My Missionary

As I sat home alone tonight, I had quite a bit of quiet time to reflect on my past.

The week before I turned 19, my now husband, left on a two year mission to teach the people of Vera Cruz, Mexico about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember the first few months (well maybe more like 6 months) he was gone I cried like a baby each night. The advice my older brother Ryan gave me was, "Shannon, it's not like he is dead. Get a hold of yourself." My little brother Russ would tease me by spraying on Polo Blue (Ty's signature cologne) which would always bring back a surge of memories and tears.

As the months wore on I grew stronger. I was able to continue my weekly correspondence with Tyler via letter and enjoy a fairly superficial social life with the zoobies of BYU. During this time I managed to tear apart everything I thought I believed, reach a point of utter confusion, and slowly build a thicker and firmer foundation of beliefs.

While Tyler was gone I tried to fill the void with a variety of things. I was passionate about a new outlandish thing each week. I'll never live down the time I claimed to my family that I wanted to be a granola. According to them, that would mean I couldn't shop at Nordstrom anymore. Whatever it means, it didn't stick.

After two years, Tyler came home and I was freaked out. At this point I was tired of waiting. I wanted to know the moment he got off the plane if we still had that teenage, romantic, dying love for each other. Things were a little rough at first. He was weird, I was scared and it was quite awkward.

Luckily that only lasted a month or so. The first week of August I met him at his family reunion at Current Creek outside of Heber (I know I must sound brave, but his entire family is really kind and I really had nothing to fear). We went on a 4-wheeler ride together and after a two year absence, thoughts and feelings fell right back into place.

I have now been married to my missionary for almost two years. I won't lie. It hasn't been the fairy tale I imagined it would be while he was off serving the Lord. But without the pains of trial how could you truly feel the rewards of success?

While Tyler was on his mission, he often found ways to encourage me and make me smile. One week he sent me some lyrics. These lyrics continue to give me comfort and encouragement.

Tell me what you thought about when you were gone
And so alone
The worst is over
you can have the best of me
We got older
But we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

I am so grateful that I married my missionary.