Hey all! :D
I am seriously shocked that nobody seems to have heard about what's been going on down here yet. I know it's been global news, since Alejandro has told me what the news in the states has been saying, but I guess the news wasn't as widespread as we thought. So I'm going to tell everything in detail, but don't worry about anything because from what I know the situation is way more controlled now and dozens of other countries are helping us out now so everything is going to be fine.
SO, a forest fire that started right near Constitución got out of hand this week. From what we've seen from the news, they're saying that this is the largest first in recorded history and others are saying it's the largest forest disaster in our history. We passed it on the train last Saturday but it was still small and controllable. Now, everything that we saw on the train Saturday is ash. Thousands of houses have been destroyed, but miraculously, only 11 people have been killed. The last time we checked, the number of active fires in the country kept floating around 100, but the number might be bigger now but they're more controlled so there's less danger. Most people are saying that this has been worse than the earthquake in 2010.
The fires were definitely started on purpose, because there are too many to have been started on accident. It's an act of terrorism, but all of the people arrested so far have been Chileans. I don't know if anyone knows why still, but maybe the news over there will say something about it.
So this week was a crazy week for us! We knew that the fire was getting serious but things really started getting crazy on Wednesday. Miraculously, all of the missionaries were in Talca in a meeting that went until 6:00 in the afternoon. The missionaries from Constitución tried to go back, but they had closed the freeway because the fire had crossed the freeway and had surrounded the city. We could see the smoke in great billowing clouds in the distance, but it hadn't reached Talca yet. So the missinaries from Conti stayed in Talca, and we wanted the missionaries in San Javier to do the same (San Javier is between Talca and Conti) but they wanted to go back, so they went. That night, we went to Alejandro and he helped inform us more about what was going on. A Chilean from the states (the wife of the owner of Walmart it seems) sent a giant plane that drops 70,000 liters of water at a time to help out, but the situation was still out of control. The situation looked concerning enough to bring the missionaries in San Javier to Talca, so we told them to find a bus and we went to pick them up in the bus station in Talca and brought them to live with other missionaries for a time.
On Thursday, they completely lost control. Chile is not used to having so much fire at one time and people kept making more fire. Wednesday night an entire city burned to the ground with over 1,000 houses, and the violence in Conti due to the political unrest was astonishing. There were fires near Rancagua, Pichidegua, Santa Cruz, Talca, and all throughout the more southerly region where Concepción is. We were planning on going out to work like normal, but right after lunch, thick smoke flooded all of Talca and it started snowing ash. We told all the missionaries to stay in their houses and not leave while we configured our phones to listen to the radio to know what to do. At about 4:00 Alejandro sent us a text letting us know that the situation got completely out of hand and that Chile declared a state of emergency, and that teams of forest-fire experts were on their way from several countries, and that a bunch of other countries were in the process of sending us more giant planes and helicopters and other things to fight the fire. President Harris called us and told us to make sure that everybody had a three-days supply of food and water just in case anything happened. Alejandro took us to a supermarket called Jumbo to get stuff for us and other missionaries, and we also bought face masks for everyone. Even the Jumbo was so filled with smoke that it was visible, and when we left the store for the first time the sun was dark red because of the smoke, and an hour later the sun was completely obscured from view, leaving the sky a brownish-orange color. We distributed what we needed to the other missionaries and went back home.
On Friday morning the smoke was thick, but the fire was still a great distance from both San Javier and Talca, but the missionaries from San Javier wanted to go back, and we didn't let them. The foreigners who came to help helped the situation calm down a ton, but the fire was still growing. Friday morning we stayed inside, but by lunch the smoke had cleared and the radios stopped reporting information about the fire so we decided that we could go back to work. Sadly though, at about 7:00, the whole city flooded with smoke again and we had to tell everybody to go back home. Sadly though, San Javier was already in a bus on their way home, and we had to tell them to get off right where they were and we went to go find them with Alejandro and bring them back. They weren't too happy. But because we were the only ones authorized to listen to the radio, we were the only ones who knew the seriousness of the situation and we didn't want to scare anyone by telling them.
Saturday was a little better, the smoke cleared at about lunchtime again and didn't get back again until about 9:00. Because the situation was more controlled, President authorized San Javier to go back home. We made no-bake cookies with Alejandro to celebrate.
Yesterday was a little smoky, but it was essentially a normal day. We stopped listening to the radio, and everything went back to normal! So, in the end, all is well. As far as I know though, the fire continues, and probably keeps growing, but Chile is still receiving more planes and things every day to keep fighting it. They say it will take about 30 days to beat the fire completely, but now everything is more controlled and much more relaxed. The damage is immense though, and we'll be having a ton of opportunities to do service in the coming months. Several cities have disappeared, and much of the forest in 4 regions of Chile is gone. We'll be fasting for the victims of the fire this Sunday and do everything we can to help people regain their lives. There have been massive donation banks in all the churches in Talca, and they went to deliver truck-loads of necessities to the fire victims and the fire-fighters.
So, that is the end of the most intense week of my life! This has been a crazy month.
The miracles! There have been boatloads of small miracles this week, and that has been the best thing. I'll admit, there were times during the week (mostly Thursday and Friday) that things seemed really bleak and we were honestly terrified. God, however, has His subtle ways of calming us down and helping us keep our heads straight. This group of 4 missionaries I'm living with right now has been the tightest group of friends I've had in the mission, and together with Alejandro I felt very blessed to have to go through all of that with such good friends. On Thursday, on our way delivering emergency supplies to the missionaries, all 5 of us started singing ''Piano Man'' and ''The Day the Music Died'' at the top of our lungs (don't judge, the world was ending.) On Friday morning, we all sat in our house and listened to church music doing nothing for about 3 hours. The other miracle was Alejandro, who was our informant and our cab driver the entire week for all this crazy process. Without him, we would've been in serious trouble.
I quoted a song last week, that came to my mind again this week in a particularly desperate moment. I thought about how people had started all this intentionally, how theories were springing up about how people were reacting in fear to Trump cutting off the lumber trade between Chile and the States, crazy theories about Isis being involved, and the first previous to the one I quoted in the last email popped in my head.
Then in despair, I bowed my head.
There is no peace on earth, I said.
For hate is strong, and mocks the song
of peace on earth good will towards men.
Then pealed the bells, more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
with peace on earth good will towards men.
The ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night today
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
of peace on earth good will towards men.
So the message at the end of all this, is once again hope! I put patience as my goal for this entire month, and naturally I had a really weird month, but something that I'm eternally grateful for is the hope that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to my life. So even in the constant craziness that the world is now, we can always remember to be happy and have hope. I know it's possible!
''Happiness can be found, even in the most darkest of times.'' - Dumbledore.
I hope you all have a great week! Stay away from fire! Only you can prevent forest fires! Listen to smoky, he knows what he's talkin bout! The church is true! I love you all!
Love
Elder Fox
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