1. The last P-day of my mission
2. Not some dorkaziod missionaries
3. Even if the church is perfect, the people aren't
4. It's not that simple

• (character chart)

1. Young Women's
2. Youth Conference
3. Saturday's Warrior
4. Brigham Young University
• Gratuitous Love Scene
5. Polygamist
6. Temple Wedding
7. Orem High
8. Bordeaux Mission
9. Exmo Conference

"Small world," I said. I was surprised by the coincidence, but actually it seemed pretty reasonable that this odd girl -- who seemed to be staring off into space whenever she wasn't talking to someone -- might be seeing my cousin Joe, who was a bit of a strange guy himself.

"What do you guys mean 'kind of seeing'?" asked Elder Beaverton.

"They mean we're all setting off for different colleges in the fall," said Kim, "so we all made arrangements with our respective high school boyfriends that starting from this trip to France we would officially begin 'seeing other people.'"

I was starting to feel like I didn't really like this Kim very much.

"Anyway, it was kind of an on-again off-again thing between me and Jared," said Tanya, "so it's no big loss."

Just then the server came to take our order. I ordered a Perrier, Elder Beaverton ordered an Orangina, and the three girls all ordered beer.

As soon as the server was gone, Elder Beaverton said to them "You know, you girls shouldn't be drinking beer."

"Why not?" asked Andrea.

"Because it's not good for you," he replied. Both Kim and Tanya laughed heartily as if he'd told a great joke.

Andrea just tilted her head to the side and smiled indulgently as if humoring a child. "Where are you from?" she asked him.

"Alberta," he replied.

"Ooh, Canada! How exotic!" said Kim.

Andrea ignored her. "Do you like it here in France?" she asked him.

<- previous page

Andrea just tilted her head to the side and smiled indulgently as if humoring a child. "Where are you from?" she asked him.

"Alberta," he replied.

"Ooh, Canada! How exotic!" said Kim.

Andrea ignored her. "Do you like it here in France?" she asked him.

Elder Beaverton immediately launched into the usual speech about how blessed he was to have been called to serve among the French people because of their wonderful spirit, etc.

Before Elder Beaverton was done bearing his testimony of the truthfulness of his call to the Bordeaux Mission, the drinks arrived. That seemed to remind him that he was talking to girls that were naughty enough to order beer, so he wrapped up his discourse and went back to looking down his nose at them. Tanya paid for everything.

We all silently started sipping on our drinks.

"So you're a non-member but you grew up in Orem, Utah?" I asked Tanya.

"Yep, that's right," she said.

"Would you like to know more about our church?" asked Elder Beaverton.

All three girls laughed. Even I was kind of embarrassed that my companion would ask such a stupid question. Having grown up in Orem, Tanya for sure already knew plenty about the church.

Kim drank about half her beer in one gulp and started getting up. "Well, it was nice meeting you guys," she said.

"Kim!" said Tanya, seeming a little irritated.

"What?" asked Kim. "You were the one who suggested that we should go to the bookstore and see if we could meet some guys there. So let's go."

next page ->