And the sun shines again in London :)

Despite the beautiful sunshine, it's not amazingly warm.  Why?  Because there is this absolutely unruly wind that finds ways to lodge dirt in your left eye.  It's always the left eye.  Every day.


I don't really have any pictures, or any anything, so I'll tell a story.


I have this darling friend, Elder Hiram Lee Jacob.  I first met him at a dance, and then saw him later at the Malt Shoppe in October of my freshman year.  The next day, we joined with friends, Teri Allen (note her last name), Jacob Swain, and Jacob Mortensen (note their first names) at a football game.  I loved them all.


As the year went by, I didn't see Hiram so often... and then BAM!  He showed up on the first day of my religion class for Winter Semester, just to test it out.  Totally unplanned and wonderfully, the Jacobs had also signed up for that same religion class.  We convinced Hiram to join, and life was golden from there on.  Most days, I would simply just steal his black pen and make him write in my purple one, or we'd swap gum.  Often we'd all go to eat at the Pendulum Court or the CougarEat, where I spent time eating laughing and talking.


Even one day, Hiram stole my identity.  I had my social security card for job purposes (man, I would totally include a picture on here to show you how cute it is... but then that'd be probably the worst thing I could ever do), and he snatched it.  Because I was so flustered, I also lost my phone to the Jacobs.  Hiram proceeded to answer my phone and pretend he was me for the rest of the day.


So I absolutely adore him.


I've only been to his house on one occasion, and it was to hear the opening of his LDS mission call.  I guessed "America" because there are about 50,000 missions there.  I lost.


Where did he get called? The England London Mission. Oh.
Where am I at the moment?  London, England.


Do I want to see him?  No.  Because missions are like PAUSES on friendships--and then you feel bad for distracting from their work.  Oh heavens.


So... on Friday in between seeing Peter Pan and then... seeing Peter Pan, Debbie and I stopped by the Hyde Park LDS Chapel to find Heather who was doing her family history.


We walked inside, walked down the first corridor, and I stopped walking, stopped breathing, and started to turn around.


Filling up the whole foyer were I would say about 30 19-21 year olds, ranging from maybe 5'3" to 6'5", and all wearing white suits and ties.  And jackets.


I looked at Debbie, who looked at me, and we collectively took a large breath, and set forward.
ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS! (it's a song.)


Somehow managing to not look at their faces (for fear of recognition) and still being able to notice their shoulders so as to not run into any stripling young men, Debbie and I braved our way to the next door.


I was shaking by then.  BAHAHAHAHA It was an adrenaline rush!  Do I get an adrenaline rush when I'm jay-walking (which is not illegal here as far as I know) and almost get hit by a ferrari? No.  But I do when I'm avoiding a best friend.


I focused on the door ahead of us, and we safely arrived to the stairwell.  At the bottom... WERE MORE ELDERS! What in the world?  Same method, shoulders, no eyes.  Success.


Once in the haven I like to call the Family History Center, I sat down, drank some water, and let my heart rate settle again.  Then after that the Hyde Park Chapel was quite pleasant.  ... Except for the anxiety of going back upstairs.


later---------------------------------------------------
And the cliffhanger was, like most cliffhangers, not well-received.  So I'll tell the story.


We went upstairs, but nothing happened! There were maybe 10 elders in the foyer, but I didn't see him.  We then proceeded on our way to purchase our not-actually-Peter Pan tickets.


Then today, as we were leaving church, an Elder stopped me and let me know that he gave Elder Jacob my note.  And what did he tell me?  Oh, Hiram was in the building on Saturday.  He wasn't even in there when I went in!  So much for adrenaline rushes being when you need them.  


That's why I made the blog a cliffhanger.  The story wasn't super fulfilling.  But enjoy, Mom and Dad!