Hot Tub Pools and Copper Mines - Calama

Dear family  

We went to Calama this past week and your father did his Evidences of the Book of Mormon fireside (he sent a photo earlier from that), also went to Valley of the Moon, the largest Copper Mine in the world, to San Pedro de Atacoma, the Geysers. See the BLOG photos for the captions and many photos.  You will enjoy seeing them, so I will not go into details. But we won't be able to write captions, and send photos untill later today or tomorrow as we have a SERVICE project this morning, dropping off Halloween treats to some of our families, and meeting EDWARD to see his Rugby Game and (plus) meeting CLAUDIO  (another investigator) who is coming to sit by us at the game, We never have a real PDay as we do missionary work all day every Saturday. We get the laundry and house  clean up work (washing all of the floors etc) work done on Friday early in the morning or Thur PM (generally but not on Thur this week) so our Saturdays can be open.  We went to the Origines Ward HALLOWEEN party last night --- it said it would start at 7:30. We went at 8 and helped with final room prep, then waited until 9:30 before the people started coming and we were the PHOTOGRAPHERS for the photos of which we will send some, but we had to leave at 10:30 PM when more started coming. Chilean time is different then in the States. Another pair of missionaries told us they invited investigators to a Ward Function and the investigators came and no ward members showed up and after waiting a half hour they left. Our investigator who said she would come did not come and we were glad as no one else had arrived at 8 pm. They have great parties, but people come from 1 hour to 2 hours later after the start time, and I am sure the party went to well after MIDNiGHT!

Hope the grandchildren all have a fun Halloween trick or treating or Treating others as what most of you do,

Love AND Prayers for all of you, Mom and Dad

The strange plant.  Note the flowers on the side.  It is really prickly.

 Young people loved swimming in the hot tub pool.

 Source of the hot water for the hot tub pool.

 An interesting place with dressing rooms for changing and then swimming

 Interesting Place

Photo was the Chuquicamata open it copper mine.  Note the big trucks, they look very small.  The small trucks can barely be seen on the roads below.

 Another view of the mine.  Note the backhoe in the bottom loading a big truck.  Also you can see the big and little trucks operating.

 One more view of the mine with all the trucks operating in the mine.

 Another view of the mine that 1 1/3 mile long and very deep.  An earthquake fault line goes through the mine, which makes the mine somewhat dangerous.

A large volcano that is not active.  However, smoke is coming out of the active one to the left.

 A river valley with volcanos.  This area is know as the "Rim of Fire."

 Notice the Vicuna out of the bus window on top of the hill.
 The small village of Machuca

 Mom in front of one of the homes at Machuca

 The church at Machuca

A deep canyon as we returned to san Pedro de Atacama

 This is the Quechua Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama.  We stayed in the furtherest room to the back.