You+Me

Oh, where to begin...
We were both at school at The University of Texas. I was a freshman, he was a senior. We met at church in October, but nothing really happened until right before winter break. He flirted with me shamelessly even though I was sort of dating someone else. While we were texting over the break, I would make jokes to my best friend about him being the one. Well....it didn't take very long for me to give into his flirtations haha. So, once we both got back from Christmas break, it began. We hung out all day, watching funny youtube videos and talking for hours. We were walking out of his apartment to go to a movie when I kind of leaned into him. To be honest, it was completely on accident. I have a terrible sense of balance. I'll be just standing somewhere and almost fall over. But, he took it as a move and said, "Were you trying to kiss me?"... and then he kissed me. I tried really hard not to fall for him. Ben is a convert and older than most missionaries, but I knew he was putting his papers in because he wants to share the gospel with others. But, he made that rather impossible. And we soon found out that we wanted to spend the rest of eternity together. It was scary. It took me less than a week to fall in love with him, something I didn't previously think could happen. I used to make fun of couples who said "I love you" after a couple days. And I also used to bash girls who "waited" for missionaries. Quite a bit, actually. But, I really could not help it. I was totally and desperately in love with him and that is all that mattered. Ben told me once that everything he had now was thanks to the gospel, including me. I had to learn that Heavenly Father has a much bigger plan for me than I could have imagined. At that moment, I knew that whatever plans I had for my life were nothing compared to what He has in store for me and Ben.

So, we began our journey knowing that we only had a short time before he left. We were inseparable. We studied together, made dinner together, grocery shopped together, etc. Each day, I found something new about him that I loved. We weren't perfect. We had fights. But, we both knew what the end goal was. We both knew that we were going to end up together forever, so it gave us a different perspective on things. He understands me like nobody I've ever known does. He makes me better without telling me I'm wrong. He deserves the best, so thats what I try to be for him. Well, at the very end of Spring Break, his call came. Elder Reynolds is called to serve in the Chile, Concepcion South Mission. He was thrilled. I was thrilled! My dad served in Chile. Ben already knew Spanish! It was all working out so perfectly. It also kind of hit me that he was actually leaving, though. But, the Spirit made sure I knew that this was the right thing. We went to Idaho to visit his family, and seeing him with his little cousins just reaffirmed to me that he was it. And so, on June 5th, 2013, I said a temporary goodbye to my other half. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I have no doubt that it will be 100% worth it. Two years in the span of eternity really isnt that long.