Pictures from Redlands Facebook group

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Mission Highlights: Converts

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Converts: JESSE ESPIRIQUETA principally known as "Old Faithful", "The Jedi Knight" (as he dubbed himself), and "Latino Buddy the Elf" (dubbed by me). Jesse was all energy and fire. He met with missionaries several times over the years, but never paid them much attention until Hermana Miller and Stanfield showed up on his porch. "With them," he said, "I realized they were just sweet girls with something to tell me. My heart started to soften." Jesse was on baptismal date within weeks, and although he battled doubts and opposition from all sides, he never looked back once. A Zapotec Indian, he was fiercely passionate about dance, art, and storytelling, and was constantly sharing his culture with us. He wrote each of his missionaries a detailed "Tenali" which is a sort of horoscope which was terrifyingly accurate. He dubbed me "Yolohuitzi" or "Corazon de Colibri" --Hummingbird Heart. He decided shortly afte...
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October 14, 2019 Another Beginning

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We couldn't get all our friends in Thermal to church, but Hermano Esteves got the big idea of a movie night in his front yard. He rarely plans activities, so we took the idea and ran with it. He put his heart and soul into it, buying around 40 ears of corn to make elotes (dressed-up corn cobs), powdered cheese, and this cute little black table runner to "make it look fancy." Not too many showed, but those that did loved it--watching "Coco" on a big screen under a big harvest moon and surrounded by fields of corn and palms. We couldn't watch the movie, so Hermana Coenen and I sat behind the screen, bringing everyone drinks and popcorn and pasting countless corn cobs with mayonnaise and cheese. We felt very Mexican.  I probably drive my companion crazy, these last few weeks I've been just a crazy mix of trying to speed up and slow down--cramming too many things into the schedule, desperately trying to see everyone, and then running late to e...
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June 10, 2019 Temple with Esteban

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Hello family and friends! Not much time today, as pday is shortened for a temple trip later in the week, but I'll do my best.  If you've ever wondered what it's like to be my companion, we recently had an adventure that I think illustrates it. We were down in the 70, which looks, according to Hna Alvarado, exactly like Mexico. While driving away, I saw in the rearview this little old vaquero("cowboy") in a big white hat. I battled with myself for a minute, wondering if we should go back. "Hey, you noticed him," I reasoned, "and you like little old cowboys, so it's probably not a coincidence." I flipped the U-ie, doubting myself the whole time. Unfortunately we had to drive back into the trailer park we'd just driven out of and drive right past him. I tried to sink low in my seat. Then we tried to casually walk past him as if we hadn't just driven by twice, but by the stink-eye that man gave me from under the brim of h...
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