Back in Santiago

Back in Santiago

Senior missionaries enjoyed a meal and celebrated two birthdays at Malamud. I flew all night from England but didn't want to miss a chance to be with friends. I'm still a bit jet-lagged, but full of happy memories of a beautiful wedding, time with family, and summer activities in a gorgeous setting, and ready to go back to work! 

Gloria from our ward (who teaches English for Berlitz and like me speaks French and German), and Sisters Horrocks from Utah (reassigned to Santiago the night before she was due to leave the Provo Mission Training Center to serve in Nicaragua. All missionaries have been pulled out of the country which has been plagued with much violence and political unrest) and Sister Cheko from Argentina, and Sister Umber came for Sunday lunch. I am thrilled to have a big new frost-free fridge...such a great  improvement! No more defrosting!

                              PATAGONIA EXHIBITION
Because I have little to share this week, I will include some amazing photos in an exhibition I visited today, of Alberto de Agostini, an early 20th century explorer of Patagonia, and other more recent photos of this gorgeous southern part of Chile and Argentina, which I hope to visit next February (summertime here). Maybe you will want to come too! When Chileans ask if we like their country, they always hope we will visit the "south," which can mean the Lake and River Districts (which are truly beautiful), and Patagonia, which is truly the south. The Falkland Islands are owned by Britain but have been contested over the years by Spain, France, Argentina and Britain.

 In the folds/foothills of this vast chain, covered with a mantle of ice and snow, originates an immense glacier which majestically extends at our feet like a frozen river which we have baptized with the name of one of the most illustrious Italian geographers Juan Marinelli. (an excerpt from Agostini's book "Thirty Years in Tierra del Fuego.") 

Marinelli Fjord and Darwin mountains (2018)

Lake Spegazzini and Negri Glacier (2018)

Early 20th century expedition of Alberto de Agostini and others

Father Alberto Agostini (1883-1960) was an Italian missionary

of the Salesians of Don Bosco order, as well as a passionate mountaineer, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, photographer and cinematographer! That's impressive!

"We appreciated a good stretch of the west side and climbed the mountain slope almost bare of vegetation and furrowed by many torrents, and which seemed to rest on a pleasing fill having before our eyes a beautiful and vast panorama of the lake and Negri Glacier, of which I took an interesting photographic view".

 In 1903, the Chilean government gave a huge land grant for sheep ranching and forestry to large private companies, which provided the impetus for economic growth in Northern Patagonia. Previously only seafaring explorers and scientists like Darwin knew it. There were large-scale fires, erosion, and deforestation that closed up the main port. Road access began to be established in the 1970's with a new highway, the Carretera Austral, which helped promote tourism, mining, salmon fishing and hydro-electrical projects.

Southern Patagonia (and Tierra del Fuego, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan, extending to Cape Horn), is an archipelago of glaciers, lakes, fjords. The first European to explore was Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, but there were no permanent settlements until the 19th c, when missionaries, adventurers and merchants arrived from Croatia, Spain, Britain, and northern Chile. Immigrants also came to raise sheep. Most of the indigenous people have become extinct or greatly reduced. Today sheep farming, oil extraction and tourism are the mainstays of the economy. Torres del Paine National Park and other parks and Punta Arenas are key spots.

I love the fragrant daphne flowers outside my window. In the midst of winter they promise spring. This is winter break (2 weeks) for Chilean school kids, so we have had lots of youth come to serve in the temple, performing baptisms and confirmations for those who have died. I have been saddened this week by the death of my dear friend Amy, but am grateful for her life. She was a wonderful youth leader, seminary teacher for my kids and example of Christ. We don't know how long we have in this life, but I know we must fill our days with good deeds, gratitude, and hope to be united one day with our loved ones who have gone before us. Tomorrow, LDS people celebrate "Pioneer Day," when, on July 24, 1847, the first Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, a place where they could escape the persecution that tested their faith and made them strong, and build strong families and communities. I'm so grateful for their legacy, especially after visiting the area in England last week where so many left their comfort zone to find a place where they could find freedom of religion and other opportunities. 
If you love the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein (Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, etc.) as much as I do, here is a link to the wonderful Pioneer Day celebration by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with guest performers including the grandson of Hammerstein. 
www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/pioneerday.html?cid=HP_SA-21-7-2018_dMOTAB_fBCAST_xLIDyL2_

I have now been a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints for 50 years, grateful for having made that decision so long ago now! It has given me direction, comfort, opportunity to learn leadership and other skills, and most of all peace and joy. The young woman who sat beside me in church yesterday stopped coming 30 years ago, but has decided to come back. I felt God's love for her and for me to have the chance to see her happiness.