- Clarksville, Tennessee

Hello everyone!

This last week was pretty fun. We got to go to Kentucky. For some reason, I have just had this feeling in my mind throughout my whole mission that Kentucky is better than Tennessee. There isn't much logical evidence to support this nor any reason for me to think so. However, I just know it is better there and have been waiting for 9 months to get transferred to Kentucky. That hasn't happened yet, but here in Clarksville, I have been able to see Kentucky a couple of times. It's like all the way on the other side of the wheat field. I might be able to throw a stone there from a member's back yard if I wanted to. Fortunately though, I was finally able to go there for myself. We drove to Morgantown for exchanges. I'm not entirely sure if it actually counts as a town, but oh well. 

The drive was so great. There were big old red barns and miles and miles of wheat fields. It looked like a painting. (I guess a lot of the Arizona landscape is also very painting worthy, but this was a different style than I'm used to so it was cool). I really love the way old wooden barns look - especially the old and dilapidated ones. The really fun part was stopping by a country store on the way there. They had farm fresh milk there. It came in really cool glass bottles. The first bottle I bought was actually not quite as fresh, so all the cream had floated to the top and turned into butter. The milk underneath was all buttermilk. At least we knew then that it was actually good whole milk. I traded it for a second bottle that was a lot fresher and quite delicious. I wouldn't normally spend $2 on a quart of milk, but after growing up hearing dairy farm stories from two grandmothers, I thought it would be worth it just this once. 

Sadly, I never thought to take any photos of Kentucky while I was there. Now we are back in Tennessee but oh well. It is pretty great here. I do really love Clarksville.

We had our very last interviews with president Andersen on Friday. They only have two more weeks before they leave for home. It is really weird thinking that the mission president is leaving. I am really going to miss him and his wife; they were very wonderful. 

Anyway here is a random story for you all. A few emails ago, I wrote something about not owning a dog. Since then I have received many letters and emails from various friends and loved ones. Apparently nobody was very happy about what I said. So I am sure you will all be glad to know I am slowly in the process of changing my mind. Maybe. There are still lots of dog stories that concern me. However I have had some good experiences lately that persuade me otherwise. 

First, there were thirteen little black Labrador puppies that were super adorable. They were all squirming around and licking my hand and just being about the cutest thing ever. It reminded me of Hannah's puppies that gave me lots of joy and comfort last year and the little one that I tried to kidnap and name Samantha. Unfortunately they stopped me and sold that puppy to someone who didn't understand that her name was supposed to be Samantha. So many fun flashbacks from so long ago. 

Then there was a dog named Sidney. (I never asked, so I had to spend a great deal of time trying to decide if her name was Sydney or Sidney. It was a great struggle, but I have finally figured it out). She is a two year old mini Australian shepherd that one of the members owns. She has probably the cutest dog smile I have ever seen in my life. And she had the softest fur in the universe. I literally could have hugged her forever. Then to top this all off, she never even barked once. She just walked around super happy and curious, being a complete dork. If it were not for the mission rules against pets, I would totally have kidnapped her. It reminded me of angel a lot. Angel is a really amazing dog too. Anyway so the point of the story is that I may actually buy a dog someday provided it is a girl and adorkable. 

I think I am out of random things to talk about for now so I will have to say goodbye until next week. Have an amazing summer everyone!

Love Elder Basham

P.S. This is on of my favorite Father's Day messages. I hope you all enjoy it. 

Earthly Father,Heavenly Father (3:59)