It turned out
that my birthday fell on the same day we feed the missionaries and two other
members of the branch. So Sister Anderson fixed my birthday meal for all of us.
This worked out well since one of the Elders serving in this area has a
birthday on the same day. By coincidence our Branch President shares the same
birthday. A good day to be born, I suppose. Sister Anderson prepared all of my
favorites, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, lemon and cream swirl (fancy name for Yellow Jello, but it truly is more than just Yellow Jello), and the mandatory
green salad. For dessert she prepared Wacky Cake, of course, and ice cream.
The following
day for our Friday date and to celebrate the birthday, we traveled twenty miles
south to Fort Scott, Kansas. There is actually an old Fort Scott, the city is
named after, which is a National Historic Site. We arranged to have one of the
tour guides give us a tour of the fort.
The write up
on Fort Scott from one of the brochures States: The Story of Fort Scott is the
story of America growing up. When the
fort was established in 1842, the nation was still young and confined largely
to the areas east of the Mississippi River. Yet within a few years, Fort
Scott’s soldiers became involved in events that would lead to tremendous spurts
of growth and expansion. As the nation developed, tensions over slavery led to
the conflict and turmoil of “Bleeding Kansas” and the Civil War. Fort Scott’s story takes you through these
years of crisis and beyond to the time when the United States emerged as a
united, transcontinental nation.
It was interesting
and educational.
