Heading to Bentonville---Three Times This Week

On Wednesday, Gary went to the temple with the Mena elders to join in the missionary session.  Elder Farris had missed attending the temple in the past two transfers so he was able to get permission for the two of them to go and Gary got to be their driver.

The following pictures are from our trip to Bentonville on Thursday where we went first to Springdale to orient the Cummings who will be taking over as district leaders for us after the District gathering, and then to the Mission office to drop off some stuff and also to meet some "old' missionaries who were visiting the mission for lunch.  

On our way to the mission office, we saw this street sign for Scott.  Since we now have taken pictures of Scott, Scarlett, and James street signs--I googled Chantel's name and we found one about 3 miles away----so off we went...

This is Razorback country.....

And another chicken display as well....

And here it is.  When I sent the photo to Chantel, she pointed out that her birth stone is the Garnet which makes this even more unique.  (In case you were wondering, I did try to google my other grandchildren's names, but didn't find anything in the local area.)

At the mission office, we got a photo with Elder and Sister Stephenson.  We met them in the MTC.  They are a week behind us and will finish a week after us.  They have served in the office over housing and also served as the mission secretary and financial person.  Lots of big jobs.  They are being replaced by two couples which is how it should be. They have done great and we will miss serving with them.

We met at the Stone Mill Cafe for lunch with (Elder) Richie Ecera and (Sister) Jenna Halle.  We love these sweet missionaries and are so grateful that they made some time for us while Jenna was in town visiting Rickie.  They both went home at the end of December--Jenna to Idaho and Richie to Samoa.  Conversations about converts that they had in common led to more personal conversations which led to dating--across states as Richie is working in Missouri as he prepares to go to BYU-I in the fall--where as "luck" would have it--Jenna also attends.  Jena and Jenna share a special relationship and they loved being together.

We had recently asked one of our young adults where are some of the spots we need to visit before we leave and he had mentioned the Hemmed-In Hallow waterfall trail area.  Because we had a bit of time before we needed to be in Clarksville for Game night, we headed east to that location, thinking we could handle a small hike.

Unfortunately, it was not exactly as he described it.  There was this big sign telling people to not take this trail without lots of preparation.  It is the trail that requires the most search and rescues in northern Arkansas.

We enjoyed the forests and the trees, but skipped the hike that we weren't prepared for.

Always space for photos of the wildflowers--I will miss them when we return to Utah.

Red barns---such an iconic view of the landscapes of mid-America.....

almost like a painting with the blue skies with clouds, the greens of the trees and field, and the yellow wildflowers.

and we found some dirt roads because we are lucky like that.

You have to love the Church signs.

On Friday, we went to the temple to do Baptism for the dead. It was a sweet experience as our newest convert was able to both be baptized for those who have passed on, he was also able to baptize others including our branch president who is about 6'4" while Ken is only about 5'6" and very slight build.  It was a tender moment.

Ken

After the session

We went to dinner and just before we left, the rain and the thunderstorms began and it poured about half of the way home with lightening everywhere. But in Ft. Smith, no rain until right as we got home. Then storms all night long.  We were glad our car was in a garage and that we had no place to go on Saturday. It was a busy week right before another busy week...which is running into another busy week....I am determined to catch up and keep up with my blog through our mission (and beyond, although there will be fewer pictures and posts as we move to a more normal routine of life-whatever that means.)