Hi everyone, my name is Prudence and I just wanted to take a minute and tell you a little bit about myself.

I’m pretty much just an average girl, who grew up in a nice normal home.  My parents were missionaries and I traveled with them across the underdeveloped world.  They did all the things that missionaries do, handing out bibles, helping build small hospitals in third world countries, and handing out condoms to promote birth control.  It was hard work, but they always found time to relax.

My parents also had really neat hobbies that helped pass the time while we traveled.  My dad loved using his infrared camera to take photos of various military bases we passed, and when we visited government offices he would pretend it was Easter and have me hide little gifts, like wireless microphones and tape recorders.

Dad even had his own portable radio station and every night he used to do a live broadcast, but it was hard to understand since he only talked in letters and odd little phrases that were written inside a little book he had hidden in a bible.  His DJ name was “Ghost-Op 29er7” – which I thought was a funny name for a disc jockey.

My mom had an amazing memory and her hobby was drawing detailed floor plans of any government building or embassy we visited.  I think I inherited my artistic side from her.

They encouraged that creativity with little art projects, like the time I made a pretty statue of a giraffe.  We couldn’t get regular clay, but daddy let me use a special kind he called C4-Plastique.  He was so proud of that statue that he gave it to the prime minister of Grenada as a gift!  I was a little hurt that he never sent a thank you card, until I discovered that his office blew up a few days later, so he was probably to busy to write.

I learned so many things traveling with them like how to hide a microphone behind a picture frame, how to pick locks, develop microfilm and even photograph documents with a cute little camera that fit inside my doll.  Probably just the things every little girl learns, but we had so much fun!

During our travels I learned a lot about local legends and ghosts and it always fascinated me.  It was something I would later devote my life to.

I was a little sad that I didn’t get to go to dances, or parties like other young girls, and I never even got to have a boyfriend.  My parents realized that I was missing out on some important things, so when I was sixteen they decided I should attend a boarding school in Switzerland.  They were very helpful, and even made a list of all the kids I should make friends with, like the Russian Presidents daughter, the Saudi Ambassadors niece and a lot of other people. Like most parents they just never stop worrying about their little girl, and they asked me to write home every day telling me all the things my new friends were doing or saying.

I was sad to leave my parents side, but quickly discovered all the things I had been missing.  I mean my two years at a Swiss all girls boarding school were amazing, pillow fights, kissing contests, showering together to save water!  I’ll tell you all of the things I experienced in my next Blog.

NEXT TIME – COMING OF AGE AT A SWISS ALL GIRLS BOARDING SCHOOL!