Our First Date, January 25, 2014
Where to begin. My best friend left for his two-year LDS mission on Tuesday. He will be serving in the South Africa Durban mission, and is currently in the Johannesburg MTC for a few weeks. Mikel and I have been dating for almost a year and a half and it seriously still doesn't feel real that he's gone. Every night I go to bed wishing he would be home and then when I wake up in the morning he still isn't. It's only been 5 days, but when the longest you've ever been apart has been a week and a half it's pretty strange not to have him around every day. He's the person that I would call every night (if we weren't already with each other) to talk about my day and what's on my mind. If I ever needed anything he was a text and 10 minutes away with my favorite candy and a warm, comforting hug. It's SO hard not to have him here, but I know he's doing the right thing and there are people in South Africa that need him to bring them the truth. Ever since he got his call in March I've been really putting my trust in my Heavenly Father because He is going to help me get through this. Both Mikel and I need this time to learn and grow separately and become the people that we need to be. I hope that when he gets back we will find that everything will click just like it did before, even after two years of changing.
I guess I should begin at last Sunday, June 21st. Mikel had his farewell talk in church that day and he did an amazing job. His sister and my sister sang "I'll go where you want me to go" and they did awesome as well. I cried through the entire meeting pretty much haha. Everyone went to his house after the meeting, for food and to say goodbye one last time. I hung out there for a while, understanding that I wasn't going to get much attention from him because there were others he needed to see. It was hard to keep my emotions in check though. I'm not the kind of person that wears my heart on my sleeve but that day I kind of did. I went to my own family dinner for a few hours, because it was father's day, and it ended up being good because I could decompress and I didn't feel as emotional when I came back. By the time I got to his house again, there weren't many people there anymore, just close relatives. He and I went upstairs to his room to spend some time together just to talk. We listened to our song and a missionary song (Two Years by Carli Barlow - look it up, it's amazing) and just cried together. It was good for him to show some emotion too, I think. He cried through his whole talk but was kind of in a daze through the rest of the day. I loved just being able to spend some alone time with him for one of the last times. I needed to just be held and reassured and reminded that we're going to do this together.
The next day was Monday, and it was the last day we could spend together. I went on a run in the morning to try and get my mind off things but ended up sitting on the curb crying halfway through it. I just couldn't believe that he was really leaving and it was overwhelming how much I was going to miss him. I got a few other things done that morning while he was at the temple and then I went over to his house to see him one last time. For most of the day, he was packing, but I didn't mind. I was just happy to be spending time with him. I gave him a letter and the CTR ring that I bought him to wear and just helped him get his things ready. I cried a few times and he just held me, comforted me and told me he loved me. His parents were awesome and let me come to his last meal with them. I know it's hard on them too for him to leave, so I was really grateful that they included me. We went back to his house and we had about 45 minutes until he was going to be set apart. We just kind of stood there hugging, looking at each other for a while, realizing that this is the last time we'll get to do this for 730 days. About 5 minutes before we were about to leave to go to the church it hit him - "I'm going to be a missionary in less than an hour." He started sobbing and I just held him. He kissed me softly one last time and we went to head out the door, but he stopped because he was crying again. He ran into his mom's room and fell onto her and sobbed. That got me crying again and his dad put his arm around me and I hugged his little sister while she cried. We all hopped into the car and I sat next to him one more time. I held his hand one more time, put my head on his shoulder one last time. As we pulled up to the church I kissed him on the cheek and told him I loved him. His setting apart was such a cool thing to be a part of, and again I'm grateful for his family for including me in that. The blessings that he was promised with were comforting to me as well. It was hard because after he was set apart I wanted to hug him so bad, but all we could do was shake hands haha. But it was amazing to see the change in him even then - the way he carried himself and the feeling you got when you were around him. We went back to his house and listened to his uncle's stories for a while to get everyone's minds off of it. He finally got out of that zoned look and got into the stories. I would smile at him across the room from time to time and he would smile back and mouth I love you. Finally, it was time for me to leave so he could finish packing and enjoy the last night with his family. We all lingered at the door for a while, I didn't want to go. As I was opening the door he said, "Oh, I'm not going to see you tomorrow." and I shook my head. I blew him a kiss as he walked toward me and took my hand since that's all he could do. He whispered I love you in my ear and I said it back and left. I cried the whole way home.
He left for the Johannesburg MTC the next morning, Tuesday June 23rd. It was a long flight so he didn't get there until Wednesday morning for us, afternoon for him (8-hour time difference). He emailed his mom to let her know he got there safely and she forwarded it to me. He sent me a personal email the next day, his P-day, and I felt so much better after that. We can do this, and we're going to do this. I'm so excited for him and the adventures he is about to have. I will be posting when I hear from him or whenever the mood strikes me. I hope that I will be able to be the kind of support that he needs while he is serving the Lord. I am so proud of him! 6 days down.
First picture from Africa!
His room at the MTC
A picture sent from the mission presidents wife
