Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 14:41:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Flippp <geatravel@yahoo.com>
Subject: True Companions - Part XIII - Paul

This is a continuation of a fictional story based upon my mission
experiences in France and Belgium in the early 1970s. Though based upon
real circumstances and places, it is a piece of fiction based on whatI
would have liked to have happened.

Gary

-------------------
Part XIII - Paul

We were up early the next morning so we could get to the conference early
enough to reconnoiter and see if we knew any of the elders there. I was
afraid that one or both of us would regret the sweetness of the night
before. It would be very easy to ignore it or try to forget or say we were
a little nuts. I was ready to make excuses as I stirred next to Elder M's
side.

"Oh man, I didn't get much sleep but I sure zonked out for the last few
hours. Whew. I'm really not quite here," I said to my still naked sleeping
companion. We were still in the same bed and still naked from our Gone With
The Wind time the night before. I had my customary morning woodie and so
did Elder M. I wanted to touch it and play like we did last night but I
didn't dare.

"Flip, Elder, you party animal! Wow, what a night! Man, we gotta do that
again sometime!" With that, he grabbed his dick and started to stroke while
grabbing my woodie at the same time. So much for being shy! "Here, Elder,
let me help you with that."

"Only if you let me take care of that banana of yours!" I reached over and
started stroking his dick while he took care of mine. We both leaned back
and enjoyed the spirit of the occasion. Within 2 or 3 minutes, we both were
shooting cum on each other.

"Wo, that was quick! Come on, let's get ready for the conference." Elder
M. then got up and went over to the shower and the two of us just got ready
without any further words or actions. For Elder M., it was a normal
thing. He was just playing with a buddy. For me, I had fallen head over
heals in love with this man. It occurred to me that we were operating in
two different universes. But I could gather in his light and hold on for as
long as we have together.

The conference went incredibly well. Both of us met several Elders we knew
from the LTM and the reunions were fun. We spent the morning in Conference,
then had lunch with the friends we knew before heading back to the train
station for the trip back to Liege and Seraing. It took about 4 hours to
get home and it was nearly 10pm by the time we opened up the door and put
our stuff down. We both were exhausted. After all, we didn't sleep much the
night before. I was curious to see how Elder M would approach being
together in our own apartment after the words and activities of the night
before.

"Elder Roark," he said quietly as we gathered for companion prayer in our
garments after eating and cleaning up. "What we did and said to each other
last night is something I'll always treasure. I don't feel any guilt or
shame or whatever. And I'd say the same things tonight that I said
then. But we've got to get back into missionary work. We have a job to do
here and I know we can continue to have success together. As much as I
would like to take up where we left off this morning, I know we'll feel
better about the work if we stay away from such close contact for a
while. What do you think?"

We were kneeling by his bed. He still was a cute as I've ever seen
him. Somehow, he was trying to fit last night into his universe. Still, I
couldn't blame him and I didn't want to push him in a direction he didn't
want to go. "Sure, Elder M., I feel exactly the same way. We have a lot of
great contacts and we need to really concentrate on them."

"Thanks, Elder," M. said with a cute smile. He grabbed my hand and held it
as he prayed for our success as well as thanking Heavenly Father for the
love we shared. Somehow we reached an equilibrium. We slipped into our
separate beds after our customary hug. Then we slept.

The next several days were spent trying to find that golden contact that we
could take into the waters of baptism. We both really put our heart and
soul into the work. We still had the same camaraderie and the same devotion
to each other. Things were actually pretty cool. I couldn't have asked for
a better missionary experience than during those weeks.

Then we found Paul. We were tracting in a poorer part of town along the
river. A lot of families come from all over Europe to work in the factories
of the more developed nations like Belgium. Paul was one of those. He was a
single guy with a family on the Island of Crete in the Eastern
Mediterranean. He worked here for 6 months of the year and sent everything
back to his parents nd his 7 brothers and sisters in Xania. He was the
oldest at 24 and needed to help the family with their financial needs.

He lived in a very small two room flat in a broken down building about a
mile from out little place. We knocked on his door. He opened it and spoke
to us in French.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello. We're from the Church of Jesus Christ..." That was all we got
out. He slammed the door in our face. We were pretty used to that so we
went on to the next few doors in that small building. As we were walking
out, we saw Paul out on the stoop smoking a cigarette. He was dressed in
shorts and a shirt, unshaven and kind of dirty. We walked past him and
prepared to get on our bicycles.

"You Americans?" Paul asked in his heavy Greek accent?

"Yeah, we're both from the western part of the United States," answered
Elder M. who got down off his bike and approached Paul. "This is Elder
Roark and I'm Elder Millett." I followed Elder M's lead and the two of us
tried to be friendly with Paul.

"I have relatives in America," Paul said. "They live in Milwaukee. Is that
near you?"

"Well, not exactly. We're further west, near the Rocky Mountains," I said.

Our conversation continued for the next 15 minutes. Paul became more
friendly and we didn't push religion on him but just talked about his home
in Greece and what he was doing here in Belgium.

Paul then asked, "So, why are you out here talking about religion and not
back in America in school?"

"Well, we've decided to give up two years of our lives at our own expense
in order to talk to people about a message that we feel is the most
important thing they could hear," Elder M said.  "I know all about Jesus
and the Saints," Paul said brushing us off.

"Do you know about Joseph Smith?" I asked.

"Who is this Joseph Smith?"

"He is a prophet who spoke with God just like you and I are speaking right
now, " Elder M. testified.

"And what did God and Smith have to say to each other?" Paul asked with a
bit of sarcasm.

"That's what our message is. Why don't you let us come back tomorrow and we
can sit in your apartment and talk about what God told Joseph Smith," I
asked.

Paul eyed us. "You're going to ask me for money, aren't you?"

"No, never," Elder M said. "We never ask for money. In fact, we pay money
to come here. No one supports us."

That got his attention. He looked at the two of us and then said, "I like
you two. Fine. You come back tomorrow at 7pm and we'll talk."

Elder M. wrote it down in his appointment book then said, "Great! You won't
regret a moment of it, I promise!"

"Yeah, well, we'll see."

With that, we left Paul there on the stoop of his building and rode off on
our bicycles not realizing how closely Paul was watching us from the
distance.

At 7:00pm the following day, we arrived at Paul's apartment and knocked on
the door. No one answered. We were used to that as well. We had to knock a
couple of times. Paul slowly opened the door.

"Hi, we came back for the talk about God. Remember talking to us
yesterday?" Elder M. asked.

"Uh, sure. Well, okay. Come in."

We stepped inside his small apartment. There was a small living
room/bedroom in the front and then a kitchen and bathroom in the rear. The
room was dark with only the rear windows shedding any light. He had a twin
size bed in the corner that looked like it hadn't been made up in several
months. There were clothes and papers thrown around the place. Some old
food was on the small table in the center. There was a television in
another corner of the room. One wall had a large wardrobe where he stored
what small amount of clothing he had. Overall,it was a good argument for
having a wife or a house maid!

Paul showed us to a couple of chairs at the table. He was a little
embarrassed at the mess and kept apologizing for the it as he went around
picking up his dirty underwear and socks. He was dressed in the same old
pair of shorts he had on last night but instead of a shirt, he was
shirtless. I stared at his bare chest that was covered in a thick matt of
black hair like so many southern European men. The hair also covered most
of his stomach and trailed down past his shorts into the pubic area. I was
hoping he wouldn't cover up this vision of greek manhood! Unfortunately, he
put on a shirt but he only buttoned it up part way.

"Um, would you like something to drink?" Paul asked. "I have beer or wine
or maybe some Orangina."

"No, that's all right. We're fine," Elder M said.

I set up our flannel board and got the figures ready for the first
discussion while Elder M. engaged Paul in some banter. I kept looking at
Paul's eyes and face. He still hadn't shaved and I found the hairy, unkept
look very attractive. Every once in a while, Paul would glance in my
direction and I'd hurry and look the other way.

Then we began the first discussion which talked about the need for
Prophets, the First Vision and the establishment of the Church. Paul was
turning out to be a golden contact. He answered all the questions just
right and eagerly accepted what we had to say. I could see the excitement
start to rise in his face as he heard the truths of the Gospel.

At the end of the first discussion, we prepared to leave. Paul wanted to
hear more. Elder M. thought it better to let him learn to pray about what
he already heard. We taught him the four steps of prayer as he had never
prayed his own words before. Then the three of us knelt down at our
chairs. Elder M. gave a brief prayer and then asked Paul to pray. Paul
didn't know what to say. Elder M. then told him, "Paul, what would you say
to your Father if you hadn't seen him in 25 years? Tonight, you learned
that you truly have a Father in Heaven that loves you as his son. He wants
to hear from you as a long lost son that is now found."

Paul looked Elder M. in the eye then at me then he bowed his head and said,
"Father..." He couldn't go any farther. He began to cry and a spirit
descended upon the room. There was love and acceptance and reconciliation
and no words could express it.

Elder M. moved next to Paul and put his arm around his shoulder and just
held him. After a bit of time, he said, "Paul, what you are feeling is the
spirit testifying to you that you are a child of God and He loves you and
wants you to return to Him. We're here to help you in your journey. We love
you and will do anything we can to bring you more truths of the Gospel."

Paul looked up and put both arms around Elder M. continuing to cry. It was
truly a sacred moment. Elder M. motioned to me that we need to go and let
Paul find his way through the spirit. We stood up and gathered our
things. Paul, still whimpering some from the power of the experience, gave
each of us a hug as we approached the door. "You have brought me something
wonderful tonight. I know that. I thank you. You are truly my brothers."

Elder M asked, "Can we come back tomorrow night at the same time and talk
some more?"

"Yes, Yes. Please come back tomorrow. Bring me more of this truth. I am
eager to learn what God has given you."

We all hugged again and then we left Paul there to revel in the spirit that
was present in the room