Cumorah Camp trip

 May 1st, as in most of the world, is Labor Day, unlike the first Monday of September which we in the US celebrate with picnics, barbecues, trips to the beach, and traditionally the last long weekend before school started (now most US schools begin in August). 
The first Labor Day was held in 1882. Its origins stem from the desire of the Central Labor Union to create a holiday for workers. It became a federal holiday in 1894. It was originally intended that the day would be filled with a street parade to allow the public to appreciate the work of the trade and labor organizations. After the parade, a festival was to be held to amuse local workers and their families. In later years, prominent men and women held speeches. This is less common now, but is sometimes seen in election years. One of the reasons for choosing to celebrate this on the first Monday in September, and not on May 1, which is common in the rest of the world, was to add a holiday in the long gap between Independence Day and Thanksgiving.
It is incredible that my twin grandsons, John and Luke, are celebrating their 11th birthday today. When they were born they lived at my house with their parents,...such a fun time! This was their first Thanksgiving in 2008 (with their dad Peter Carlston, cousin Ben and uncle Peter de S.) And recently with their family.

We We have been advised to stay close "to home" in Santiago, as there can be some violence and protests carried out mostly by the young who keep the hatred and resentment against the government experienced by their parents. It's time to bury the hatchet and unite in continuing to build the peaceful, prosperous country that Chile has become today. There are things and attitudes still to be fixed, but Chile now has the best economy of Latin America, for which reason immigrants are flocking in from all over the continent. I hear a lot of disparaging remarks about immigrants, but hope in time that mixing with good people from everywhere will broaden perspectives and strengthen the country.

According to official statistics, the number of foreigners in Chile has increased from 465,000 to more than 1.1 million in the last four years: an estimated 300,000 of them remain in the country without a valid visa.

The most radical measure concerns the ban on entering Chile as a tourist, seeking an employment contract and applying for a work visa. As of April 23, visa applications will be processed only by Chilean consulates abroad.* The new rules do not apply to applications submitted until that date.

1% of Haiti's population has come to Chile. Although the Chilean government has clamped down on immigration, "the number of Venezuelans entering Chile on tourist visas leaped to 26,181 in November, the fastest pace since March, according to the Sub-secretary of Tourism. Arrivals dipped in the middle of the year after the government introduced a rule stipulating that Venezuelans needed to apply for new visas before traveling to Chile if they wanted to find work. That measures only seems to have had a temporary impact.

For my fellow Californians: Chileans and other South Americans have been present in the state of California since the 1850s gold rush. Not all Chileans made it to the gold fields. Some remained in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Stockton where they frequently worked as bricklayers, bakers, or seamen. Some with capital established themselves in various businesses, particularly the importation of flour and mining equipment from Chile. In the cities most tended to congregate and live in specific areas in the poorer sections of town. In the gold fields they lived in separate camp sites. In the summer of 1849 Chileans constituted the majority of the population of Sonora. Chileans frequently worked their mines as group efforts. When the placer gold ran out around Sonora the Chileans were amongst the first miners in California to extract gold from quartz. Historical remnants often found in the names of streets in Northern California: Valparaiso, Santiago, and Calera.

Taking a break from our labors in the temple, we enjoyed a great time on Monday, instead, on our...

 Day trip to near Casablanca, Camp Cumorah, April 29, 2019 

Casablanca Valley, halfway between Santiago and Valparaiso, is the Napa Valley of Chile. Lovely red/yellow/green vineyards cover the the hillsides and fields and there are MANY wineries. The town of Casablanca has a pretty Catholic church, and is a mix of old and modern life.

Scott was offering us his yummy chocolate chip cookies when an elderly lady came sniffing and asked what he was selling. She's munching as she walks into the grocery store where Sisters Wilhelm and Dinamarca are buying lunch sandwich ingredients. The temple sister missionaries (minus Sister Wallace) below: Juanita Diaz, Miriam de Schweinitz, Nancy Moses, Lorie Marchant, Holly Young, Nina Isaacson, Alma Umber, Carolyn Clark waiting to be on our way to Camp Cumorah.

With all the eucalyptus, it could easily be California!

Church Camp Cumorah is about 1 1/2 hours west of Santiago. Organized by President and Sister Wilhelm and President and Sister Dinamarca (who live in Casablanca the closest town), all the temple missionaries, temple recorders Angulo and Lamartine and their wives drove in 3 church vans to explore and have lunch on Monday, April 29. The Ponces are Chilean missionaries who run the camp which is available to families, youth and even non-church members as long as they obey the rules! The house is for couples and is also used as a gathering place. There are separate units, bathrooms and meeting hall for campers. 

We picked figs, limes, lemons, avocados (palta), pears, blueberries, and especially quince (membrillas, very prolific and popular!) Pdte. Dinamarca was a good sport to load up wheelbarrows full for those excited to make juice, jam, sweets! 

After picking fruit we drove to learn about the native plants and terrain of the area. At the "Waters (springs) of Mormon" precious underground water is collected. The "peumo" (alba family) with edible fruit, has an exceptionally hard bark/wood and is being planted everywhere in Chile to produce needed oxygen. It has been used successfully in California.

The "canelo" below, left) is  somehow related to the olive with red and brown seeds:

 

Another interesting abundant bamboo-like plant is the "colihue" which is hard and solid. Indigenous people made arrows from it.
The very sharp spiny "Espino" is related to peas and beans (legumes), has pods, is so hard it can't (easily) be cut, and has deep roots that inject phosphorus into the soil and prevents erosion. 

Hno. Ponce also talked about the indigenous peoples of Chile: it is said that there are 40 groups, but only about 20 are truly indigenous to Chile, and most are either extinct or have absorbed into the Mapuche ("people of the land"). One interesting tribe the "Selk'nam" who shared Tierra del Fuego with 2 other tribes, but who, because they were nomadic hunters and gatherers, afraid of the water, became extinct, loosing out to the other tribes who hunted whale and fished and didn't starve to death. Selk'nam are recognized by their elaborate total red-black-white body paint (naked otherwise) and rites of passage. They are more closely related to Australian aborigines than to native American tribes.Their finally extinction occurred inn in 1974. 
(The Selk'nam had lived for thousands of years a semi-nomadic life in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (literally "big island of land of fire", its name being based on early Spanish explorers' observations of smoke from Selk'nam bonfires.) 

About 4,000 Selk'nam (more closely associated with Australian aborigenes than with native Americans) were alive in the mid-nineteenth century; by 1930 this had been reduced to about 100. Cattle breeders, farmers and gold-prospectors from Argentina, Chile, the UK and the US had entered the region, and were joined by adventurers and other fortune seekers. The natives were plied with alcohol, deported and exterminated, with bounties paid to the most ruthless hunters.The large ranchers tried to run off the Selk'nam, then began a campaign of extermination against them, with the compliance of the Argentine and Chilean governments. Large companies paid sheep farmers or militia a bounty for each Selk'nam dead, which was confirmed on presentation of a pair of hands or ears, or later a complete skull. They were given more for the death of a woman than a man. In addition, missionaries disrupted their livelihood through forcible relocation and brought with them deadly epidemics. Below, Tierra del Fuego scene:

Tierra 

We ate sandwiches here after walking around the large property.

top back and middle row: Ralph and Holly Young, Steve Clark, Enrique Lamartine, Nina and Scott Isaacson, Jolene Wallace, Cliff and Nancy Moses, Dan Wallace, Hilda Dinamarca, Hna. Ponce.
Front row: Pdte. Gerardo and Silvia Wilhelm, Yvonne Lamartine, Carolyn Clark, Juanita Diaz, the Angulos and Ponce dog Jack, Miriam de Schweinitz, Lorie and Alan Marchant
After a few hours at Cumorah (named after an important Book of Mormon site) delicious sandwiches, a tour of the fruit orchards and fauna of the area, we missionaries and temple presidents and recorders gathered for a photo (above) before driving back to Santiago. It was a fun and interesting Monday preparation day.
On the way home we stopped at Lo Vasquez with pilgrimage church (fragrant with wonderful Easter flowers) to buy honey (cheap and delicious) and eggs and treats.