Llamas walk these streets.

Hola Amigos y Familia!

Twas a fantastic week for us here in good ol´ Lima. P. Day was pretty chill. We had Popeye´s for lunch. Who knew there was a Popeye´s in Lima? Then we played dodgeball, basketball, and soccer as a Zone. It was a good time. 

     Tuesday we had a good Zone meeting, and I gave a good District training. ON Wednesday we had a pretty fun service project, moving giant boulders so that they could construct the foundation of a house, but I smashed my little pinky finger between two boulders. Ouch. 

     On Thursday we had a Zone Conference, and it is going to be president Erickson´s LAST Zone Conference. We learned about the function of the revelation that the Investigators need to receive.

We had a very good week teaching Maria, Lee´s mom. She is so happy for the changes that are happening in her son´s life, that she also accepted to be baptized. We put a baptismal date for the eleventh of June. She is very excited. 

     Saturday was a hectic day because we had two baptisms, one baptismal service right after the other. First Lee was baptized. He is super excited, and his parents who aren´t members came to his baptism, and I know they felt the Spirit. Later we had Walter´s baptismal service and that went really well also. He has progressed a ton in all the time I have known him, and I am really happy for the conversion to the Gospel he has seen in his life. All in all, it was a fantastic week .

     We are working a ton with the members, who have been a huge help. Everyone is super pumped about missionary work, and they are presenting us to a lot of references, of which many have potential to progress. More to come on that later on. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week.  Love you all so much, and thank you so much for all the prayers and support.

Nos Vemos, 

Elder Reschke. 

P.S. We failed in our attempt to find a new room, 

because all the other rooms we found have shared bathrooms! 

P.S.S: I took a picture with a llama I saw walking down the street. 

P.S.S.S. I was trying to talk to an elderly lady in the chapel, but she didn’t understand very well what I was saying. From her accent you could tell she talked Quechua, so I started talking to her in Quechua and I think she understood me a whole lot better! hehe

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

What was the weather like this past week?

The weather is cloudy but not too cold.

What are the plans for P. Day today?

We are going to a tasty restaurant called El Arrecife.  

Google it, it is super tasty.

Our area:

                                                                            Our area:

 These certificates are the Maestros del Evangelos which means "Teachers for he Gospel.
They give it to all the missionaries that are finishing up to acknowledge their diligence
in becoming like Gospel Teaching Masters:

                                                                 Llama on the street:

                                                          Baptism this week:

                                                               Baptism this week:

                                                                   Baptisms are the best:

La Vida es Buena.

Hola Familia Y Amigos,

This was a really good week for us here in José Galvez. We had a pretty chill P.Day We got some Chinese food at Plaza Norte, and then played soccer for the rest of the day. 

We had a good week teaching new Investigators. We currently have two Investigators with a baptismal date. Walter, and Lee. We are working a lot with them so that they can progress. We also met Lee´s Mom this week, and she is super cool! She has tons of potencial, and says that she wants to get baptized, because she can see all the wonderful changes that are happening in her son.

Not a whole lot of exciting stuff happened this week, it was pretty much a week just like any other, but I did get to know the Ward better, so I am happy for that. There are a lot of really cool members here, and they are going to be a big help. 

We were searching for a new room this week, and NOTHING!!! All the rooms we found either have a shared bathroom, or a nineteen year old girl living right there on the same floor. Well, he that looketh receiveth, I suppose. We will keep on looking for a new room.

We have an Investigator who is the cousin of a recent convert, and they live in a little house that is like the highest house on the hill. Their grandma and mom aren’t going to progress, but nevertheless I like speaking Quechua with them every time we visit. Quechua is their first language, so from what I understand, they feel a bit more comfortable speaking Quechua than Spanish. 

Well I hope you all have a great week. Thank you very much for all the prayers and support. I love being a missionary, and I am going to keep working hard until the very end! 

Tupananchiskama! That´s Quechua for "See you later!”

Love, 

Elder Reschke

P.S. An older Peruvian lady told me that my pronunciation in Quechua is very good!  Score:)

Peruvian dog:

                                                                         My area:

                                                                            My area:

                 It's getting chilly.  Winter is here and it's time to start wearing my sweater:

Bienvenido A Indepencencia.

 Dear Family and Friends,

     I write you all the way from my new area, José Galvez, in the Independencia Zone.
I am no longer in San Juan de Lurigancho. I thank the Lord for the wonderful experiences that I had in the Canto Grande Ward. I know that I was there for a reason, and although the people in the streets weren’t the most receptive, I truly saw miracles due to our diligence and obedience.

     My last night there, we had a "Say goodbye to Elder Reschke Family Home Evening", and we enjoyed some last moments with the Familia B., Familia V., and Hermana Mirtha. They all wrote me some VERY kind notes to put in my souvenir book, and Renzo even gave me a signed copy of his book. I will always have a special place in my heart for the people of Canto Grande, especially all the people present at that Family Home Evening.

    With the Familia V. we have plans for when I come back to Perú next year they are going to take me to Tarapoto, their home town in the Jungle of Perú, and we are going to see the sights.

     The mission consists of different time periods. My time as a Zone Leader has come to an end, and I have been sent to my new area in Independencia because that is where the Lord wants me to finish my mission. I got here Tuesday morning, and realized exactly why:

It is one of the biggest areas in the whole mission, the ward is FABULOUS, filled with great members, and the area is just FILLED with thousands of awesome people that are waiting to hear the gospel.

    The people are very receptive as well.  Basically, it is a diamond in the rough, just waiting to have it's fruits harvested. My Companion is Elder Onofre, from Huancayo. Perú, and I am only his second companion in the mission field. We had a good first week, and we have one Baptismal Date, and tomorrow we are going to have one more. It has been a really great week. I am District Leader right now, over the Relief Society District. We call it that because there are four Sister Missionaries.
Haha, should be a good experience.

     Anyway, this week has been fantastic, and I have really been able to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for me and for each one of his children.
I hope you all have a fantastic week. Love you so much.
Love,
Elder Reschke.

P.S. We looking for a new room, because there is no water in our room.
I have been showering with a two liter Inca Kola bottle for a week!

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week.

What is the weather like now?
It’s getting cold here!  Winter has arrived! BRRRRRRRRR.
(Getting down to 62 degrees at night.)

Any last thoughts today?
Mom, I am going to miss these people so much.
I love them with all my heart, I really do.
The Peruvian people have a special place in my heart.
We for sure have to come back to visit them!!!!!


                                            My old Zone that I had to say good-bye to:

                                                           Good-bye Elder Bradford:

                                                                       Old area:

                                               Packing up my tie collection for my move:

New area:  Indepencencia:

                                                                          New area:

                                                                         New Area:

                                                Lots of hills in the new area.  I love it:

                                                                          New area:

 

Saying good-bye is hard:

*Bull Fights on Mother's Day?

Hola Famila Y Amigos,

I hope you all had a fantastic Mother´s Day. 
It was good to see and talk to some of you via SKYPE. 

Well this week was a good week for us. On Monday we went hiking with the Zone again,
and we hiked up through the hills by our area to see the other side of the mission and the ocean. We stumbled upon an archeological monument called Monte Miraflores. 
Seemed kind of interesting.

We had the Zone Leader´s council meeting on Wednesday, which went well.
 We were able to learn a lot that we later shared with the Zone to help them out. 

Friday night I was on a work visit with Elder Connolly in his area in Canto Nuevo,
we took out a baptismal date with his Investigator, 
and had a good time playing Ward soccer in the morning. 

Saturday was the baptism of Cristian and Xiara. They were super excited to be baptized,
and honestly it was probably my best baptismal service in the whole mission. 
It was extremely spiritual, and the Familia V., kindly had us over for lunch after the baptism.

Sunday was good to SKYPE and talk to everybody for Mother’s Day. 
Shout out by the way, to my Mom, who is the best Mom in the whole wide world.
Love you so much Mom, I don’t know what I would do without you. 

After our Mothers Day SKYPE we had a SOLID lesson with the Familia V. 
and it was very spiritual for us.
Everyone felt the Spirit, and the rest of the family is ready to follow Jesus Christ and make covenants with the Lord as well. 

Hope you all have a fantastic week, and I love you all so much. 

Love, 

Elder Reschke.

P.S. I got a change today, I am being transferred  to Independencia! 

More to come on that next week. 

Our hike last week:

                                                          The view on our hike:

                                                      Monument we found on the hike:

                                                    Baptism of Cristian and Xiara:

                                                                    Our area at night:

*Disclaimer from Elder Reschke's Mom:  "I have no idea why the title of this post is
"Bull Fights on Mother's Day?" I just print it how it is sent to me.
 (Another question to ask next week!)

The Zone is PUMPED!

Hola Familia y Amigos.

It was a pretty chill week for us here in Canto Grande. All is well. For P. Day we went to Plaza Norte, and ate at Chili’s as a Zone, and then explored around the Peruvian artisan souvenirs for a bit.

We had a good week actually. Tuesday we had our monthly Zone meeting. April didn’t turn out quite how we thought it would, so as a Zone we decided to put the highest goal that this Zone has had in months. 21 baptisms. That is the goal, and I know this Zone has the sufficient faith and diligence to reach it. It was definitely a goal meeting I will never forget. 

I was able to do a few work visits this week up in the hills to go meet the Investigators of the other companionships in the Zone, so that was a fun experience. 

So from what I’ve heard, the mountains that we always hike around in to go proselyte are actually an extension of the Andes. So, technically you could say that “we always go hike in the Andes to preach the gospel.” Haha I still have to confirm that one, because it might be totally false:) 

On Thursday night we had a surprise visit from the Assistants to talk a little bit about how the Zone is doing. Elder Bradford and I planned a training meeting for the District Leaders and we made breakfast for them, so I think that got them fairly pumped.

The Familia V. (The family of Christian who is getting baptized) is really coming along. They are definitely one of the best families I have met in the whole mission. Christian and Renzo are both excited for their baptism this week. Looks like I will have the privilege of baptizing Renzo. We had a two hour lesson about tithing, and he FINALLY accepted the principle. This should be a good week for us. I will let you all know how it goes!

     I know this Gospel is true. Throughout the duration of my time here, I have gained a burning, passionate testimony of this work, and the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing on this planet that will bring us greater joy than our obedience to the principles and ordinances of the Gospel. 

It’s all so true! 

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

Con Amor,

Elder Reschke.

P.S. Somehow I got signed up to give a talk on Mother’s Day.

Not sure how that one worked out. Wish me luck:)

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

I see it is 81 degrees this morning, as I write you, what is the weather like?  Does it feel hot?

It still feels hot during the day.  

But it is cooling off really well at night now, which is nice.

Miracle of the week?

The miracle is that we convinced Janice to stop working on Sundays so she can come to church.

Scripture of the week?

The scripture of the week is all of the first chapter of Ether.

There is a lot to contemplate there!

Zone picture at the city center of Lima last week:

                                                                           Our Zone:

Chicharrón de chancho con choclo.  (Chicharrón in Perú, is made using what is called
country style ribs in the U.S.  The rind is not used at all.  The meat is boiled with
seasonings and spices until no water remains, and then fried in its own fat.  It is often served with a relish made of red onion and lime juice.):