I was working through some old mission photos and realized I have not shared many of those photos. I thought I might start out with the places in which I lived and what photos I have of those locations. This will be a little bit of everything of what I could find.

Usually the first place a missionary stays is at the Missionary Training Center (“MTC”). I went to Provo for the MTC. I have written previously and shared other photos I have from the MTC. I thought this photo was interesting because the Provo Temple is going to be renovated and will look entirely different.

Once arriving in Manchester, England my first stay was in the posh Mission Home in Altrincham, England. Here is the only photo I have from that occasion. I didn’t go search my journals, but I believe we arrived in England on 22 December 1998.

My first area in which to serve was Liscard, England in the newly created Moreton Ward. At this point I am focusing more on physical locations. Here is a photo of my sleeping area/space on the third floor of our flat at 6 Belgrave Street, Liscard, Wallasey, England.

There were six of us in the flat on Belgrave Street. That wallpaper did not cause any nightmares that I am aware. My companion could not stand my wind-up alarm clock and so it was locked away. I am standing at the foot of his bed to take this photo. Some of my little Christmas presents from the Duncan family are on the shelf. My coat, backpack, it was frigid in that little room. I first read Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People cuddled in that duvet. My companion, Elder Harris snored loud, so I was often fully inside my duvet. I remember such irony that my little clock kept him awake, but yet his snoring must have kept up the whole flat.

This is the same flat I arrived at days before Christmas to find more than a dozen boxes of reject Cadbury chocolates given to us by the members. We literally poured ourselves bowls of chocolate and would pour milk over them for breakfast. I still cannot stand mint or orange chocolate to this day. There were six in the apartment, yet only four are shown above. Here is a photo of the six of us going Christmas caroling in our whites.

Elder Bert Llewelyn, Lewis, Jeremy Harris (my trainer), Nathan Mueller, me, and Knight. Some day I will have to see if I have Knight and Lewis’ first names and update. Last, here is a picture of the house across the street from my third floor flat window.

Then it was off to Dukinfield to serve in the Hyde Ward and Glossop Branch. Jumping across Liverpool and Manchester headed for the Moors.

There were four missionaries in this flat when I arrived. Elder John Peters, Christopher Giddings, and Elder Moreton. This apartment had problems. It was musky, moldy, and only had a bath tub. It had the water storage in the attic and nothing seemed to work right. When the buses drove by you could see the curtains move with the air. Sometimes even dust and such would fly. And the bathroom… Imagine four missionaries trying to bath in a tub presumably every day for years. No amount of cleaning would ever get it clean, and we did not try very hard. I don’t have any photos inside 37 Dukinfield Road. But I found this one that was on the canal walking to church that was not far behind our flat. Which, looking at Google Earth, is no longer a large factory behind our row of homes.

Elder John Peters moved on and both Elders Giddings and Moreton were shotgunned out. Elder Jarem Frye moved in as my companion and we were the only two in the apartment. He had some illnesses and missing limb, so it was a slower time. It was a great time for work though and in the mornings I was able to read the Book of Mormon more than once a month and the entire History of the Church in the downtime.

My next flat was in Patricroft, England serving in the Eccles Ward. This one was in a fairly rough neighborhood. We had a number of issues we had to avoid and had a few run ins with yobs. I replaced a British Sign Language missionary and was paired with a BSL missionary (who was native Spaniard, which made for some interesting mis-translations). I was expected to learn BSL in addition to the more interesting learning some Spanish and Swedish.

This photo is from St. Johns St looking at our apartment at 24 Lewis Street. Ours is the one with the old slatted windows, not the newer windows of those on both sides. This is the flat I learned about my Grandmother’s passing. This is the apartment that crazy kids fired fireworks in through the mail slot of our door on Guy Fawkes Day 1999. This is where we played an epic prank on greenie Elder Theobald. My first bedroom with a sink in the corner which I have desired ever since.

There were four of us in this flat. I was first serving with Elder Jose Hernandez from Ibiza, Spain. Then my companion was Elder Jason Wood from Roy, Utah. Poor Elder Hernandez is the missionary who got really upset one night on the way home about always talking about the gospel so he sat by himself half way up the bus. I told him we still were supposed to sit together, even if he was upset. He still moved. Somewhere around Irlam a brick came through the window and knocked him out cold. Elder Wood was in love with the Spice Girls, particularly Sister Halliwell.

As you can see from the above picture, Elder Hernandez accidentally threw something away and thought he would bring the garbage in to sort through it. It stunk and we were not happy with him. I do not recall if he found what he lost.

We had a Zone Meeting in Eccles for some reason. However, we liked to do Zone Meetings in Levenshulme for the Pakistani kebabs there, so I do not know why they ventured up to Eccles on this occasion. My journal probably tells, but I have not spent the time to research it.

Another photo of me enjoying some Jello shipped in by someone from the United States.

And a picture of one of my bruises after a good couple of punches in my arm with an idiot. But you can see the wallpaper at the top of the stairs.

Here is a photo of me about to get a haircut by Elder Wright in the front room of our flat, downstairs. That mirror and location are the same in which we blessed a deaf man to be healed. We used the mirror so he could read our lips while blessing him. He began to gain hearing and then I was transferred and I lost contact shortly afterward. Wish I knew the rest of the story.

Elders Thaddeus Wright and Viktor Johansson were together when I arrived. Elder Wright was replaced by Elder Brad Theobald.

The next area was Runcorn for the Runcorn Ward and Northwich Branch. There we lived at 29 Handforth Lane, Halton Lodge, Runcorn.

This one has a couple of photos in it. Here is where we prepped and weathered Y2K. Also, my second Christmas in the UK.

This poor area had to put up with me for 7.5 months! Elder Hales for 6 months!

The time serving in Runcorn and Northwich was a very prolific time of the mission. There was a time our District and Ward had baptisms every week with ongoing interviews and visits to companionships. We loved this Ward and we believed they loved us. It was a spell of excitement and growth in this area, both personally and for those we served. Very fond of my time here.

Last area of the mission was off to Scholes for the Wigan Ward. This flat was located at 2 Lorne Street, Scholes, Wigan. This flat was owned by the same owners in Runcorn, the Pass family. They took good care of us even though this flat had a number of issues. You can see the wall on the end had to be fortified and I understand the one that stood beside it had to come down, but I second guess that knowing our flat was #2. Who knows?

This was my last area. Initial memories was a bed bug problem for Elders Dean and Cutler just in their bedroom. My Romanian companion fighting off a cold with an entire head of garlic in one meal, Elder Gheorghe Simion. Training my last companion Elder Garrett Smith. Some pretty amazing personal revelations, of which both companions also were able to partake. Very blessed in this area.

Elders Dean and Cutler were shotgunned out the same day bringing in Elders Wright and Hulse.

Here is another shot of our flat looking up the street.

For the last area of the mission, these 3 Elders became brothers to me. Closer than the other areas in which I had served. Like Runcorn, we engaged well with the Ward. One of the best kebab houses in the whole mission was located here, Kebab King. I tried to stop in 2008, but it was closed both days we stopped. Wasn’t sure it had been open for a while.

Well, there are all 5 areas of the mission. All the photos I could find of our flats in which we stayed. I will have to work on sharing and telling the stories of the other photos I have.