GO OUT AND PREACH!

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Twas a good week for us here in Canto Grande. On Wednesday we had our trip to the historic city center of Lima. It went smooth: Everyone had a good time, and we didn’t lose anybody, so I would consider that a success. We went to the Museo Nacional de la Reserva, which is a really cool museum with a bunch of Incan and other native artifacts. I learned that back in the day when they didn’t have blood, they used chicha (chicha is a fermented beverage usually derived from maize) as the sacrificial liquid, and I also learned that TUMI (that little Incan guy that is all over the place in Perú) was actually the knife that the Incans used to make their sacrifices. Interesting huh? 

After going through the museum, the museum curator took my Companion and I aside and gave us a bunch of cool free stuff to hand out to the Zone, and so the Zone was all excited and thought we had arranged that or something. We took some pictures in the Plaza de Armas, and then did some souvenir shopping.

   On Tuesday I gave a Zone training about all the false traditions that the missionaries sometimes employ as they teach the restoration. We had a work visit from one of the Assistant’s, which was a good experience. We had a good day working in our area, and we were able to talk about the Zone a lot. The Assistant told us that our area is a good example for the rest of the Zone, so I was happy to hear that. 

     

On Saturday we had kind of a discouraging experience. The baptism that we had all planned fell through because of some opposition from their family members. Instead of sitting there and feeling sorry for ourselves, we went home, packed up our backpacks with Books of Mormon, and hit the streets to go share the Restored Gospel with as many people as we could. We told ourselves we couldn’t come home until we had given out every book.

 We gave one to a guy and he was like…"Not gonna lie, I really don’t have time to read.” We gave him the book anyway and promised him he could find time. We did a loop around the park, and came around the other side, and we saw him on a park bench. He had the book opened to the introduction. Caught in the act!!!! So after meeting a bunch of really cool people that night we felt better about ourselves.

  We are continuing to work with our two Investigators that have a baptismal date. Cristian and Renzo are both really excited. More to come on that a little bit later. Well that is all that is new. Hope you all have a fantastic week, and I love ya´ll so much.

Con Amor, 

Elder Reschke.

P.S. The church announced that the new Lima Peru temple is going to be in Los Olivos. I have been there a few times, and it is SUPER close to our mission.   My old area in Carabayllo bordered Los Olivos. Fun fact for the day.

                                               Elder Bradford and Elder Reschke:

                                                                     Lima city center:

                                                          Our Zone in Lima city center:

                                                   Things we saw at the museum:

                 I don't know why the lady with the baby on her back is in the museum, when
                                     you can just hit the streets of my area and see the real thing!

                                     I had 10 books of Mormon and my companion had 10:

             We handed them all out in one day.  That is 20 new,  possible Investigators:

I Couldn't Believe My Ears.

Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

This was a solid week for us here in Canto Grande. On Monday, for P. Day, I planned the Amazing Race. It was a lot of fun, and one of the items was “take a Selfie with the Llama in the Llama Park.”   I probably should have remembered that one of the Zone members is on crutches because he broke his leg a few weeks ago. Oops. That one completely passed over my head. 

We had a good week working here in the area. As of right now, we have three baptismal dates. Milly, Christian, and Renzo. We are very happy for Renzo, because he is a long time investigator. He has been through SOOOOOOOOOO many different missionaries. The thing is he is a professor, author, and studies philosophy, so he looks at everything in a very analytical sense. We finally just asked him, "DO you believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church upon the face of the earth which has the authority to baptize you so you can receive your salvation?”   He answered, "Yes." "Then will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized on May 7th?" (Long Pause). Then he said, through tears, "Yes. The time has come, and I need to be baptized." I couldn’t believe my ears. SOOO many Elders have passed through here and he has always said “not yet not yet.”   He finally accepted this glorious message of the restored gospel, and it was all thanks to The Book of Mormon. Im telling you all;  The Book of Mormon does miracles. If you haven’t read it, READ IT!. You just never know the way in which it might change your life.

     SO on Friday, we had room inspections, so Elder Bradford and I took Sister Erickson around to all the rooms of the Zone to make sure they all had refrigerators, furniture, etc. She gave us a tasty breakfast:) 

It was also my LAST interview with President Erickson. He did things a little differently. He only talked about the Zone for a brief minute, and then took a pause and said, "Well, Elder Reschke, this is our LAST interview together, so I think it would be appropriate to take some time to reflect.He told me about everything he has seen in me for the last 21 months, and talked a little about what I am going to do after the mission. It was super weird to have my last interview with President Erickson, but it was a solid interview, and I learned a lot.

     Friday, Elder Bradford and I had to go buy furniture for some missionaries. Let me just say, I am the master of negotiating. hehehe. We got stuck in a Peruvian marketplace, and let me just tell you a Peruvian market on a Saturday morning is like COSTCO on a Saturday morning times 50. It is the most hectic place you have ever seen in you life, with people running all over yelling, selling things, and dead animals hanging up all over the place, a variety of different smells, it is something that you have to experience to really understand.

     Yesterday was a solid Sunday, and we were able to have a good meeting with the Stake Presidency to talk about the Zone, and we also had a very good meeting with Renzo to help get him ready for his baptism. So, all is well in the land of the Lamanites.

Hope you all have a fantastic week. 

Con Amor,

Elder Reschke. 

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

Miracle of the Week? 

The miracle of the week was the fecha (date) with Renzo.

What is the weather like now?

It is still hot during the days, but cools down a bit at night which is nice. 

Funny story:

Oh, so funny story that I don’t think I ever told you guys. This lady in my Ward in Carabayllo came up to me and said, "Your Dad is a dentist!" and I was like, “Yeah how did you know?”  She said she has a sister who lives in Utah and this sister, she went to the dentist and it just happened to be Dad, and that the dentist (Dad) told her that he had a son on the mission in Lima, Peru, and she told Dad that she had a sister that lived in Lima and said she would ask her if she knew me. Small world huh? Haha I don’t think I ever told you guys that story.

Podemos Reunirnos Para Siempre Algún Día. (We Can Be Together Forever Someday).

Hola Familia Y Amigos!

Hope you all had a fantastic week! It was a pretty good week for us. For P. Day, we played ping pong and watched Mulan. It was a pretty chill day.

On Wednesday we had our Zone Leaders council meeting, which went pretty well. Luckily the Senior Couple missionaries that live in our area took us in a taxi:) It was good to share some ideas with the Mission President, Assistants, and other Zone Leaders.

The next day, I had to go BACK to Independence with my Companion to register some families for the massive wedding that the mission is doing. Long bus ride, but we are happy we were able to get 2 families registered!

We did a couple of good work visits this week to be able to help the other Elders in their area. We took out a baptismal date with a Sister that lives in a very humble home high up in the hills, we just need to verify it. 

In our own area we are working with three Investigators that have a lot of potential: Milly, Isabel, and Christian. Christian has accepted a baptismal date for May 7th, so we are excited for that. It was just a solid week of good spiritual experiences as we taught our Investigators. 

Saturday, Elder Bradford and I planned an activity for all the missionaries in the whole Zone so they could bring their Investigators. We watched Meet The Mormons, and a lot of people came, so I would call that a success. 

Yesterday a lot of people were not  in their houses because of the Peruvian Presidential Elections. But in the night time we had a good Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with a young couple in the Ward and their family members who aren’t members. We watched the movie Together Forever, and it was a good experience. I am so happy for the wonderful opportunity I have to share a message with other families that they can be eternal families!  What a joyful moment when the families discover that.

Well, I hope everyone has a fantastic week.

 Saludos de Lima, Perú!

Con Mucho Amor y Cariño,

Elder Reschke.

P.S. For P. Day today we are going to do La Carrera Asombrosa (The Amazing Race). More to come on that next week!

                                                               HLJ=CTR

                           Sunday Night Zone verificación with my companion, Elder Bradford:

                                   Steve Prefontaine lives on in Peru, thanks to Elder Reschke:

                                                                  Lots of planning:

The Perúvian People Are Rejoicing.

Hola Familia Y Amigos! 

Hope you all had a good Conference weekend. I know we all had a very memorable one. Especially when President Monson announced the new temple in Lima, Perú.   The second he announced it, there was just a surge of the Spirit in the chapel. It felt like an electric shock. Everybody surprisingly gasped, and everybody was just astounded. It was such a glorious moment, and the smile on each one of the Perúvian faces was just incredible. Definitely a moment in the mission I am never going to forget. They haven’t announced where it will be constructed yet, but after examining the options, it is very probable that they will put it smack in the middle of the North Mission's boundaries. Of course, we missionaries feel really happy, because we feel like Heavenly Father has recognized our diligence and our labors, and building a temple here in Lima is Heavenly Father’s way of acknowledging our efforts.

      I thoroughly enjoyed the conference, especially Elder Holland`s talk about "looking forward to tomorrow." I also enjoyed Elder Christofferson`s talk about the responsibilities of a father in the home. It reminded me of how blessed I am to have a fantastic father.

     Other than that, it has been a good week with my new companion Elder Bradford from Cedar Hills Utah. AKA American Fork. We have just about the same time in the mission,(he goes home a month before me), and we are both going to BYU, so we have a lot in common. We are really good friends, and we are excited to work together as Zone Leaders of Canto Grande. We have a lot of potential as a Zone! 

We received a golden reference this week named Milly, who is super excited about our message, came to two sessions of conference, and has already accepted the invitation to be baptized. We are going to keep working with her.

     Funny story of the week. I was on a work visit with Elder Beazer at a house up in the hills in the evening. The Hermana had made us something to drink and put out some crackers to eat. But then the mom and the dad were going to leave so they could take their baby to the doctor. They were kind of in a rush to leave, and then they looked at us and it occurred to her that she had just barely given us something to eat. She was like....okay we gotta go.

 Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic week.

 Love you all so much,

 Love Elder Reschke. 

                                                                 Good food this week:

                                                                       Our apartment:

                                                                 Our apartment view:

                                                                              My bed: