The Missouri Convention, Part V

File Under: Extended Series

Previously.... Eh, just look in the archives.

THURSDAY

- Uh... There will be no more notes from the sessions. It got really tricky, with bus trips and packing and stuff, so I just left my notebook out of the picture. Sorry, but, it was worlds easier this way. Rip Pratt spoke this morning, and gave a great lecture. He spoke on the need to be warriors in the faith, and to hold strong, rise above the temptations, and lead.

And, to illistrate the point, he played 2 video clips form The Lord of the Rings. One was of Lord Denethor (sp? don't kill me, LOTR geeks), in one of his power-hungry, I'm King! rages. The other was when Frodo offered the One Ring to Aragorn, and Aragorn turned it down, then sent Frodo away so he could fight 50 Uruk-Hai by himself. One was consumed by power, the other was valiant.

- As soon as the session was done, we left for Silver Dollar City, which is in/just outside of Branson. We were handed bottled water and a sack lunch as we left the campus, and boarded the busses. There was a sandwhich, apple, chips, and a dessert bar (no, not that type of bar. Or THAT type either. The type you hold in your hand!).

- The bus ride was nice. Missouri is a very beautiful state.

- We arrived at Silver Dollar City, a family-themed fun park. Meaning... A few roller coasters, LOTS of tourist-y shops, a few play areas, and, since we're in Branson, a few music shows as well. When one of the other busses was parking, they blew a tire. And when a tire on a coach bus explodes, it's loud!

- We arrived at about noon, and didn't have to leave till about 7:30. I spent the day with David Bartels (my roommate), Jason Berkanpas (his ankle was doing much better), and Eric Kuipers. And we ran into people from Bethany throughout the day, and talked. I didn't go on any roller coasters, 'cause that's kinda asking alot from me. Plus, lots went high, and I just don't like that. At all. In addition, I'm the photographer! I need to take the pictures... It's a great excuse. ^_^

- While exploring the grounds, we saw that there was a show about to start. We didn't really know what it was, but we decided we really didn't care, so we went in. It was a half-hour XTREME! skateboarding and bicycling show. It was pretty good. At one point, instead of "extreme" stunts, one of the host did a disco dance number. I thought it was kinda weird, but was probably the part of the show that made it "for everybody". I found out later that it was, move-for-move, from the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Go figure.

- Walking along, we also saw a bit of a dancing show, and a gospel band, the Cucumberland Band. It was a nice place, just not too much to do. And that's not just my opinion, it was everyone's. The last thing I did in the "city" was do a tour of a old mining cave. It was dark, and you climbed down at least 10 stories of stairs, in the dark, cold, with steep, small stairs, with big feet, with cold, damp handrails. I'm too paranoid, I determined. And I decided to stop that, just as soon as we were out of the cave.

- Since I, for whatever odd reason, didn't take notes WHILE IN THE PARK, I'll just leave the abbreviated story above speak for the entire 7, or whatever, hours. While driving back to Evangel University, we had to stop and check in on another bus, who was pulled over to the side of the road. It turns out their brakes caught on fire!! We shortly continued. More on that in just a bit.

- We got back to Evangel, and we had to quickly go and eat dinner, 'cause RIGHT AFTERWARDS would be the talent show. So we ate dinner, and then while walking out, we ran into Shelly Hilton, from Bethany, who's also on the RYS committee, and one of the people with a headset, so she's always in the loop. We asked about the bus, and she said that they had to send another bus on out to pick them up, and that the talent show would be delayed for quite a while. We we sat/stood there, talking for a long while, as we watched the hordes of young people walk on out, expecting a talent show to start immediately.

- Eventually, we headed on over, and waited. It took a long, long time, but the other bus finally came, and the talent show got started. Mostly everybody sung, with the exception of a guitar duo. Pretty much everybody was really good. It was quite suprising. Workshop teacher Jeremy Veldman stole the show by singing "The Hockey Song", and a song about "My Sweatshirt".

- Our SON-Set group met very briefly. Pretty much, we agreed that we had to pack, and be ready to leave in the morning. We dismissed ourselves shortly thereafter, while all the other groups kept on meeting for the full time. Hehe.

END THURSDAY. (forever! Or, at least, rename it PLEASE!)

Oddly enough, full-day summaries just aren't that interesting without detailed notes. Huh. Next up: Friday, and the journey home. Then, after Friday, the photographs!!!