Okay, this letter is my last letter from mission, but it also requires a little bit of background. Because of the different circumstances of Sisters serving in a township, we were required to spend an abnormal amount of time with the Elders. Because of this, we got to know the Elders in our Zone a lot better than we had any other Elders during mission. There was one particular Elder who I got along really well with .. well, not at first actually ... if you'll remember back to the letter that I wrote about the Elder that I got in a fight with and who swore at me and said that I was different than any of the other sisters etc. Well, after that got all cleared up, I actually discovered that he was actually a really cool guy. I started feeling like I had a little crush on him. In any other area this would have been fine, because there really was no need to see the Elders very often, so I could have just avoided him. But because of the circumstances we had a lot of contact with each other. After struggling with this for a couple of weeks, I finally asked him for an interview (he was my Zone leader). I shared with him that I was experiencing a "little mission crush" and that I really needed some distance away from him, so I asked that he would do everything he could to make sure that he and his companion avoided us. He let me know that he didn't feel the same way about me, but that he was more than happy to avoid us. I was glad that he didn't share the same crush, made things easier for me. So, he went about ignoring me. This lasted for a few days, which were awkward and uncomfortable. But then he wrote me a note and told me that he had lied to me in our interview and that he was feeling the same way etc. We both wrote letters to Pres. to tell him the circumstances and suggest that one of us be transferred immediately and then set out to try to deal with emotions that we weren't supposed to be having while on mission until we got the call for one of us to be transferred. I am leaving out some of the details, just for the sake of the Elder, I am not sure how he would feel about me making this whole thing public. :) This is the letter that I wrote to my mom a couple weeks after this all happened. I made sure that it was addressed ONLY to my mom. I didn't want my whole family to know about this drama)
Mom-
Howzit? Well, this week was about as exciting as last week. I'll tell you, if the weeks keep going like this, I won't have the time or energy to get trunky. Everyone keeps asking me if I am trunky. I don't think I am and my companion says that I'm not, so I guess I'm not. I just don't have that much time to think about home. there is still so much work that needs to be done here and I can't just sit by and watch it not get done!
We had a 3 branch conference yesterday. It was really nice. Each of the 3 branches have new meeting houses. We met in the New Castle Chapel. It was really nice. In all the conference lasted for 5 hours. We had 10 baptisms after the conference. That's what took the longest. But it was really nice. We were all dead tired afterwards! I haven't been sleeping well lately, I think I lay in bed awake more than asleep, or at least that's how I feel. So, in the evenings I am so tired!
Transfers were phoned out on Saturday. I'm staying here. I guess I figured that, but I was still a little concerned. Pres was so mean to me on Saturday, we had interviews and I kind of got into trouble. Not really, it's just that he was stern with me for the first time ever. I was kind of excited because everyone else I've ever talked to tells stories of his yelling at them or being upset. And he has never even been stern with me before, so it was kind of nice to feel like a normal missionary. See, what happened was, well, I have this Zone Leader from ********** and well, put it this way, I'll probably be taking a holiday to ********* in January. Pres was a little upset because we didn't tell him earlier that we had feelings for each other. But, we actually tried. When we realized it (a few weeks ago) we both wrote letters to pres to explain the situation and hope that he would transfer one of us. Well, he didn't ever read our letters. He took off to the islands for a while and we never heard anything, so Elder ****** (the Elder) phone the 1st counselor in the mission presidency, Pres Mckay and explained the whole situation. We expected Pres. Mckay to phone Pres. Stevenson and tell him the situation, but apparently he didn't. So, Pres didn't find out until in my interview which must have seemed funny to him because I thought he knew, so I sat down in the interview and said, "Well, you're probably wondering what's up with Elder **** and I" He just acted like he knew what I was talking about. Anyhow, it's all fine, but in the interview Pres says, "Well, we'll have to transfer you." I sat in shock and he says, "did you hear me?" I said, "yes, you're going to transfer me" Then he says, "no, I'm just kidding!" I burst out into tears! He felt so bad! He tried to totally change the subject. But Elder ****** was up for a transfer anyway and he's leaving tomorrow. I'm glad because the whole thing has been a distraction for the both of us. It will be good to be totally focused again. Plus, Elder ***** has a real dork of a companion (he's the one that asked my companion to make out with him- he's a real jerk!) Now, he'll have an awesome companion.
Well, I wasn't planning on telling you all this. I was going to wait until I come home because who knows, it totally could just be a crush that blows over. Oh, by the way, Pres was, in the end (after he found out that nothing inappropriate happened) was completely excited about the whole thing, he highly recommended us to each other as marriage partners. Who knows what will happen. (To ease any concerns, if we did get married he would move to us)
Mom, I decided that I don't want the family to know all of this just yet, I'd rather wait until I know exactly what' going on before I say anything. So, please don't let anyone else read this and please don't tell anyone else. You can tell Kim because I know it's difficult to not tell anyone a "secret" but please keep it quiet until I come home. Thanks! I love you!
Love,
Michelle
(I left the mission just a few weeks later. On my journey home we (the 2 Elders I was traveling with and I) got to stop in Johannesburg, South Africa and attend the temple there. By the time I left the temple, I knew that even though this Elder was a great guy, it was just a mission crush and that nothing long term would come from it)
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