Just FYI-Age doesn't matter-part 1!

I have a friend named Debbie. "Flashing back...Part 4" will be all about my adventure with her to California, however, before I write part 4, it is probably important for you to know the following story as background, since everyone always asks how Debbie and I know each other. (and even if you don't think it's important- I want to tell it anyway...

Debbie is from England, the Manchester area to be exact. Her brother, Jared (AKA "Jazz") and I served our missions together in Madrid, Spain.

*BACKGROUND STORY*
I was a brand new missionary (GREENIE as I like to call 'em) in the small little village of Alcazar de San Juan. It was October of 2001. My trainer was Hermana Meryhew. Elder Moss and Elder Lemmon were the Elders there with us at the time. It was good times to say the least! Yes, it was just the four of us in this incredibly small pueblo out in the middle of no where in La Mancha. The Elders were also the zone leaders (FANTASTIC zone leaders!), So I was spoiled to be "born" into an amazing district of exemplar missionaries. As a greenie, I was ridiculously crazy, naive and excited and the three of them (all being relatively "old" missionaries) got a big kick out of my energy, innocence and insanity. To me- they always were my original mission "family" and my heart broke when one by one, each of them finished their missions and went home within my first 6 months. We did well to stay in touch with each other and they were great "parents" to support me throughout my time in Spain.

Alyssa (Meryhew) obviously holds the title of my mission "Mom," (since she was my trainer), but I always had a hard time deciding which Elder to call my "Dad" since, as zone leaders, neither was the official district leader of the 4 of us (or at least not that I knew of). Well, Alyssa made my decision-making very easy for me when about half way through my mission I received a tape from her, telling me that she and Elder Lemmon (Nate) had started dating out in Provo. AAAhhhh! I screamed for probably an hour straight, but in reality it wasn't a HUGE shock, since we all had been such good friends all along. The main surprise was mostly because no one saw it coming. They were truly "just friends" on the mission. We all were! I was there and I can swear there was no funny business going on! In fact, one day we were walking down the street, and in talking about Elder Lemmon's energy, Alyssa had said to me, "He'll be a great Dad, but wow do I feel sorry for his wife!" So long story short-Nate Lemmon & Alyssa Meryhew were married in December 2003. (This is a recent picture of them...NOT an engagement photo from back then)


March 2006- Nate & Alyssa were planning their return trip to Spain. They decided to stop in England on the way and visit Elder Moss. Knowing I have flight benefits through family, Alyssa called me and asked if I wanted to join them in England later that week. HOT DOG! I was on a plane 4 days later, to meet them all in London. My plane landed first, Elder Moss (Jared/Jazz) picked me up and we drove around the city for an hour or so until Nate & Alyssa's plane landed. The "family" was back together again, over 5 years later!

We were in England for 4 days:
Day 1- We arrived, took an open bus tour around London, ate real fish & chips and went to a football (soccer) match in Charlton.

Day 2-We went to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Alyssa & Nate wandered the city while Jazz took me to a matinee of the musical "Fame."

That evening we all headed off for a Young Single Adults conference. (Nate & Alyssa loved laughing at Jazz and me at the YSA conference, for the fact that we still had to play the games that come with being single).
Day 3-We watched Jazz's YSA football match in the morning, headed off to tour Warwick Castle, stopped in the rain at Stratford-Upon-Avon (see picture of Shakespeare's birthplace)

and arrived at the Moss Family's house in Congleton, Cheshire, England that evening.

THAT is when I met 16 yr old Debbie.

Jazz had always told me he could see his little sister and I becoming great friends, mostly because of our mutual love of musical theatre. I never expected, however, to actually become great friends with her. How would that ever happen? First of all-she lived in England and secondly, she's 10 years younger than me.

Day 4- We attended church, had some time with the family, Jazz's BFF came over and they threw out the idea for all of us to go on a "Sunday stroll." We agreed and this is where they took us:

Our "stroll" ended up taking us to the top of this rock mound and it was a gorgeous HIKE! The rocks, however, were completely slimy and I had successfully slipped, fallen and pretty much bathed myself in moss and mud by the time we were finished. Everyone was thoroughly entertained. During this "Sunday stroll" is when Deb and I had lots of time to chat, laugh, get super dirty, and become great friends-just as Jazz always suspected.