Musings From Beyond The Mission Field--First Stop London!

To: abbottsville fourth ward
From: elder young, france paris mission
Subject: the world is our campus!

dear abbottsville fourth,

in my last email i wrote about how excited i am to be coming home and giving my missionary return talk. and i know how excited all of you are about hearing it. but it's going to have to wait, b/c comp's and my stake president got together and decided to release us online if we promised to stay out of the states for at least another 6 months! :-))))))

we were so excited we did a little happy dance all over the mission home. then we were kind of bummed b/c the mission president didn't like the idea. but rather than give up, we mustered all of our spirichal maturity dropped to our knees and begged "please please please, president, PULEEZE!" he finally agreed if we promised to leave france. we were like, DUH, why would we stay in france? after 2 years here on the Lord's errand we were already the ultimate frankofiles!!!! :)))))))))

so comp and i arrived in london yesterday and checked into this hostel run by this sweet old lady named Mrs. Hathaway who right off asked if we might like a spot of tea. we of course answered that no way would we ever partake of something so vile and sinful--but we said it nicely b/c we knew she meant well.

then we set out to have the typical london experience: we walked across Hide Park and hollered "pip pip and cheerio" to the everyone we met, and then headed over to buckingham palace where we leapt around and made silly faces at the queen's guards for an hour or so. after that we hit an authentic london pub. :-))))))))

DON'T WORRY A-4!!! we didn't drink any alcohol, i promise. :-O all we had was this super yummy cider--like 5 or 6 cups cuz all that leaping around had made us way thirsty. after that we started feeling the spirit really strong, in fact i was so swept up in it that all i can remember is standing on the bar and baring my testimony, then baring it again while dangling over the shoulder of this big huge dude named nigel. then again while comp and me were crawling up Mrs. Hathaway's front steps. it was way spirichal.

we woke up this morning on the floor of her lobby covered in blankets. Mrs. H was standing over us. she asked if we might like a spot of tea. we said no, only not as nicely this time b/c it was then obvious that she doesn't respect our standards. :-///////

i'm sorry A-4, i know how anxious you are to hear me share all my sacred mission experiences in church, but comp and i just cant pass up an opportunity to see all of europe. imagine how even better my talk will be when i get back!!! i'll be like the ward's official citizen of the world.   :-)))))))

love, elder young

p.s. instead of the usual marshmallow filled fudge bombs, comp and i could really use a little extra cash. last night's pub tab used up half of our pounds, and with the exchange rate here, it takes a lot to sustain our testimonies.

If you think you'd like to stop receiving these emails now, just wait until you see the hour-long youtube video of elder young and comp leaping around in front of the Queen's Guard.

Also, check out another great review of False Prophet here.