Almost July Fourth, U.S. Independence Day

It has been a very quiet week. Independence Day, July Fourth, is celebrated in the United States with pancake breakfasts, picnics, barbecues, parades, flag and patriotic ceremonies and fireworks. It has always been a favorite holiday for me, as I am so grateful for my ancestors who mostly arrived in the (now) US almost 500-200 years ago, so I was glad that most of our temple missionaries wanted to get together in the patron housing dining room (which we can't use during the week when it is full of out-of-town visitors) today, our preparation day, Monday, for a potluck supper, stories and poems and singing, despite the rainy winter weather. Very few people are out in the street as it is a holiday here: Peter and Paul Day, an old religious holiday held originally to bless the fishermen along Chile's coast with a good "catch" in the coming year. I think most of Chile is probably inside watching the World (football) Cup in Russia, as muted shouts can be heard every time a goal is scored or missed. The city is mostly shut down until tomorrow when work and school resume.

We sang all the old favorites: Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, My Country 'tis of Thee, Battle Hymn of the Republic, This Land is your Land, and Yankee Doodle, after sharing a few stories and thoughts. We miss our country, but are grateful to learn from good people here. We feel a desire and responsibility to be both examples of the Savior and good representatives of our own country. Hopefully we can all learn to cherish the good in all cultures and have mutual respect for each other.

Dawn Schultz

Alma Umber, Nina Isaacson and Leslie Carmack (wife of MTC president)

Elsa and Ulf Munzing (naturalized US citizens from Argentina and Sweden), Jim and Clara Downer, and Nancy Poulsen

Nancy Poulsen, Scott Isaacson, Ray Schultz, Dawn, Alma, Nina, Leslie all had thoughts to share verbally or silently.
Outside, the setting sun shed a spectacular pink and lavender glow over the city and the Andes, which had been mostly gray today.

Below are the Souzas from Brazil (Marnie's friends) at Valle de Nevada (off to the left a bit). Ricardo saw snow for the first time! I hope to get up to this beautiful close ski resort sometime. I have fond memories of skiing before I broke my hip several years ago

The temple and grounds are mostly deserted on Sundays (we worship in our chapels) and Mondays, but will fill up again during the week. Many of the patrons will soon be attending the new and much larger Concepcion Temple, 6+hours south of Santiago, when it is dedicated in October. We will miss the wonderful members who travel from the southern half of Chile.

Despite the food poisoning that a majority of the young missionaries at the training center got this weekend, many still enjoyed their recreation time, though President Brian Carmack left our dinner early to take care of some. The MTC is full to capacity right now (about 60, of which 2/3[?] are N.Americans).

Maybe instead they should have tried the ubiquitous Uber Eats. Almost all US and international fast food restaurants, stores, services, and products are available in Chile. People with a good income have a good life here, but there are many who live under challenging circumstances. I know life is hard for immigrants here, too. Whenever I can, I talk to some of them: this past week I talked with several from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Haiti. Most would say living here is a better alternative to their home country right now, but are homesick and are not yet permanent residents, some after years.
This week I am finally going to get my one year visa, so that when I travel to London next Sunday I can come back! It has been a 6 1/2 month wait and will take all day.

These students are wonderful and work hard to learn English:
Gema (who does spectacular stained glass) and her grandson Mateo (who is now working to save for a mission), Guille who crochets beautiful baby dresses, Nelly who is a retired HS teacher, and a few others (ready to start or not pictured). We are using a Pathways preparation program with 16 modules. Pathways is a wonderful LDS English teaching program which prepares students in other countries for an online BYU Idaho curriculum. This week I'm going to teach some American folk songs as part of our 2 hour class. I learn a lot from them, too.
Life is good for me! I hope for you, too. "Man('s purpose) is that he might have joy." (the result of living with faith in Christ, purpose, love, and good works, according to 2 Nephi 2:25, from the Book of Mormon, which we study as a complement and companion to the Bible). I joyfully look forward to seeing family at my daughter Anne's wedding in England July 13, so may not write another blog for 2 weeks.