Tabernacle Choir Watch Party

Last Wednesday, we were heading to downtown Ft. Smith again...and one of Gary's favorite things happen--we got stopped by a train.  We only got stopped for a few minutes but it was a nice break in the day.

We were heading to the US Marshal Museum which has a beautiful location right on the Arkansas river.  We have crossed this bridge many times, but this was our first view from the shore side.

The US Marshal Museum has been on our list since we arrived to the area.  It is a museum dedicated to all of the US Marshals who have ever served in the US especially those who have lost their lives in protecting our country and our citizens.  We weren't there for the history, but for a special stake event to watch the Tabernacle Choir perform on their Hope Tour in Atlanta, Georgia.  All of the stakes in the south east area of the country were invited to do watch parties for their stake and for friends.

We got there early to help, but they had things well under control. Jena and I along with the YSA sister missionaries were the door greeters and it was great to see so many people I recognized from our time in Ft. Smith and to great them, including Evan, one of the young adults, who has drifted away for a bit.  His sister performs in the Tabernacle Choir and he didn't want to miss watching her perform (although he said later that he never actually saw her on scene.) That was a great treat for me because I wanted to see him before we left.

The building....we think that from the drone's view it probably makes a star which makes for an unusual profile from the ground level.

They have a large hall you can rent for gatherings which overlooks the river

The countdown to the actual concert...

During the concert, a tug boat actually went past on the river......

The other young adult table next to ours.....

The concert and the sunset...it was hard to know which to watch.  It was a great concert and I was so glad that we were able to share with with some of the stake members.  We had about 250 people there.

There was a star in the ceiling of the large hall, but at night it had lights that changed colors and this is actually the reflection of that feature in the windows.

And as we headed out after cleaning up, the YSA sisters invited us to Andy's because the stake president was treating all of the missionaries to ice cream! I think he was surprised when we showed up but he was happy to buy us ice cream, too, and we had a good conversation with him as well. He is a great stake president and we have loved our interactions with him.  It was a very sweet end to the concert evening. 

I sent Sister Ellis a photo from the choir concert because she is a music lover.  She called it "a great capstone" event to end our mission.  I liked that--at least one of the capstone moments from these ending weeks.

Danny and The Bricktown Brewery

Danny, one of our young adults, plays trumpet--amazing and he and some friends started a band which plays at local venues.  We have been waiting for one which would be good for missionaries to go to and finally his gig at the Bricktown Brewery was set for September 7th. It turned out to be the perfect night to sit on the patio, listen to great music, and enjoy downtown Ft. Smith.  President and Holly Anderton joined us for the evening.  The weather was great and there were no bugs.....

and Danny was awesome.  The Andertons had never heard him play and they were very impressed.

While we were waiting for our table, the three of us walked around downtown for a bit.  We had driven through this area many times, but this was the first time we walked around and read some of the historical markers in the area.

This building was first built in the 1860s or 70s and served as a center of different businesses over the years.  In 1996, a tornado went through town and destroyed the building except for this front--which has been restored and maintained since then.

We found a Welcome to Ft. Smith sign to get a picture with...

and the mural...not from a running car.....

This statue represents all of the lawman who served here in the early days of the settlements in this area.  They had plaques talking about different lawman including Bass Reeves, a run away slave who became a lawman, and it was noted that he arrested many hundreds of men including his pastor and his own son.

The art work on the buildings is amazing.  One of the young adults said that there are some people who want to paint over all the murals in the city because they feel they distract drivers.  They can be distracting, especially the first times, but they also bring a feeling of interest and personality to downtown which I like.

We stayed for a few hours, enjoying our yummy food, the music, and conversations.  

Wherever the Andertons are, there is a party happening.
 

President Anderton took this picture of Jena with her Root Beer which "came from the bar in its own bottle" according to the server.

Fun times never to be forgotten.

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park

Coming home from the Transfer Loop adventure, we made a stop at the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park. We had tried to go here a few times, but got caught by rain each time.  They had a nice museum and good video explanations of the battle fought here which is credited with stopping AR from swinging completely to the south in the war and preventing the south from getting into Missouri which was a pivotal moment in the Civil War in the western front.

In our missionary clothes, of course.

They also had a auto tour through the fields and hillsides where the battle took place.  It had 14 stops and also one for the Trail of Tears which was the Native American march to the reservations in Oklahoma...a terrible part of our nation's history.

A white Church which was on the spot of another Church where families hid in the basement when the forces from the north and the south started lining up for battle on the local ridge.

I didn't even know that there were Civil War battles here in NW Arkansas until we moved here. As always the terrible cost of war hits me every time I am at one of these spots.  I am so grateful that Gary and my sons or daughters have had to fight in war...although Austen, Tosha's husband, has supported the airmen from Kuwait in two tours of duty there. 

Another place off our AR bucket list...

 

Our "Last" Transfer Loop

Sunrise as we are heading up to Springdale for transfer loop.  This was Sister Ellis's great idea to bring some treats to transfer loop where the missionaries are dropped off and moved around to their new areas.  It is so fun to be there, to see old friends, and sometimes to meet the new companions who arrive on the transfer van.  Sometimes the missionaries have to wait at the stake center until 3 or 4:00 pm for their new companions if they are coming from the northern areas. A extra muffin or donut and some fruit is always a good addition to their morning breakfast which for the Ft. Smith missionaries was around 6:30 in the morning.

With Hermana Boren and Hermana Beagley
Sister Beagley was finally leaving Ft. Smith after
being here since January.  Sister Boren was
one of her trainers when she first arrived.

Chocolate milk is probably the favorite although
donuts were a hit as well.

Elder Handley with his new companion-
one last picture for the Horrocks family
from his hometown.

We head up to Bentonville after the van and transport truck leave Springdale.  Here is the line-up as each missionary has to make sure that all of their stuff gets in the trailer.  Notice that they also have gained some stuff since their arrival in the mission.  None of them came from the airport with a garbage stack of stuff!

There were other missionaries here that we love and had to say goodbye to ONE last time.  Good that we will have mission reunions to reconnect with these great missionaries who have served in Ft. Smith and in the ABM.  The list of "lasts" continues to grow......
 

P-day BBQ and Game Day

This was transfer week and this was the day that transfers were announced so even Gary and I got up at 6:30 to hear the news.

The zone leaders had arranged a pot luck BBQ lunch and Jena and I joined them for lunch (Gary wasn't feeling well so missed out.)  The missionaries played pickleball in the morning together, but after lunch they played Secret Hitler--a game like Mafia where you try to determine the bad guys before you get killed without knowing who else is good or bad. This was all of our zone and Ken in the front right corner, our newest convert.

It was great to be with them and to watch them interact as they enjoy being together, but also are saying good bye to some of them.  The way of the mission field for missionaries.
 

On the Way To Mena (September 2)

We did some more exploring--found this lake.....

We spent some time in the Mena cemetery--Pinecrest.  It has been a sweet experience to take photos of grave markers while we have been here.  Gary says that we have taken over 5000 different photos which he has added if needed to Find A Grave and then many of them he has worked to make sure they were connected correctly in Family Search.  Just this past week, he was able to add a infant daughter to a family who died at five days old--then a year or so later the family had another daughter and gave her the exact same name...odd, but now both Sarahs will be sealed to their parents.

And then this very pretty lake with a waterfall, but when we stopped to walk around, there were big signs saying stay out unless you were a guest of the nearby resort.  That isn't any fun.

We saw more deer than we normally find including this herd in a pasture.

And of course, we found more chickens...on the mail box

And this yard full of chickens and other stuff....

I love this blue chick

and of course the chicken.

And this was in the same yard, but I just loved the colors.

Countryside Arkansas just delights me.  Almost always we find some unusual in our travels.  I will miss that, too.