November 5, 2018 Windmills, Cacti, and Sunsets

Hi all! 

I don't have much time this week, and I'm not sure how much of this you'll even want to send out, but I figure if I don't have a neat and tidy group email every week it's ok. It's probably more important that you hear from me and know everything that's going on. I had a lot of little people to respond to today (I usually wait at least a week just so I don't set the expectation of replying right away when sometimes I can't) especially because Jesse's having a rough time and I needed to make sure I wrote to him. Poor guy, his support system is kind of gone. Hna Watkins is too busy to send him bug emogis and he's distraught! She's doing her best! 

The desert is just beautiful. I really feel so lucky. Every day the mountains change shades of blue. There's windmills too--the big white ones and they stretch far out across the desert. No one has lawns in Desert Hot Springs (outside of the golf course we live by) but people have the coolest landscaping. Lots of rocks! Lots of cactus! 

Desert Hot Springs is dusty and mostly houses. Everyone says it's a bit rough, and we hear crazy stories through the grapevine, but I've felt super safe. We're situated right next to Palm Springs which is a frilly retirement town with a bit of an "old hollywood" vibe. Lots of botiques and art galleries, and lots of characters! 

I hit six months this week, which felt absolutely crazy. At about this point in the mission, it's hard not to feel the pull of home and other things, but even so there's nowhere I'd rather be. I can't believe how little I really knew and understood. What with learning Spanish and living out here I've learned so much about the parallel worlds of others I never even knew about. 

We're reaching the husband of a powerhouse sister. We call him Hermano Ramos. He's been coming to church forever, but only just stopped drinking. At a party the other day, we greeted him and got him talking; he always sits of to the corner by himself in big groups. He started talking about his hometown, in central Mexico, with a kind of urgency. He doesn't get any time off, and hasn't seen his family in years. It made me so sad, he's a sort of Rip-Van-Winkle that just woke up. Suddenly he has an urgency to get home, to rewrite the past, to make something of himself. I'm so grateful we can tell him it isn't too late. In the words of Elder Utchdorf, "In the gospel of Jesus Christ, there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

I laughed so, so hard at the Halloween pictures and I was so excited you celebrated Dia de los Muertos! We celebrated too in our own little way, although I had to hand draw my ofrenda pictures haha. If you want to see photos, log into google with shawkes7 and calicougar98. Should see everything. My pictures are in my missionary email. 

Love you all so much. Always so grateful for your letters and your support!