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!