First Snail-Mail Letter! Received 5/3/08

Hello All,

Well, I made it! I am now in England, where everything is a little backwards. The trip was very long, but cool and interesting at the same time. I flew alone from Denver to Atlanta. I sat in the very back corner seat of the plane, it was kinda odd. When I got to Atlanta, I landed in Concourse A and I had to get to Concourse E. I had two options: train or walk. I had plenty of time, so I walked. A mile later, I get to E. A half mile later, I get to my gate. It was long, but I really didn't mind the walk. As I got closer, I started seeing tags, and lo and behold I came across the clan! There were 25 of us. Elders and Sisters from everywhere! California, Utah, Texas, Arizona, Idaho, & Washington I think. It was a party to say the least. We were all going to either Manchester or Leeds, with one Elder going to Scotland and one Elder going to Ireland. We had a blast getting to know everyone. I fit right in as the crazy Colorado kid. I got to have Qdoba for the last time, and I think that may have gotten me a nickname. There was a lot of Leeds vs. Manchester jokes going around, but it was all in good fun. The Sisters that came with us are totally awesome! But Sisters usually are, right? So here we are now here in Preston and this place could not be any more beautiful. This whole complex is just breathtaking! The temple, the MTC, the grounds, everything! You all would love it here. I will send pictures as soon as I discover the best way to do so.

So first little bump in the road: I left my scriptures on the plane...yeah not so good. Second little bump is that I'm in a threesome, but my 3rd comp is stuck in New York. He flies in tomorrow and so hopefully the airline has my scriptures and they can get them to me tomorrow. Sister Sorensen, the President's wife, was going to take care of it all for me, so I hope that that all works out.

We have English Elders and German Elders, so we are getting to meet some really cool people. Oh, I forgot...my comp's name is Elder Combs. He is from Vegas and stands about 5'4". He is really cool and me and him are getting along great. Things are very different here. We are the only group here right now. There are 41 of us and that won't change. When we leave, a new group comes in. It's wild, but really cool. We get to go to the temple on Tuesdays, our P-Day is Wednesday, and other than that it's an MTC. GUESS WHAT??? It was raining when we got here, and it has been raining all day off and on. Big shocker, I know. The accents here are so amazingly awesome. All the teachers are young guys from around here and they talk so cool and proper. I set up an e-mail account today, so you will probably get that before you get this, but who knows. I don't know details about e-mail yet.

Love ya,

Elder Neal

*Editor's Note: He got his scriptures back and the 3rd Comp got there so everything is good now.