take a second to thank you guys very much for the Christmas gifts.
That was very thoughtful of you guys, and I loved them all.  

Especially the mission journal. 

I already filled out the majority of the first pages. 

Thank you so much.

My Companion, Elder Romero liked all his gifts too, and says “gracias”!

                                                               Decorating for Christmas:

                                                Our Zona Carabayllo Christmas tee-shirts:

                                                              Mission Christmas Party:

                                                 My trainer, Elder Martinez, and I:

                   I ran against these guys in high school cross-country.  Now we are all on the same team:

                                                 Elder Romero and Elder Reschke:

                                                           Elder Reschke and Elder Romero:

                                                                    Santa comes to Peru:

                                                                     Christmas gifts:

                             Elder Reschke and Elder Romero eating homemade turtle cookies
                                                         from Elder Reschke's Mom:

                                                                            Good food:

                                             A tiny little octopus I ate.  It was so cute:

                                                                            Baptism:

                                                            My beloved Peruvians:

                                                                   Happy people:

                                                     Christmas with my friends:

                                                                    Meetings:

                                                                            Baptism:

                                                                       Baptism:

                                        A baptism on Elder Romero's last day of his mission:

                                                             Christmas 2015, Lima, Peru:

Feliz Navidad Peruana.

¡Feliz Navidad Y Prospero Año Nuevo Para Todos! 

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!)

I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season, I know I am. The Zone is doing fantastic.
 We had a pretty chill P. Day…we ate lunch at KFC and then practiced our Zone skit for the mission wide Christmas party. We are doing a Secret Santa within the Zone, which is fun.
For my person, I specially ordered an Andean Hymn Book Cover from the temple with their name sewed on it. As a Zone, we sent out a Zone-wide Christmas card and had it professionally printed by a graphic designer, we also ordered a Zone t-shirt, and custom Christmas santa hats with the logo of the mission and our names sewed on them.
 (That’s right, I’ve got connections).

*It is with sadness that I tell you I have received some sad news.
 My one-legged friend, and recent Convert, Manuel passed away.
 It is sad, but I am also glad that he was able to have, through the gospel,
 a little more comfort and peace in  his last six months on earth.

     On Tuesday we had a good Zone meeting, and I gave a good training on
FINDING SOLUTIONS and SOLVING PROBLEMS,
which is something that this Zone needs. I shared a good story
 about a missionary in Paraguay that saw miracles.
The story came from a BYU talk called “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

     It was a good week of work visits. We visited a guy and when we got to his house
 he was finishing up the hour long version of the Joseph Smith movie.
 He was a brand new Investigator, and we have no idea how he found the movie.
We were also able to set the baptismal date with an Investigator in Santa Luisa. 
Over in the Habana, we had a baptism, and we had a very spiritual lesson with a lady about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Christmas. It was miraculous.
Yesterday on a visit with the Sister Missionaries we met a really intelligent guy who gives conferences on sociology and theology and answered a ton of his awesome questions about
The Planning of Salvation. He’s got some potential. 

     Overall, it has been a good Christmasy week here in my beloved Peru.
We have been drinking hot chocolate (even though its like a million degrees outside)
 and eating a lot of Panetón.

I was surprised with a phone call this morning with some good news.
 Nancy, one of my Investigators, and the mother of two of my Converts in Año Nuevo, Joselyn and Ingrid, is getting baptized this Saturday. I still vividly remember the day we felt the Spirit when we saw her hill (cerro la cruz) and decided to journey up there.
 Her door was the first door we knocked on. Look to nearly a year later, she is getting baptized. 

There is no better Christmas present that a missionary could ask for. 

       Once again, this Christmas season, I feel extremely humbled and blessed
for the wonderful opportunity I have to share a message
of Eternal life and Eternal families with my beloved Peruvians.
There is no place I would rather be this Christmas season. 

I love you all very much, but I don’t feel one bit homesick. 

This Christmas, I get to stand on the dusty streets of Lima Peru,
and take it all in. I hear the sounds of the mottos rushing in every direction,
 and I get to see the rustic houses painted various shades of vibrant colors. 

But more than anything.  I get to knock on those doors,
 and share the glorious message of the birth of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
There is nothing I would rather be doing, because this Christmas season I get to share a message of happiness
with my beloved Peruvian brothers and sisters. 

Love you all so much, 

and I wish you all a very Feliz Navidad. 

Con Mucho Amor Y Cariño, 

Elder Reschke. 

P.S. This week a brother from the Habana is ordering some live Suri,
a worm straight from the jungle that you have to eat LIVE!

Questions Elder Reschke Answered this week:

Did you hear that President Owens (from the Stake Presidency) passed away this past week?

Yes, so sad to hear about President Owens, he was one of my favorites!!!

DO NOT EAT WORMS!  (Won’t you get parasites?)

Mom, if eating live worms was bad, it wouldn’t be a thousand year old tradition.
Moreover, the whole Zone that ate Suri last month would have gotten sick.

Scripture of the week?

The chapter from Helaman when Samuel the Lamanite prophecies of the birth of Jesus Christ. (Helaman Chapter 14).

Miracle of the week?

The miracle is that Nancy is getting baptized!

                                                                             Baptism cake:

                                                                       Cookies in Peru:

                                                                         My area:

                                               "I am as happy as ever to be a missionary.":

                                                             Who's foot is this?

                             Sunset in Peru.  You can see the ocean in the background if you look hard:

                                                                    Out and about:

*Pictures from last week are now on that post.

A Night In The Hospital.

Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

This was a very event filled week here in the Zona Carabayllo. For P. Day Monday, we went to Mega Plaza and ate some tasty burgers in Chili's. 

Tuesday we had a good Zone meeting, and I gave a training about the importance of working with members. I made a connection to the Book of Momon: Ammon was the missionary, the kingdom of King Lamoni was the new Ward, and King Lamoni was the Bishop. Everything fell into place perfectly, until we got to the verse that said King Lamoni was so pleased that he gave one of his daughters to Ammon to wife. hehehe.

After the Zone meeting, I had to go to the hospital and spent 24 hours there with one of our missionaries who is there with a really bad ear infection. But hey, at least the mission offices brought me breakfast lunch and dinner. Lemme just say, that the hospital sofa, was Peruvian Sized. Which means it was like two feet short of being full body length!! Luckily the other Elders came the next day to rescue me!

This week, in the area, and we had a good week teaching people. We got some really good references so we should have some good new Investigators. 

       Saturday, we had the baptism of our Investigator, John. He was super excited to be baptized, and it was a good spiritual experience for us. 

Sunday, I did a division with an older Brother from the Ward, named Hermano C.____.   He is super cool! He has been everything...Bishop, Stake President, etc, and now he just has the desires to leave the house every Sunday and do missionary work! He is teaching me some new phrases in Quechua, because he is fluent! 

That’s all thats new here in good ol' Carabayllo. Oh, yesterday I got to bless the sacrament in Spanish for the first time ever! That was a neat experience. Five minutes before the meeting started, they told us we had to give talks. I gave a talk on the real meaning of Christmas. How this should be a time of year when we can all preach the gospel to those who need it. 

We all need to focus more on our Savior,  Jesus Christ, and the amazing atoning sacrifice that he made for us, because he loves us. 

That is why I am so happy to be here as a missionary, 

and have one more amazing Navidad Peruana.

 Love you all, and hope you all have an amazing day. 

Love, 

Elder Reschke. 

P.S. We are ordering some sweet Santa hats with our names sewn on them for Christmas...we also sent out a Zone-wide Christmas card. 

P.S.S. I am attaching a picture of an authentic blow dart gun made by a native tribe, that came straight out of the depths of the Peruvian jungle. 

P.S.S:S: I had to laugh while I was in the bathroom doing my hair the other day...One of the missionaries from Bolivia was exploring the room a little bit and he happened to find the turtle cookies from home,  which were hidden, and he reads in the most Latino accent ever:

“ COOO-KEEES FRUM MAM....Ooopen NAUW!!”

*Note from Mom:  No Pictures today.

                                                       Authentic blow dart gun:

                                                                  Baptism of John:

                             Brother C.  Who just loves doing missionary work with his time:

Monkeys!

Hola Familia Y Amigos,

First things first, the Krispee Kreme donut story ya´ll have been waitin for. Well that day of changes, a Sister Missionary from Mexico was finishing her mission. Her parents came to pick her up, and they brought her Krispee Kreme donuts, which thrives in Mexico. So, she gave me one, and it was super tasty:).

       Morevoer, the Zone is super excited! And super unified. Everyone has told me that the Zone is better than it ever was. We had a fun P. Day on Monday: The Amazing Race: Peruvian Edition. 

The challenges were as follows: 

Take a team selfie with a dog from the street.

Take a team selfie with a tower of playing cards.

Take a picture of a team member chugging a bottle of Inka Kola.

Take a team selfie with the Peruvian flag.

Take a team selfie with a parked motto...five points bonus if it was a convee.
Take a picture of a Sister scoring a soccer goal.
Etc. 

There were also bonus items: 

A nail.

A feather.

A live cockroach.

A teammate eating a plate of pure rice.

 In the end we met up with the other team by chance and we had an epic race back to the chapel. The winning team won coconut cream filled cookies, and the losing team had to eat a burning hot red pepper. Sadly, even though my team got the live cockroach, we didn’t win. And we had to buy a lot of Jello and Ice Water to cool the burning of the hot pepper. 

       This week we had to make our monthly Zone goals for December and we had a special Zone Leader’s Council Meeting in Independencia with all of the Zone Leaders. We received an awesome training by President Erickson about implementing the power of the atonement in our teaching as missionaries. We really need to explain to people the power they can see in their lives if they accept the atonement of Jesus Christ, but explain to them they they have to use their agency to do THEIR PART. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

 I am definitely going to be implementing that in my teachings as a missionary. 

       This week it was my turn to do the work visits, so I did five work visits in five different areas this week. Everyone in the Zone is working super hard, and EVERY companionship has a baptismal date for the month of December, so it looks like its going to be  a White Christmas after all. 

Yesterday, we had to do a TON of baptismal interviews which went well, and we are excited to help all these people progress towards baptism. 

Our own area is doing rather well. We have one baptismal date, named John, who is doing really well. This week we are going to put a fixed date with Gilberto for the month of December. 

We met a nice member lady last night when I had to go to Santa Luzmilla so we could interview her boyfriend who is getting baptized this month.  She was baptized by the Hermana missionaries 26 years ago in Piura.  She gave us Lonche, which was nice.  Lonche is like Peruvian dinner that they eat at 8 to 9 o’clock an usually consists of herbal tea or Ecco or hot chocolate, and little rolls with cheese or meat.

     I am so honored to be a missionary, and to be here and help the work of the Lord progress. We are doing a world wide initiative  from the church called “Un Salvador Ha Nacido: A Savior is Born.” I am so excited to share this glorious Christmas Message with the Peruvian people in the month of December. 

We are really in the Christmas spirit as a Zone, and we have a Hermana that is going to print out the Zone Christmas card! 

I know this church is true and that Jesus Christ lives and loves every one of us.
 NEVER FORGET IT!

 Much love,

 Elder Reschke. 

P.S.  *Note to Mom:  I met a couple of Senior Missionaries form Northern California.
 They just got here, and they know Placerville and love going to Apple Hill.

P.S.S.  Things are going great here in the mission.
 I am super happy to be a missionary, and super happy to be able to help others.
 Have a great week.

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

How was your week?

It has been a good week.  

And I have just one thing to say “Carabayllo is on fire!”  

Last month there were 7 people baptized.  

But, this month there are 10 confirmed baptismal dates already,
and we just need to do some more interviews to have more.  

Every companionship in the Zone is going to baptize in December. 

You could say we are working hard!

Have you opened any thing from the Christmas package we sent?

I have been opening the letters every day which is a lot of fun.

Which letter was your favorite?

Ha ha they were all good! 

 Ya can’t name favorites! 

How do you like the turtle cookies?

The turtle cookies are super tasty.

 I have to hide them when I leave the area on a work visit!

Do you have much time to teach with being a Zone Leader?

It’s mainly teaching in other areas!  

But it’s great, because we are all on the same team

 and it all contributes to the work of the Lord.

What is the weather like now?

It’s getting super hot out!  We don’t have to wear suit coats until April 1.  

Miracle of the week?

The miracle of the week are three baptismal dates.

Scripture of the week?

Helaman 5:9-11:

 9 O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.

 10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

 11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

                                                            Elder Romero and Elder Reschke.
                                              Last Monday night we listened to Christmas music,
                                                 put up our Christmas tree, and ate paneton`,
                                         the traditional Peruvian Christmas bread.  Super tasty:

                                                           Christmas tree all decorated:

                                                                       Ready for December:

                                                                     
                                                                        In my area:
                                         

 This picture is a Latino version of the famous "Second Coming" picture that I fell in love with.                                                    A 90 year old lady has it hanging in her house.
                                     It is a one of a kind...this is the only and original copy:

                                               This week we saw two different monkeys.
                                               One was in a cage where we ate lunch,
                                            and the other one was just tied up to a tree.
                                     He was eating a lolly-pop which made us laugh like crazy!

                                                                         

                                                              Monkey eating lolly-pop:

                                            Monkey.  (The one on the left is the monkey):

                     Saint Nicholas Night.  We opened our Saint Nicholas ties.  Thank you so much:

                          Saint Nicholas ties.  Elder Romero loves his tie and says "gracias" also: