Finally got to visit Machu Picchu in the mission.

Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

This was a good week for us down here in Perú. The highlight of the week was (drumroll please): I finally got to visit Machu Picchu in the mission! It was just beautiful. (Machu Picchu is the name of one of the areas in our Zone where I did a work visit, hehe).

It was a pretty chill week. P. Day was just “P. Day Free Day”, because half the Zone wasn’t even there, due to some Elders moving houses and others who went to the temple. 

This week we were excited because we were able to take out a baptismal date with a sister named Milagros. She is a Young Woman, and already gets along really well with all the Ward Members. Other than that, it wasn’t too eventful of a week. 

We did an interesting service project which consisted of the following: Fixing up a ladder to cut some bricks off the side of the house so that the pigeons would stop perching there. (Mom I already know what is going through your mind, and YES we were careful, and NO, nobody died or got extremely hurt). 

But yeah it was a good week, and this week we were able to do a TON of baptismal interviews for the month of March, and I am glad that we were able to help some of those people. We are kind of on the hunt for new Investigators, so this week we are just going to go contacting like crazy to be able to find some people that need the Gospel in their lives.

All in all life is just great, and we are having a great time helping the Zone and sharing the Gospel with others!

Love ya all, and I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

Elder Reschke

P.S. I have been told there is a llama that lives in my area. I wanna go find it! 

P.S.S. We had to go do some negotiations with a lady so that we could rent a new room for the Elders in Las Lomas. 

We talked to her, and got the room!

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

How are your shoes holding up?

My shoes are fine.  Slowly getting battered, but I am determined to use the same pair until the end of my mission.

Have you gained weight, lost weight, or stayed the same?

I think I am the same weight wise.

I know you said that you would leave a lot of things there when it is time to come home.  I hope you will bring your quilt back though…after all you have had it on your bed since you were three.

Of course I will bring my quilt home….it’s like a member  of the family by now.

Have you heard how Isaac is doing on his mission lately?

Yes, I get Isaac’s e-mail every week.  He is doing fantastic!

                                                           Working in the Zone:

                                   This dusty field is in Machu Pichu,  one of the areas in our Zone:
                                (Not to be confused with the REAL Machu Pichu that is so green).

  

                             Traditional Peruvian dessert called Mazomorra Y Arroz Con Leche. 
                            It is so good.  The red stuff is the Mozamorra.  They make it from the
                               same purple corn that they use to make the Chicha Morada drink:

                                                                The hills in our Zone:

 This is the grain that I can't remember what it is called, but it is a grain from the jungle that the Peruvian lumberjacks always take when they travel alone because it does not spoil and it is a staple like rice, but it kind of tasted like crushed up peanuts or something:

                                                                   Service project:

                                                   "No Solo De Pan" (No bread alone.):

                                                                        Good food:

                                                        Lunch time. Lots of good food:

                              "Prohibido De jar basura en esta esquina bajo pena de golpe"
                                          According to google translate, this says:
                       "Forbidden to throw garbage at this corner under penalty of being hit."
                          (However,  Jake says, google translate is not that accurate):

                                 My scripture case.  On the back it has my mission scripture,
                                              and "Mision Peru Lima Norte 2014-2016".
                           Also, on the bible cover, it has a picture of Jesus knocking on the door:

                                                                      Service project:

                                                      The service project this past week:

                                                The ladder we used for the service project:

E. Reschke en nuestra casa.

*(Note from Elder Reschke's Mom:  Today I received this email.  

What a fun surprise.  It made my day!)

Bs.tardes. hna.Reschke:

My name is Marilu Chinchay and we had lunch with E.Reschke and his companion E.Rodriguez 

and also the sisters.

My husband and I are really happy every time that we have lunch with the missionaries.

We served in Chile,my husband served on 2005 2007 and I served on 2006 2008,

je served on Concepcion on the south of Chile and I served in Santiago.

We really know how the life in the mission is so we really love to be with them.

Here we have some pictures in my home.

Love.

Sister Marilu Chinchay de Lago

P.S. Our clock was without battery so it was not 5 pm.

Taytacha Jesucristo Cachamanco.

Allillanchu quchumasi! 

Thought I would greet you guys in Quechua:) hehe Hope you all had a fantastic week! I know I did. It was actually a pretty chill week. Not a ton to write. We were able to find a lot of really good investigators. We have a lot of possibilities for the month of March, because we had 7 investigators come to church yesterday. Not bad huh? 

First off, P. Day last week was fun. We had some good ol KFC, which is way better in Perú by the way. Then we hung out at the institute building and watched a movie. Pretty chill day. We had a good Zone meeting on Tuesday, and everyone seems pretty excited.

     Did a work visit with the Elders in Canto Nuevo, and we taught some pretty good lessons together. We ordered a pizza that night and the pizza guy got mad because he couldn’t find our house. The next day when I told my companion what had happened, he said. "Hey we ordered a pizza too and it was the same pizza delivery guy and he got mad at US too!" Hehe it was the same delivery guy. Poor guy.

     We did a really good Family Home Evening, and they invited a sister that has been inactive for like twenty years. We totally re light that gospel fire and we set up an appointment and we met all her family. There is like five people in that house that could get baptized! Yesterday, we brought them all to church and they had a great time. We are going to keep working with them. 

     Had a neat experience on Saturday, the Elders from another area had a baptism of a Hermana, and she asked me to baptize her because I did the interview. I baptized her, and when I was getting out of the water, I noticed she was just standing there in the water for like a minute, just pondering and meditating and looking at the water. It was a sweet experience, because I know she has had a difficult life, and now she just began a whole different life. THAT IS WHY I LOVE THE MISSION! Just being able to see and feel and experience the changes that people have in their lives. It is truly a beautiful experience. 

We had an awesome lesson last night with a nice man named Renzo, and he is really learning a lot! Anyway, that is all thats new. In short this is my life right now:

 Eating rice and chicken EVERYDAY, going everywhere in little Peruvian Motos, Sweating my Tail off, Growing, Learning, progressing spiritually, Loving Life, Loving Peru, Loving the Lord. 

Have a great week everybody. Love you all. 

Tupananchiskama, 

Elder Reschke. 

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

My APP says it is 36 degrees here in Salt Lake City right now, and 81 in Lima Peru, when will Summer end there?

Mom, Fall and Winter have never arrived, and they never will. 

I have been in Summertime since August 2014. But it should cool down a bit by June.

What have you been doing for service there, you know how important service is?

Yep.  Two weeks in a row we have been painting this less active members house.  I am like a paint expert now!

What do you do for exercise other than all your walking during the day?

Exercise is pretty much pushups and sit-ups.  We were doing stair runs for a while.

This name is a name I found in our family tree.

I took a picture because Asgard is where Thor from Avengers lives.

I didn't know we were related to Super Heros!

                                                                  Ponchos in Peru:

                                                 Yes, they really do wear ponchos in Peru:

                                                            Baptism this past week:

                                         Pizza with Elder Connolly who is from Arizona:

Bienvenidos a Canto Grande.

Hola Familia!

 This week has been a really good week for us, but it has been quite an adventure!
 So on Monday we had to say some more goodbyes to the really kind members of  Carabayllo. That has been one of my favorite Wards, and the members there have been so helpful and loving. They did a little goodbye Family Home Evening, and Hermana Patty made me a homemade apple pie.
Thank you Barrio Carabayllo, you guys are the best.

On Tuesday morning, I got in a taxi BY MYSELF
 (which felt super weird, but that’s the new way they do transfers now)
 and went all the way to San Juan de Lurigancho,
 practically converting the taxi driver on the way.

We got to San Juan, and got everything all lugged up to our room
 (which is super nice and on the fourth floor with a really good view).
 Our area is the only flat area in the whole Zone, and all the other areas have crazy hills.
 San Juan de Lurigancho is a lot dustier, a lot more of humble living circumstances, and a lot less modernized than where I was before. To me, it feels more like classic Perú, because like I said, it isn’t as modern, and there are a ton of immigrants from the provinces. There are a lot of people here that just dress in the traditional Pervuian clothes, with the braided hair, colorful baby carrying slings, etc..
 I have spoken a ton of Quechua this week too, so that has been fun! 

We had a good leadership meeting with all the leaders of the mission, and we are like a solid hour and a half away from the mission offices, which is the furthest I have ever been.

     We had a solid Zone meeting, and I gave a good training about establishing your Everest.
But in the end, I said we don’t even have to walk to the top, because if we are obedient and working hard, there is a car that takes us, and it is driven by Christ. It was a fun little parable.

     I did a work visit with Elder Conolly in his new area. They are opening a new area, so we just hiked around in the hills and contacted people ALL DAY. It was amazing, because we contacted a gazillion people, and only like two people rejected us. It was amazing. We were able to meet so many neat people. We were able to take out a baptismal date with a really nice lady, and on the way up the hill I saw a rather classic looking Peruvian lady carrying her baby in one of those colorful blankets. I contacted her, and we had a full on conversation in Quechua. She is from Cuzco and was super nice. They have an appointment to meet her and her family this week.
And, she is married! How cool is that? Later that night, we felt the spirit to hike up higher in the hills because somebody there needed us. We knocked on the door, and a family opened up and let us in to teach them. They looked kind of sad because of some family problems, but they loved our message and told us they want us to come back often to teach them.

     To top off the week, we had another baptism! I had the privilege of baptizing Hermana Giovanna. She is super cool and was super ready for her baptism, but when we went to visit her she was a little worried for a bunch of different reasons. We were able to calm her doubts, and she was baptized the following day. She gave a powerful testimony afterwards and expressed her gratitude to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

     So, it was a fantastic week. I am honored for the sacred opportunity I have to be the Zone Leader in Canto Grande. This week was my 18 month mark, and so now I´m in the fourth quarter. Time to put things in four-wheel-drive and keep working hard until the very end! I will keep you all posted.

Thanks for all your prayers, and I love you all so much.

 Love, Elder Reschke.

  

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What is the scripture of the week?

Matthew 11: 28-29:

28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek an slowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

What is the miracle of the week?

The miracle of the week was the Hermana who was able to be baptized!

Tell me about your new companion?

My new companion is Elder Rodriguez from Chile; he is super smart and we get along well.  We have the same time in the mission.

Fun fact about your new area?

The room is super nice.  The members give us lunch like usual.  And for the last week I have been washing my clothes in the sink because we are trying to find someone to wash our clothes.  I don’t really mind doing the wash, but I just don’t really have the time to do it.  We really need to find somebody….

Any thoughts on your new area?

I am excited, because we should see a lot of success.  I can’t wait to work here, because I know this is where the Lord needs me.

                                                   Saying good-bye to Carabayllo:

                                                               Good-bye Carabayllo:

                                                     Good-bye family in Carabayllo:

                                         Baptism this week of Hermana Giovanna:

                                                                           Baptism:

                                                  Dusty soccer field in my new area:

                                                    View outside our apartment window.
                                           We are on the fourth floor so we have a nice view:

                                                                       My new area:

Curve Ball.

 Hola Amigos Y Familia,

Twas a fantastic week *aqui en la Zona Carabayllo. 

Tuvimos una semana muy buena....whoops sorry I was writing in Spanish without realizing it.

We had a really good week. We had a good Monthly Goal Meeting with the Zone and I have never had the privilege of attending a better monthly goal meeting in all my mission. You all should have been there. The Zone was SO excited, and they all participated and had so much faith. They put a super high goal of 18 baptisms in February. That is the RECORD of the Zone, but I know that we will be able to get even more. We had our Zone leaders council meeting on Wednesday, which went super well. We learned a lot, and had a good meeting. Oh ya, for P. Day on Monday, we went and had some good burgers at Chili’s, which was tasty.

     This week we had a great time teaching and taking out a baptismal date with one of our Investigators named Lucia. She was kind of sad because this week she separated from her husband, and moved back into her families house with her two daughters.  This is the same husband that in the beginning, didn’t even want to let us into the house to listen to us. She sent us to go visit him and share a message with him, and he was like "Why not?". He was a sad sight, because his family had just left him. We shared the Plan of Salvation with him, and asked him what he would do to get his family back. He said he would do anything. Well, he told us he wants us to come back EVERY DAY, because he just feels happier and more peace when we visit. We told him we can help him.  We got him to agree to get married (and he didn’t even want to in the beginning).  He talked to his boss to change his day off to Sunday instead of Monday, and now wants to get baptized. There you have it. Another family that is going to be an Eternal Family. We are working with them so he can change, and so they can be happily together.

     Now for the big news of the day. Last night I got a call from President Erickson, and he informed me that I am getting transferred.

I'm peacing out of Carabayllo, and heading over to Canto Grande 

to be the new Zone  Leader over there. 

This will be my first time in the mission heading to San Juan de Lurigancho!!!! 

Should be quite the adventure. From what I've heard, there are a lot more hills over there, and the people live very humble and are very humble as well. I can not wait. 

I know that I can serve wherever the Lord needs me.

I am beyond grateful for the many amazing experiences I have had here in the Carabayllo Zone.  I feel like lately I have really learned a lot and been able to have more of a personal conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. How grateful I am to have been able to serve here and have my first (and probably only) gringo companion Elder Parra who has really helped me meet my *potencial as a missionary and be even more *consagrada to the work of the Lord. 

Hope you all have a fantastic week, and keep me posted on all the fun stuff that happens. 

Much Love,

Elder Reschke. 

* I don’t think Elder Reschke realizes it, but he keeps slipping into using Spanish words!

                                                                     Carabayllo:

                                                                       Carabyllo:

                                                                 Room decorations?

      Saying good-bye to Elder Nielsen. He is the assistant who goes back to Utah tomorrow:

                                                                              My desk:

Adios Papi'.  Here is my last photo with my Trainer, Elder Martinez.

He goes home this change, 18 months after meeting me, 

and he taught me so much!

Another Eternal Family.

Hola Amigos Y Famila! 

This week was definitely one of the more unforgettable weeks. First off on Monday, we took the Zone to a tasty restaurant called the Arrecife, which is super tasty and has won all these awards and stuff. Afterwards, we played a pretty intense game of soccer. 

     This week was just jam packed with spiritual experiences. We were able to meet two really good sisters (who are literally sisters) and share the gospel with them. We felt the spirit really strong as we testified of the restored gospel, and guess what? They came to church on their own will yesterday! We didn’t even have to go pick them up.

Later on in the week, we were teaching a single mom named Ruby, who is GOLDEN! At first she wasn’t reading the stuff we left her but we told her she has to do her part. She always leaves her door open, and she lives right on a street we always have to walk down, so thereafter we walked past her house and saw her diligently reading like 5 different times! She had some difficulties with coming to church, but we bore really powerful testimony to her and the Holy Ghost really got to her heart, because she was crying and FINALLY agreed to come to church. Sure enough, yesterday she came to church and stayed the whole time and liked it a lot! She is in the water for the month of February!

     Now the exciting news! Friday was the wedding of Christian and Fatima. I was their witness BTW:) The wedding went really well, and they went straight from the wedding to the water to be baptized! Their baptism was super spiritual, and they gave good testimonies at the end. I had the privilege of baptizing Cristian, and Elder Parra baptized Fatima. They are already looking at the calendar to see what day they will be able to go to the temple to be sealed as a family. So there we have it...another family that is one step closer to being an eternal family. We swung by the reception for a second to congratulate them, and there we left a good impression on all their nonmember family members (who also came to the baptism by the way), especially Fatimas mom who came down to Lima from the United States for the wedding. She wants to get baptized now. We are going to call the missionaries in her home ward in the United States to pass the reference. That will be a fun phone call for them. 

All in all, it was a fantastic week and we are so happy for the many miracles we were able to see.

The Zone is doing super well. We finished off the month of January pretty well, and everybody is super excited for the month of February. We have a ton of potential as a Zone, and we are going to see great things this month. 

I am glad for the sacred opportunity I have had to serve and help the other missionaries here in the Carabayllo Zone. I’m not a perfect missionary either, but at least I have had the wonderful opportunity to share some insights with others and help them find solutions to the problems they have in the areas.  If I had a dollar for every time I pick up the phone and I hear a distressed missionary´s voice on the other side say ¨"Elder Reschke? We have a problem!!", I would probably be a rich man. I have learned a lot of patience, learned to be calm, and have realized that usually it is something that can be solutioned very quickly.  Anyway, all is well here in the Zone.

I Love being a missionary, I love serving the Lord, 

and I love Perú. 

Bendiciones, 

Elder Reschke. 

The Young Single Adults (Y.S.A)  threw me another birthday celebration 15 days after my birthday. 

That was nice of them:)

Questions Elder Reschke Answered this week:

What is the weather like there?  I see it is 79 degrees in Lima today, and it is 28 degrees here in Salt Lake City?

Yes, we are in the middle of summer and it’s super hot.

It is so hot.  You have no idea.  

Are you being careful about safe drinking water?

The water situation:  Mom, if I have made it 18 months without getting sick from the water, I can make it 6 more months.  

I don’t drink any water that isn’t boiled, so don’t worry!

Scripture of the week?

3 Nephi: 31-33:

31. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?  or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be aded unto you.

(This gets Investigators to church 100 percent of the time.)

Miracle of the week? 

No question about that one, it was the wedding and baptism of Christian Y Fatima.

Fun fact of the week:

Last night Christian and Fatima gave us American hamburgers, and then brownies for dessert!

Zone lunch at a tasty restaurant called The Arrecife:

                                                                         Zone Lunch:

                                                    Elder Parra and Elder Reschke:

                                  Jungle food, Cecina, Chorizo, Patacones, y Salsa de Cocona.
                                 (Salted meat, spicy sausage, fried plantain slices, fruit salsa).
                                                                        So tasty!

                                                  The wedding of Christian and Fatima:

                                           The baptism of Christian and Fatima:

                                                           The baptism of Christian:

                                         The wedding reception of Christian and Fatima:

                                   The young single adults (Y.S.A.) celebrating my birthday:

                                               My birthday cake.  It was so nice of them:

                                                              Beautiful sky in Peru:

                                                The wedding of Christian and Fatima: