00:03 Well, everybody here calls me Honey, but my name
00:06 is Esther Lozano.
00:08 And I was born in Fresno, California,
00:12 in 1919.
00:14 I was baptized in 1935,
00:18 and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my service to Jehovah.
00:22 I became a special pioneer,
00:25 and then they called me to Gilead.
00:28 I was in the fourth class of Gilead.
00:32 That was in 1944.
00:35 When I left my assignment as a special,
00:38 I didn’t even know how it was to study, but this was beautiful
00:43 how Gilead prepared us for what was in the future.
00:47 Right after Gilead,
00:49 we went to Brooklyn Bethel for two years
00:53 —Esther Lopez and I—
00:55 then I was sent to Mexico.
00:57 I came in 1947, and I’m still here.
01:02 So that makes more than 68 years I’ve been in Mexico.
01:07 When I arrived, there were 7 Bethelites,
01:11 and there were 22 missionaries.
01:13 We all lived right at the branch;
01:15 it was a branch-missionary home.
01:17 The progress in Mexico
01:20 really is because of the families being united.
01:24 And when you get the husband and wife together,
01:29 then the whole family comes in the truth.
01:34 In 1961, Sister Esther Lozano preached to our grandparents.
01:38 My grandfather first got interested
01:40 through the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained.
01:43 When I placed the book
01:44 with his wife and she gave it to him,
01:47 he decided that that’s what he was looking for.
01:51 He said, “Well, when can I be baptized?”
01:55 Three visits later,
01:57 a study was started with the entire family.
02:00 And the oldest son was only 13.
02:03 He said, “I’m getting baptized too!”
02:05 About a year ago, he came
02:09 and brought me a letter and told me how happy he was
02:13 that I had gone to their home
02:16 and preached to them.
02:19 And that was a happy experience of my life.
02:23 Today, in our family,
02:24 we are 23 Witnesses spread over four generations,
02:27 and now my brother and I are serving here
02:30 at the Central America branch.
02:33 Oh, I forgot to talk about my husband.
02:35 He was the branch overseer at that time.
02:38 We were there in the same branch for five years.
02:42 We got to know each other, but I didn’t pay attention to him
02:45 because I was always in the service.
02:48 And so, I don’t know when he decided
02:52 he wanted to get married because I know
02:54 that wasn’t his goal in life.
02:56 And so I wrote Brother Knorr
02:58 and asked him if he was surprised
03:01 to hear that we were going to be married.
03:03 Then he did write me back
03:05 and also said, well this is what he said in the letter:
03:09 ‘You’re always jolly and talkative when I’m around.
03:13 ‘On the other hand,
03:14 ‘Brother Lozano is so quiet.
03:17 ‘I must say, it is an interesting combination.
03:21 ‘Both of you together can serve him and aid
03:25 one another in your true worship.’
03:27 This is one of my greatest treasures,
03:31 having that letter from Brother Knorr.
03:34 Then when Rudy died,
03:37 I didn’t dwell on that.
03:40 I remembered I made my dedication to Jehovah,
03:43 and I know that he would want me
03:46 to put that first in my life.
03:48 So I did not really suffer
03:52 that much about his death
03:54 because I became even more involved
03:57 in theocratic activities.
04:03 I’m in the Correspondence.
04:05 But I’m at work about an hour and a half in the morning
04:10 and an hour and a half in the afternoon
04:13 and the rest of the time
04:15 I’m studying here in the room.
04:18 I’m so pleased that I’m still able
04:20 to go to the morning text,
04:23 and I have a part in the service.
04:26 I have two studies that I conduct every week.
04:34 It’s such a pleasure to be with people
04:37 that have dedicated their lives to Jehovah.
04:41 And that’s what makes me happy because I know
04:44 Jehovah counts them
04:46 as his precious sons and daughters.
04:52 I don’t know why,
04:54 but many of the missionaries
04:56 have come up to me and told me
04:57 that I’ve been an encouragement to them,
05:00 and really, they are the ones that encourage me.
05:03 It’s because I had such beautiful examples
05:07 to follow in all these years.
05:11 And all I can say is thanks to Jehovah
05:15 for this great privilege of serving him.