As mentioned in a previous post, our regular Thursday Institute class in Clarksville was bumped to Saturday so they could attend their ward BBQ and pool party. But other than that the only thing on our schedule was preparing talks for a youth fireside on Sunday which was also in Clarksville. So when we realized that Elder Gannon and Elder Campbell were the only set of missionaries that we hadn't taken for a meal or a treat, we decided to invite them for breakfast Saturday morning. It is likely that one or both of them might be transferred this week and we didn't want to miss spending some time with them. They have been great zone leaders. Elder Gannon has been here since we arrived and goes home in October and Elder Campbell goes home a transfer or two later. They set the time at 9:00 am for IHOP. Perfect...
Then Friday afternoon we got an invitation to go to Bentonville for lunch to celebrate Sister Stephenson's birthday at the Texas Road house at 1:00. Of course we said yes. The Stephensons started their mission a week after us and work in the mission office over housing. It was fun to gather there with them, Sister Lowry the mission nurse and a brand new senior couple, the Ellises from Orem. Sister Stephenson shares her birthday with a grandson who is 18 and they go to the Texas Road House most years together and get pictures on the famous (?) birthday saddle. I didn't know it was a thing....her grandson had sent a picture of his ride on the saddle yesterday so Sister Stephenson was going to do the same.
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| Sister Stephenson on the saddle with our cute waitress, Madison |
Then Sister Lowry had made cake for all of us at her apartment so all of us headed over there for cake and ice cream except Ellises who had an appointment. It is great to be with other senior couples and to talk about our service and the great missionaries we serve with.
And then we left Bentonville and headed straight to Clarksville for dinner and class.
So to recap--
9:00-10:00 big breakfast with the missionaries in Ft. Smith
10:00-12:45 our drive the 80 miles to Bentonville through the back roads east of I-49 (more on that later)
12:45-4:20 eating lunch at Texas Roadhouse and then cake and ice cream
4:20-6:00 drive the freeway to Clarksville
6:00 pick up pizza for dinner
6:30-8:30 dinner and Institute--Gary and I did NOT eat--IHOP and Texas Roadhouse in one day is a lot!
8:45 short drive to do an apartment inspection at the Clarksville missionaries...
9:00-10:15 pm heading the 70 miles back to Ft. Smith...
That was one crazy day of eating and driving...with some good conversations and a good lesson in the mix. No time for preparing our fireside remarks. Good thing we have afternoon Church on Sunday.
And so you won't be disappointed, here are some pictures from our Saturday morning drive through the backroads of the Boston Mountains. The roads were as dirty and tree-lined and as beautiful as the days before but I decided I have posted enough for one week of dirt roads and trees.
One of the signs on the fence said "Red Necked Area." Not wrong!!!
We saw this cool bird which a friend said was likely a buzzard of some kind. It flew back and forth in front of us before landing on the stump and posing for a picture. He was beautiful when in flight.
We also saw deer in a few places, rabbit, turtle crossing the road--but the highlight was a yellow bobcat who crossed the dirt road about 150 feet in front of us. I don't think I have ever seen a wild cat in the wild. It was also a beautiful animal. Gary says we need a dash cam so we can always be ready to take a photo.
To wrap up the week, we did head to Clarksville again on Sunday late afternoon for a youth/YSA fireside about Institute (Gary's topic), learning-Jena's topic, and The importance of Education and Learning-mine. Talks to follow....
Heading west going home from Clarksville, we drove toward the sunset for about 45 minutes. Very pretty! A good ending to a busy week!
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