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Napoleon Dynamite’s cast studied with Hess; indeed, the film grew out of a short production, Peluca (Jared Hess, US 2003), that Hess directed for a class at BYU. What is more, Hess said during publicity tours for Napoleon Dynamite that his experience as an LDS missionary – which he served in both Chicago and Venezuela2 – influenced many aspects of his first feature film.3 More recently, he has discussed the importance of religion in his films in general with the release of Don Verdean (Jared Hess, US 2018).4 Indeed, critics and fans alike have noted the special attention he gives to religion throughout his filmography. Viewed in this context, it would make sense that his understanding of Mormon theol- ogy would influence his depictions of Mexican and Mexican-American charac- ters. This holds especially true when we consider the fact that he served part of his mission in Venezuela. As Rebeca van Uitert argues, missionaries who serve abroad “are exposed to different cultures and traditions. They return to the United States with a broadened perspective, and as a result, are more open to accepting immigrants and strangers within their communities.”5 There is a great deal of truth to her statement; at the same time, there is much to be made about the fact that many Mormon missionaries develop a paternalistic relationship with the people in the countries where they serve. This can lead to essentialist racialist beliefs that become especially poignant in the case of Latin America owing to the region’s ties to the Book of Mormon. Latin America – particularly Mesoamerica and the Andean Region – holds a special, mythic position within official and popular Mormon theology. This infat- uation is especially obvious with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the branch of Mormonism to which Hess belongs.6 Latin America’s privileged position within the religion is directly tied to popular and official readings of the Book of Mormon that hold that present-day Native Americans descend at least partially from the Lamanites, a group of people who came to the Americas from Jerusalem immediately prior to the Babylonian conquest. According to the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites were a “degenerate” people who abandoned God and became a scourge to the more righteous Nephites; however, after nearly one thousand years, the Nephites turned against the Lord and the Lamanites destroyed them. Despite the Lamanites’ wickedness, the Book of Mormon as- serts – or prophesies – that God has plans to redeem this choice nation. The Book of Mormon, for example, tells of the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, 2 For an allusion to how Hess’s missionary experience in Venezuela has shaped his career, see Means 2006. For a discussion of how his mission in Chicago contributed to Napoleon Dynamite, see Napoleon Dynamite Director 2004. 3 Napoleon Dynamite Director 2004. 4 See Toone 2015. 5 See van Uitert 2007, 301–302. 6 In this article I use the terms Mormon and LDS interchangeably. On (Dang) Quesadillas and Nachos | 143www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 141–165