Another "Foot" Of Note

(sorry--a poor play on words since I had called a recent post "Minor Footnote"!  This post was due to an actual foot.)

July 29th and 30th--we got to serve as companion to Sister Davis who had hurt her foot while playing basketball the Monday before and had been put on crutches.  On Friday, we learned that she and her two companions were all confined to their apartment, so Sister Davis could ice and elevate her foot for a few days because it was not getting better.  Because she was part of a trio, we asked President Collins if Sister Davis could spent time with us so that her two companions could go to their appointments and do their missionary work.  He supported that idea.

Saturday at noon, we picked her up from her apartment after they did some lessons over the internet.  Then we took her back at 9:00 pm.  Sunday we picked her up after their dinner appointment and she stayed until after our zone call at 8:30 pm and then she headed back home.  Monday they put her in a boot and she has been able to work this week.  However, they now believe her foot was fractured so she is seeing a specialist today.

We had one job and one job only---help Sister Davis rest.... and also allow her companions to work as missionaries.  I think what happened might have looked a bit different than was expected, but I think it was exactly what Sister Davis needed.

After grabbing lunch at Chick-Fil-A, Gary headed off on a car adventure with all of us which ended up being about 4 hours long.  Since Sister Davis is a Spanish-speaking sister, her area covers the entire stake and Gary used that to our advantage to show Sister Davis some of the local countryside and sites.  She only arrived in the last transfer so hadn't been very many places yet.

First stop---the Silver Bridge.....Gary had already mentioned that he wanted to go back since I had not "walked" across the bridge..so last Saturday seemed like a good idea.  Sister Davis LOVED it and wanted to get her own pictures on the bridge as well.  There was a family swimming in the waters below and several cars coming from both directions---many more people than we saw on Thursday when we drove over it the first time.  I do love bridges.

This time I was able to get photos without riding by in a car-

The water was pretty still and reflective of all of the green around it. 

Sister Davis decided we needed a picture down the bridge and one overlooking the stream...

...and then we did the same for her ...and her crutch!

and then the whole bridge

We then headed back down the same dirt road as before to show her the little white house.  But somehow we missed that turn.  We will have to do it another day.

But we saw this herd of goats outside the fence eating leaves while the cattle and donkeys were trying to do the same from their side of the fence.

As I came closer to take photos, some of the goats headed off down the road and soon

they were all heading down the road together.

Fortunately, they headed in a different direction than we wanted to go.

Under the "sights you can see on the byways of Arkansas," here is another buried VW Bug in a front yard and behind it was a cement "cacti" with a star.

I actually didn't remember seeing those on our trip on Thursday, because I was distracted by the bikes mounted on the roofs of the sheds in back.

That is not something you see every day!

There were also several dead trees in the fields we passed and for some reason, they struck me as being interesting and pretty in their own way...surrounded by living plants and the blue sky, they represent a life lived, I guess, I don't know why, I just wanted some pictures of them.

A tiny village Church

An old fireplace stack

Cows enjoying the pond on a very hot day...

Taking Sister Davis across the Ozark bridge.  Sister Davis is a great sport...or maybe she was just so glad to be out of the apartment..or maybe she just likes road trips like us, but it was so fun to share some of these sights of Arkansas with her.

She even agreed that I should take a picture of the Utah Ranch sign in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas.

Yellow wildflowers...one of the joys of nature

Not on purpose, we happened to cross the intersection with the Budweiser grainer.  Sister Davis had heard of it, but not seen it yet and she wanted a picture!  Gary found a place to turn around and we headed back to the area to get some photos for her. 

What is not shown is the small gully she had to go down and up to get over to the grass by the fence. She did it great, but not what the mission nurse or probably her mom had in mind for her resting days.

And this is how she spent the rest of the time while at our house.  We talked a lot and we played games that she could do while laying down and icing her foot.  She now knows us better than most of the missionaries in the zone and she says that is a good thing.

her note to us (on the Blank Slate slate)

It was a small thing for us--a way we could help--and it was awesome for us to share these hours with her.