Monday, June 27, 2016

Cotton-Eyed Joe.



Hola Familia! 

This has been a fantastic week here in Lima, Perú. On Monday, we had to say goodbye to my companion, Elder Onofre. On Tuesday, I received a new companion, Elder Cossio from La Paz, Bolivia. He is such a cool guy! We are already really good friends. We get along super well, and he is going to be my last companion of the mission. I am here in Josè Galvez still, in the last transfer of my mission, and I will be finishing up the mission as District Leader still. 

I am super excited to work hard this last month of my mission, and give my all to the Lord. 

We had a really great week actually. The highlight was definitely the baptism of Maria, and she was baptized by her son, Lee, who is our convert that got baptized a month ago. It was such a great experience, and she was so excited to be baptized. 

Afterwards, I had the privilege of baptizing a family of investigators that the Sister Missionaries have been teaching. It was the funniest baptism of my life, because during the baptism, the young single adults were having an international dance festival outside, and the music was really loud. It just so happened that when I was baptizing the sister, the American dance was going on, and Cotton Eyed Joe was playing outside, REALLY LOUD! Hahahaha then when I got out of the font to go change, somebody had taken my backpack with my dry clothes and towel, and taken it outside with them. So there were no dry clothes!! Luckily they reported it to the DJ and we found my backpack so I could change! Other than the fact that they were blasting Cotton Eyed Joe during the baptism, it was a very spiritual night, and we were able to see four people make a covenant with our Heavenly Father.

Moreover, today our beloved President John Erickson finishes his time as Mission President over the Peru Lima North Mission. We had a goodbye meeting on Friday, and we had the privilege of listening to his final testimony, and that of Sister Erickson as well. It was kind of a sad moment, when we took our last picture with Presidente Erickson. He has definitely been a very influential person in my life. At the same time, we are excited to meet the new president, Presidente Godfrey and his family.

We have one baptismal date in the moment, and that is Hermana Doris who is preparing to be baptized on the 9th of July. We have a lot of really cool investigators in the moment, including Jenny, Mariella, Ayda, and Melanie. We are excited to work with them this week so that they can come to church and prepare to be baptized before I peace out. We had some very spiritual experiences with them this week, and we really feel that they will progress quite well.

Last Monday, I received a visit from the Familia V., from Canto Grande. They came all the way from San Juan De Lurigancho to my area to see me. If that isn’t affection, I don´t know what is. I was so happy to share a few moments with them, and to be able to see the four of them once again. We had a little dinner, and they brought me some gifts from Tarapoto, in the Jungle. They are one of the coolest families I have met here, and it was a privilege to be able to see them again.

Well, sorry for such a long email, it was an eventful week. 
I love you all so much, and I hope you all have a fantastic week. 
I love being a missionary. I love the Lord. I love Perù.

Con Mucho Amor Y Cariño, 
Elder Jacob Reschke

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week.

You will be home in 5 weeks!  What foods are you hungry for?
Mom’s home-cooked food…….Sunday roast beef dinner, tamale pie,
chicken with homemade noodles, and that zucchini cut in match sticks with chicken and brown rice.  Ohhh How tasty.  Oh and your lasagna!
Also, Cafe Rio, Wendy’s Frosty’s, Trio's,  REAL MILK (not the bagged stuff I’ve been drinking for two years), chocolate milk of course, and Great Harvest Pumpkin Bread!



My new companion, Elder Cossio from La Paz, Bolivia:
               Saying good-bye to President and Sister Erickson.  It was sad saying good-bye:
                                                                            My area:
                                                       Baptism of Maria by her son:
                           The family I baptized this week that the Sisters have been teaching:
  
                                                                    Hola from Perú:
                                          Sharing the book I love with the people I love:

                           One last picture of President (and Sister) Erickson that we love:

Monday, June 20, 2016

Fechas Bautismales!

Hola Familia Y Amigos! 
     I hope all is well with you guys. This has been a good, but fairly normal week for us here in the mission. The big news of the week, is that changes are today and they announced that my companion has a change. My new companion is going to be a fairly new missionary from Bolivia. I have talked to him once. He seems like a nice guy. We are very excited to be working with all the Investigators in our area.

Maria is doing well. She is preparing to be baptized this Saturday, so she is excited for her baptism. We are also working with Doris, a very kind 63 year old lady we met while knocking on doors. She already knew about the Mormons because her sister is a member. She is very receptive, and has already come to church two times. She is preparing to be baptized on the 2nd of July, so we are excited for that. She really likes to be in the church and make new friends, and she likes to mark up her Book of Mormon and take lots of notes during the lessons. She is going to be a very good member.

      For P. Day last week we had a pretty chill day. We ate lunch at Plaza Norte, and then we just hung out. Today we are going to play soccer! Speaking of soccer, the American Cup is going on, so it’s been a little difficult this week to make appointments. Everyone is busy watching the games! Especially when Perù plays!

      It is so neat to be here and to experience the culture of such a different part of the world. I absolutely love it. Last week at church, I gave a talk, passed the sacrament, AND taught the Gospel Principles class.

      I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve. Well, all is fantastic here in Perù, and I am excited to go into power mode my last change here in the field, so that I can leave it all on the field. Hope you all have a great week, and “keep on keepin` on!”

Love you all,
Love Elder Reschke.


P.S. Sorry no pics this week because I think my camera SD card got a virus!

Monday, June 13, 2016

Una Visita de un Apóstol del Señor.


Hola Familia Y Amigos,

This was a week in Perú, that I will NEVER forget. It all started on Friday morning when the alarm went off at three-thirty in the morning. I got up, showered with my Inca Kola bottle in the chilly Peruvian winter, and we hit the streets at 4, to begin the journey to the Stake Center at Los Olivos (Which is the city where the new temple will be built.) 

We got there and studied our scriptures for a while, and then we all stood up, and in walked in Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, and he said, breaking the dead silence, "Buenos Dias!". As the pianist played the prelude music, we all shuffled into a line-up to the pulpit to go shake his hand, and that of his wife, and Elder Montoya of the Seventy and his wife. (Which by the way is the SAME General Authority that called me to the pulpit in Canto Grande).

I can’t even explain the Spirit I felt as I shook the hand of an Apostle of the Lord, and as he looked me straight in the eye, and said, "Hello.". We then had the privilege to be instructed by him, and by the rest of the visitors for about three hours.

He told us so many fantastic things. He said that when we shook his hand, he wasn’t looking at our name tags. He was looking at our eyes to see if they were sparkling. He then told us what he said was exactly what the Prophet, President Monson would say to us if he were here: “We thank you, and we love you.” He gave a solid talk, and the Spirit was so strong. In the End, he prayed a blessing upon each and every one of us, and said this:  that among the 600 missionaries there, if there were any afflicted, that he gave us that blessing as if his very hands were placed upon our heads. The powerful Spirit that filled the room was undescribable. 

He also told us that Lima Perú, is EXACTLY where the Lord wanted us to serve our missions. What a privilege it was for us to have this visit from an Apostle of the Lord. 

It is one day of my life I will never forget, because after shaking the hand of an apostle, and looking him in the eye, it is IMPOSSIBLE to deny the truthfulness and the divinity of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that he is a personal witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he is one of the 15 people on this entire earth that holds ALL the priesthood keys of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What a privilege and a blessing it is to serve the Lord and be one of his personal servants, to bring the restored Gospel to the remnant of the Lamanites.

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

Con Amor, 
Elder Jacob Reschke. 

P.S. When the 600 hundred missionaries stood up and were singing “Called to Serve” in Spanish, I was 100 percent proud to be a missionary serving the Lord in the Misiòn Perù Lima Norte.
What an incredible experience.

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week.

You have exactly 7 weeks left of your mission in Peru.  How do you feel about this?
I feel kind of how I did when State Track was coming up.  Nervous, but excited.  I am not going to judge my success as a missionary based off how many people I baptize during my last transfer.  I am going to base it off how hard I worked.  That is all the Lord really cares about in the end.

 It is kind of a mix of emotions.  Bittersweet.  Sweet because I have accomplished so many things here on my mission, but bitter because I feel like Perú is just a part of me now, and I don't want to leave.  I was just thinking how much I love each and every one of my converts.  I think it is very similar to the love that our Savior feels for each and every one of us.  Anyway, we are going to keep working in our area to be able to finish strong!



The door to our room:
                                                The aloe vera plant in our room:
                                                           Our room is at the top:
                                                               View from our room:
                                                                My "wardrobe":



Monday, June 6, 2016

La Luz Del Evangelio Eterno.

Hola Amigos Y Familia.

It was a good week for us here in good ol` Perù. For P. Day, I suggested to the Zone that we return to that tasty restaurant that I brought the Zone to as a Zone leader, El Arrecife. They all agreed, and we had some tasty food. I ate Ceviche de Cecina con paticones. (Just so you know, missionaries normally aren’t allowed to eat ceviche but this is an exception to the rule because it doesn’t contain raw fish.) It was super tasty. 
We played soccer as a Zone afterwards.

We had a good monthly goal meeting on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I went with one of the Zone leaders to teach a new Investigator, but it turns out he is like a super devoted member of some other church and just wanted to contend. 

We contacted a lady from some other church and she was trying to tell us that after Jesus came to the earth, nobody has seen God. We turned to Acts 7 when Stephen saw God. She was just like..."Well, I’ll have to ask my pastor about that one." I hope she does, and I hope that the glorious light of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ will be able to illuminate her mind the next time missionaries come knocking on her door. 

Thursday we had a really enlightening Zone training. Saturday was a super productive day for us, and we were able to find 3 new Investigators! We are excited for that. We are currently working with Maria, the Mom of Lee who was baptized last week. She is a solid Investigator, and is excited for her baptismal date for the 18th of June. Yesterday we didn’t have church because of the Peruvian Presidential Elections. To make up for the loss of church, we had an activity in the night time and we watched “Meet the Mormons” with all the investigators. Maria came, and she brought her husband. We also had our investigator Kayda and her son Diego come, and they liked the movie a lot. All in all, life is well, and we are excited for all the new people we have found lately.

I testify of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been reading in 1st Nephi, and I have been reading chapters 12-14, and it has really strengthened my testimony of the restoration of the gospel. If you haven’t read it yet, I invite you to do it. I hope you all have a fantastic week. Love you all so much.

Con Cariño y Amor,
Elder Reschke. 

P.S. We had to pay for another month in our room, so it looks like I’ll have another month *showering with an Inca Kola bottle. Yay:) hehehe

*There is not a working shower so the missionaries fill up a
2 liter bottle and shower with that.

Questions Elder Reschke answered this week:

I feel like you are blessed to be able to learn Quechua.
Ha ha.  I can only say some things, but more than anything I use it as a way to connect with people from the Provincia.  (Basically whatever part of Perú outside of Lima.)  They get kind of homesick when they come to Lima because it is very different from the small villages they are used to, so they like to hear their native tongue, and have a few phrases I use just to make them laugh:)

                                                                     Inka Kola:

                                                               Lunch with the Zone:
                                                        Ceviche de cecina:
                                                         The streets of my area:
                                                                       My area:
                                                            Lomo Saltado a lo Pobre:

                                                  Book of Mormon in Quechua: