Weeks of both sadness and joy. I love the Fall, time of Harvest and plenty for the fortunate, a time to reflect as the year 2019 winds down and the holidays approach. (my front door decoration). Tomorrow, October 23, would have been my mother's 100th birthday! I'm grateful for my heritage and for all the wonderful people who have blessed my life made me who I am.

As I have been enjoying the warm sunshine and several concerts and other events, as well as the temple and gatherings with friends, I am well aware that much of the world is in turmoil, the Middle East, as well as in Ecuador and Chile, where I served my last two missions. First the sad news. In an update today from one of my senior missionary friends, Sister Marchant, in Santiago, the following, if you are interested:

This Sunday is an unusual and rather sad day.  Because of all the unrest in Santiago all church meetings were cancelled.   This morning President Wilhelm and President Dinamarca held an abbreviated sacrament meeting for us, the temple missionaries, blessing and passing the sacrament themselves.  The spirit was sweet.  It was humbling to receive the sacrament from our mission president.  But the feeling was also solemn as we thought of all the destruction and violence taking place in Chile.

Yesterday after the temple closed there were about 20 people, plus the group from Copiapó who were about 40, who couldn’t get home because the roads were blocked or they had no transportation.  Usually, the hospedaje closes on Saturday evening.  Last night they kept it open to house these brothers and sisters.  We all pooled our food together to provide food for them.  Fortunately, this morning they were able to go home.  The group from Copiapó had chartered a bus, but the driver of the bus was too nervous about coming into Santiago so members of our ward with cars ferried this group outside the city where the bus was waiting.  It will be a long and worried ride home I am certain because there are reports of barricades in parts of the highway.  We are praying for them.

We are very safe and secure here on the Temple block.  There are security people 24/7 and everything is gated.  But my heart mourns for the citizens of Santiago that are exposed to the full brunt of the senseless destruction and violence that is taking place in Santiago and throughout the country.  The entrances to the Metro have been severely damaged.  It will not be functioning for a long time.  According to news reports the city has brought out of retirement 700 old buses to try to replace the metro transportation.  About 2 dozen of the new buses have been burned and many grocery stores vandalized, looted or burned.  Walmart reported that more than 60 of its Lider stores (the grocery store we shop at) throughout the country have been vandalized or burned.  Banks and other buildings downtown have been damaged and some of the burned.

Santiago is under a state of emergency and a curfew is in place.  The last time there was a curfew imposed was in 1987 under Pinochet. 

The irony of all this is that ostensibly the protests are supposed to be just students who are protesting in behalf of the poor and about price hikes.  Yet all the destruction will only make it more difficult for the poor.  In the videos there appears to be more than just students, people with black masks.  I believe that there is an organized group behind all of this and their real objective is to destabilize and discredit the government.  Life is now going to be hard for the people of Santiago.

My heart aches for my friends in these beautiful countries, while here in California, in our "bubble," I have been enriched by several wonderful events, filled with music and thoughtful messages.
Last weekend the Mayfield Singers gave a magnificent concert and then sang again for the annual Latter Day Saint Convocation in the Stanford University Memorial chapel, the central building on campus, symbolic of the need for both faith and academic learning. The gathering brings together students, faculty, staff, alumni and all associated with the Church of Jesus Christ and Stanford University.

"Homeward Bound" was spectacular and very moving in this gorgeous space which I have loved since childhood!

Each speaker addressed aspects of the theme: Faith is strengthened by secular learning, and secular learning is enlightened by faith. They are not in conflict as some think. Both defend against deceit, greed, corruption, seeking only truth. Our LDS theology is based on agency, experimentation, questioning, individual discovery, gaining knowledge through the same methods as science. Only Satan wants blind obedience. God wants us to seek after all that is true.
Maggie Ivory's "Come thou Fount of every Blessing" was exquisite.

Another wonderful concert, this by the Valparaiso Singers, included classical, art, Broadway, folk songs on the theme of gardens...I never knew there were so many!

Also this week the "Well Seasoned Supper Group" (those whose kids have left home) enjoyed talented Jim Welch share his unique experience playing an organ concert in Notre Dame, Paris, shortly before the devastating fire that destroyed much of the beloved cathedral...but not the organ with its thousands of pipes. The Welches were able to visit little known parts of the cathedral, way up by the rose window and gargoyles! Son Nicholas played for the Convocation, son Jameson is serving a mission in London.

And more music at the pumpkin festival: "Jon Henry's Farm" at Hidden Villa Ranch, close to where I grew up in Los Altos, where my parents met, where my mother's memorial service was held, and a fun place to hike, see animals and grow vegetables. There are many school groups who visit the ranch.

....and Tunisian drums at a friend Iddo's (talking to the drum instructor in bottom photo) birthday party! He and his wife and kids rented my house while on my mission to Ecuador. It is wonderful to be with their very international group of friends. I made new friends and met old ones. I'm grateful to have good friends all over the world, including those who live in my neighborhood. We (a small group this time)gather every month for brunch and conversation.  What a blessing to know that on an individual basic there is love, acceptance and appreciation in a world that seems always to be at odds. Music  unifies us, too! Cindy (our hostess this month, seated at right, below) has a famous son, Matt, who is a member of the popular band "Maroon Five" which travels all over the world...no boundaries with music!