Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 13:34:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Flippp <geatravel@yahoo.com>
Subject: True Companions Part IV -- P Day

This is the continuation of a fictionalized account of a time in my
mission in France and Belgium in the early 70's. Though many of the
details are accurate, it's really only a depiction of what I wish my time
was like!


Part IV - P Day

Monday was P Day, the day when all missionaries throughout the world were
to take care of their personal needs, write letters and participate in
uplifting activities. Just before I came on my
mission, it was actually known as D day - D for diversion! The reason to
change the name seems to be obvious. We certainly wouldn't want to divert
the attention of the missionaries from their duty. Every companion I had
as a junior used the day in a different way. I, like all good junior
companions, complied with his wishes.

Elder M had a rule that on P Day, you could sleep in one-half hour longer
than normal. Additionally, we didn't get up that extra half hour earlier
in order to set the heat and put the water on the stove. So, both of us
actually got a luxurious half hour extra sleep. Once we did get up, we
just put on our civvies because P Day was also shower day! It was laundry
day! It was fusball day with the Liege
Elders at the Liege chapel. It was Kentucky Fried Chicken day at the KFC
outlet in downtown Liege. In short, it was your normal Elder's R Us day
and we took full advantage.

On my first Monday, Elder M told me we could sleep in until 6:30am at
which time we'd set the heat and the water on the stove and then write
some letters home. He said the water on the stove was for our
ritual semolina breakfast as we wouldn't need to take a spit bath that
day as we would be going down to the public bath house for a much needed
shower! I was slightly disappointed. I had gotten used to letting my eye
rove over my companions near naked display at the sink. But the thought
of actually standing under a real shower with hot water was equally
inviting!

We slouched out of bed and put on a sweatshirt and some jeans while
waiting for the water to boil for breakfast. Both of us gathered up all
of our laundry and put it in our laundry sacks to take out for
cleaning. There was a laundry just down the street that took each of our
bundles and, for about $1.50 each, washed and dried the garments and, for
another $2.00, washed and ironed the white shirts. I always
felt a little weird taking my one-piece garments to a public laundry. I
imagined them taking them out and making fun of the funny underwear the
Americans wore. Then when we picked up the laundry, I imagined a twinkle
in their eye. Paranoia runs deep in my family.

While eating breakfast, we wrote some letters to home. Elder M only wrote
to his parents and then had them pass the information around to his large
family. He didn't have a girl friend. Ironically, I did! Kathy was
waiting for me at home. We had dated for several months before coming on
a mission, even getting to the kissing stage. She came to the airport
with her parents. The Nelson's were wonderful people compared to my own
family of smokers and alcoholics. Her parents promised they would help me
on my mission with $20 a month which they faithfully did until the end.
So, every week, I wrote spiritual letters to my "girlfriend" at home. I
actually did have some hope we could make it work. But when I got home,
she decided to go on a mission and that was that. Elder M would always
kid me about the beautiful girl at home waiting for me, and how he would
steal her away because he got home 6 months before I did.

After letter writing, we spent a little time in scripture study and
French Language study. Both of us were excellent French speakers and
spent time going over arcane rules in the Precis de la Grammaire
Francaise textbook I got from the mission home. Finally, it was time to
head out the door to dump the laundry and go to the bathhouse. I was
looking forward to both experiences. I had one pair of clean garments
that I took with me to the bathhouse and was wearing the garments from
the day before. Both of us took a towel and some soap and shampoo for the
bathhouse.

We dropped the laundry bundles off at the place down the street. Elder M
introduced me as his new companion. They were all curious about where I
was from and probably wondered if I had the same
strange underwear. The laundry would be finished later that afternoon so
we took off for the highlight of the week - the public bathhouse.

The Municipal Baths were located near the Meuse River surrounded by the
steel mills which sort of negated the cleansing you'd get in the bath. I
never saw the logic in that. It was a large building with a pool and
steam area as well as showers or bath tubs you could rent for just 50
cents a half hour. There were a lot of people and most of the showers
where taken at the time we arrived. Lots of families came for the
"piscine" (pool) and men mingled in the steam area - more like a Turkish
bath than our modern steam rooms. We paid our money and walked into the
shower and bath area. The only thing available to us was a combination
bathtub and shower area. It had a stall shower and a large tub. Someone
explained to us that sometimes families wanted to bathe together so the
room included some benches and a couple of sinks. Since there were no
single showers available, we decided this would be okay.

We opened the door and walked in. Everything was tiled in white with long
white curtains to separate dressing areas and the shower. We looked
around the place after taking off our coats and putting down
our gym bags with our towel, soap and shampoo. The tub was oversize. It
was about 6 feet long and about 4 feet deep. The shower area was ample as
well. Elder M. suggested we flip a coin to see who would
shower and who would bathe. I took out a 10 Franc piece and flipped it in
the air. He called heads but it came down as tails. I thought for a
second and chose the shower.

We went over to our dressing area but we didn't bother to draw the white
curtains close. Elder M started to fill the tub with hot water. I was
actually starting to regret not having chosen the tub.

"Boy, this is a monster tub," Elder M opined while adjusting the
temperature. "I'm gonna love a hot soak in this!" He then stood up and
walked over and sat down on a chair to remove his shoes and socks.

"Yeah, well don't get too comfortable in there. We only have a half an
hour!"

"No sweat," Elder M responded. "Plenty of time for both of us to have a
soak."

"Yeah, right, " I sarcastically shot back at him. "Don't drown in there!"

"Hey, I have a Boy Scout life saving merit badge to my credit! I'll
probably have to come into the shower and save you from drowning first!"
Elder M was taking off his jeans and then his sweatshirt. His tub was
about half full and steaming already.

"Well, if you can't save lives better than you can wrestle, don't bother
coming to save mine!" We joked back and forth while taking off our
clothing. He was about 10 feet away on the opposite side of the room
where the tub was. The shower was across the tiled area and built into
the wall. It was about 6 feet by 6 feet.

We finally got down to our dirty garments. I got my towel and cleaning
stuff ready so I could slip into the shower area quickly. Elder M laid
out his stuff on a chair next to the nearly full tub. I turned towards
him just as he was removing his garments and putting them on another
chair. He turned towards me, fully naked and seemingly unafraid to show
me everything, and gently climbed into the large tub.

"Man, this is going to feel so good after a week of Seraing grime," he
said as he sank up to his neck in hot water. He was still facing me when
I turned back around and removed my dirty garments. "Elder, could you
hand me my shampoo before you get in the shower?" he asked just as I had
gotten completely naked. I was pretty used to being fairly open with him
in our one room bath and bedroom. So I walked
over to the chair and got his shampoo and walked over to his and gave it
to him. Walking around the room naked with each other seemed pretty
natural. But it gave me a thrill. My cock was semi hard as I
faced him. He seemed to ignore it as he washed his face and said thanks.

I quickly got into the shower and drew the curtain close. It felt so good
to have steaming hot water flow over my muscles and head. I stood there
with my face to the shower for a few minutes just letting
my stress wash down the drain. Then I washed my face and body. By the
time I got to my crotch, I was hard and horny - pretty typical for me in
a shower which was one of my favorite places to masturbate. I allowed my
hands to stroke my shaft and clean up under my large ball sack. I
probably lingered too long but it felt good as I imagined Elder M
climbing into his tub just outside my curtain area. I let my dick enjoy
its freedom as I shampooed my hair and
conditioned it. After getting completely clean, I stood there with my
back to the shower and peeked out the curtain at Elder M. He was standing
in the tub washing his crotch area. He had a hard on just
like I did and he was stroking it a little while washing his balls and
ass. He didn't see me looking at him through the curtain. I could tell he
wanted to jack off as he stroked some while dreaming of some girl back
home. His hard on was at least 7 or 8 inches. I started to stroke some as
I watched his companion of mine. Eventually, he sat back into the water.

About five minutes later, he called out to me. "Elder!" he shouted out.
"Let's trade spots so I can rinse off well and you can soak for a few
minutes." He was already getting out of the tub and heading for the
shower where I was. I turned with my back to him so he couldn't see my
hard on as he opened the curtain. "That okay with you?" he asked just
over my shoulder.

I was dying because my dick was rock solid and I knew I couldn't turn
around. What to do? So I said, "Sure," and tried to go around him
unsuccessfully hiding my rigid member from his view.

"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you if you were right in
the middle of something!" His tone was very sincere and showed some
actual embarrassment at my predicament.

"Hey, it's okay. You've probably saved me from perdition anyway!" I
finally turned towards him revealing my cock. He was semi hard anyway and
I couldn't help but notice him touching it.

"You know, we're just two guys in a shower," Elder M said very carefully.
"It's no big deal if nature is taking it's course. I don't think we
should worry if we get erections while naked. My Dad always told me it
was one of the most natural things to happen. We used to go up to some
springs near our home and my brothers and I along with my Dad would go
skinny dipping. It was cool but most of the time we all got hard ons. So,
don't worry about it. It's cool!"

By that time I was sitting down in the tub about ready to die from
embarrassment. I didn't even think about the fact I was sitting in "Elder
M Soup". The water was kind of dirty and old suds were around. It was
oddly turning me back on again.

We exchanged places for the last 5 minutes with him in the shower and me
in the tub. He came out and started to dry himself off, his dick still
showing a little wood. I let the water out of the tub and
stepped back into the shower for a few minutes to wash off the tub silt.
My cock had finally subsided to a mild hard on.

We chatted while we dried off. I have to admit that it was really cool to
be so natural with a companion. My other two companions were real tight
asses. But Elder M just let things happen naturally and I was comfortable
around him. Being naked together really wasn't that big of a deal and he
was right - getting an erection was pretty predictable anytime a guy got
naked. He didn't seem to mind and I enjoyed the eye candy.

"You know," Elder M said while putting on his clean garments, "this is
the first time I've used this room. We should always request this room
because it gives you a soak AND a hot shower for the price of
one. What do you think?"

"Yeah, it's great," I answered. "I really enjoyed it!"

So, from then on, Elder M and I took the family bathing room for our P
Day showers!