Chapter 1
A/N Hey guys! I know it's been a while, since I last posted on but let's just say real life has been pretty crazy. I recently got into Book of Mormon though and thought I'd give writing my own fanfiction a try. So please go ahead and read and of course please (!) review.
When Kevin Price looked back at his last nineteen years of existence, he could generally proclaim to have led a more or less sinless life. Of course there had been that dreadful donut stealing incident when he was five, but since that was the first and last time he ever had to suffer the hell dream he considered himself a good mormon - dang it, a great mormon even.
Since he was very little all the people surrounding him had made sure he knew what a poster-boy mormon he was and Kevin had never forgotten. He studied the scripture while the other children were out at the playground or roaming the streets. Soon he could recite most of the more common verses and he didn't stop there. After another great Sunday service, his parents decided to reward his excessive knowledge by taking him and his brother to Orlando the following summer and ever since that day, Kevin Price knew exactly just what he was working for so hard.
When his schoolmates started dating, Kevin never looked at a girl twice- he had never understood what the deal with them was in the first place. Instead he volunteered at the local nursing home.
Secretely he was counting down the days until his 19th birthday. Having never asked Heavenly Father for anything before, he was sure that his prayers to be sent back to the most perfect place in the whole world would be answered.
Now on his car ride home from receiving his assignment, Kevin was sitting in the backseat with his parents in the front, still slightly stunned and maybe even pouting. His mother looked at him in the rearview window.
"Sweetie, I am sure Elder Cunningham will be a great companion."
"Have you met him?" Kevin was fairly sure his mother didn't believe herself, what she was saying.
"Well not before today, but I heard his name mentioned a few times at church before."
"Oh, and what exactly were people saying about him?" By the way his mum was suddenly avoiding his eyes, he just knew it couldn't have been anything too positive.
"Well, he's very…enthusiastic about his time abroad at least."
"Yeah, that makes one of us." Kevin muttered under his breath, so quietly he was sure his parents didn't hear him.
"Well, there's nothing you can do about it now, son." His dad suddenly spoke up. "Think of it as a test from Heavenly father. He knew you'd be the best person out there to bring the message out to those Africans, while you're also teaching your mission companion how to do his job properly."
Kevin sighed. He knew there was no arguing with the church elders' decision. If they thought Uganda was the best place for him than that was were he was going.
"Orlando – I'll miss u, Orlando!"
He arrived early at the airport the next day, only pulling a small suitcase behind him. He only brought two of sets of his missionary uniform, toiletries, some small trinkets and of course The Book. Kevin figured he wouldn't need much more than that.
"HELLO BEST FRIEND", Arnold Cunningham suddenly shouted into his ear.
Maybe a pair of earmuffs wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all.
"Oh hey", Kevin tried to make his voice sound as friendly as positive. When there was one thing he was good at, it was faking happy emotions. That was a large part of Mormon mission training after all. And since Cunningham wasn't the most insightful person to start with, he was sure his mission companion wouldn't know the difference between a real smile and the slightly painful grimace Kevin was now displaying.
"So are you all set for our mission?" Cunningham went on. "Man, it took me hours to pack. I mean, sure we don't need that many clothes but I just couldn't decide which books to bring. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, there were just too many choices. And don't even get me started on all the movies I wanted to bring! Mum made me repack my bag at least a dozen times."
Kevin blinked at him, trying to sort through all the information that had just been thrown at him and finally said:
"Elder Cunningham, I am pretty sure we won't have a TV at the missionary station. Didn't you read the handbook that was sent out like a month ago."
"I tried to read it", Cunningham said slightly embarrassed, "but I kept falling asleep. It's just like with the Book of Mormon, I can never keep my eyes open for more than five minutes."
Kevin started at him incrediously, not sure he was even capaple to come up with a non-offending reply to this tidbit of information. He tried to make his voice sound as neutral as possible when he asked:
"So you haven't even read the scriptures?"
"Nope. That's why I never thought Heavenly Father would answer my prayers and chose you as my mission companion."
"You wanted to be my mission companion", the neutral tone was slowly turning into slight hysterics, not that Cunningham noticed.
"Sure, you being my mission companion basically means that you will HAVE to be my best friend. And I never had one of those before. We're stuck together for the next two years buddy!"
Kevin turned around without another word to Cunnigham and went to hug his family good-bye. And even though he seemed to be calm and collected on the outside, inside he was seething. He tried not to think about the fact that Cunningham seemed to get everything he wanted whereas he, Kevin Price, seemed to be stuck in his own personal hell dream for the next two years. The only thing that kept him from running head first into the wall or just get onto the next flight to Orlando was the fact that things could only get better from now on, couldn't they?
It was a long plane ride, made even longer by the fact that Cunninham seemed dead-set on sharing his own life-history with Kevin. Information that Kevin never wanted to know in the first place was now swirling in his head and even more annoyingly, Cunningham's obnoxious and way too loud voice seemed to be accompanying it. So who cared what Cunningham's favorite movie in the Star Wars installment was or for the fact that he could speak fluent elvish?
After a couple of hours Kevin finally got sick of the incessant babbling and leaned his head against the wall, pretending to fall asleep. And thankfully his mission companion followed his example, only that in his case he wasn't pretending, but actually started snoring after just a few minutes. But Kevin wasn't going to complain. If he had the choice between having the running commentary to "So you think you know Arnold Cunningham?!" or his snoring, Kevin would chose the latter any day.
Finally after another hour of not trying to analyze what exactly Heavenly Father was punishing him for or if that was G-O-D's idea of a joke, Kevin fell into a fitful sleep.
