I was a 22 year old missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Omaha Nebraska. It was October of 2012 and I just was moved to my last area before I went home.
I walked into church and saw a super handsome boy sitting in the meeting. But being a missionary, that's as far as the thought went. Come to find out a little later he was only 19 and hadn't been on his mission yet. Especially after learning that, it never even crossed my mind that anything would happen, nor did I notice anything out of the ordinary.
It wasn't until a couple months later when he moved to Idaho for a few months that he wrote me. They were the cutest letters saying how awesome I was, how he had a big crush on me, and if I would go on a date with him before he left on his mission. (In those couple months before he went to Idaho he received his mission call to Lima Peru, and was leaving two weeks after I returned home.)
He was so cute about it all! Every time I would read them I would just smile. But I was a missionary, and I knew he still had a two year mission to go on. I just kind of dismissed them thinking that it would all blow over.
In the two weeks between when I got home and when he left we had text a little, and even Skyped one night for like 5 hours. It was surprising how comfortable we were with each other right from the start. We were instant friends. Everything just came comfortably. But he was still going to be gone for two years. I told him that I would be his first date when he got home if I wasn't dating someone. He left on his mission in the next couple days, and I really thought nothing would come of it. It was like one of those bad timing things.
But we wrote his whole mission. I have never seen so much persistence from someone. He wrote me very consistently, every week. It was just as friends though,...really nothing more than a "how was your week" kind of thing. But it was constant. Even as I was dating other guys, I didn't stop writing him. And after every one of the other boys wouldn't work out, I had the little thought of "oh, maybe it's supposed to be Jaren." But I usually dismissed that thought. I had every intention of getting married pronto, and I just knew Heavenly Father would grant me that blessing. {I'm so glad for unanswered prayers, and for His timing.}
Fast forward to January 2015. I wasn't really dating anyone at this point, and I had a distinct prompting a few weeks before the new year that He was taking away all the "maybe" boys in my life so I would know when I found the right one. It was around that time that Jaren and I's emails started to change. He started asking me deeper questions and getting to know me more and vice versa. I started to look forward to every Monday, and would beg him through multiple emails to come on haha. I would write him everything that happened during my week, a little bit at a time, and I couldn't wait until he got on. He was scheduled to come home the end of March, and his mom had bought me a plane ticket to Nebraska over conference weekend.
Then my mom died two days before he came home. While it's not necessarily a part of the story, I feel like it is because it had a lot to do with my emotions that made other decisions a little harder to make. It really sent everything into a whirlwind. We talked on the phone almost every night and we were constantly texting. He was a good support to me and it was fun getting to know him on a different level.
A couple weeks later, I went to Nebraska for general conference, and it was so. much. fun. He ended up kissing me, (even though I didn't want it to happen because I just wanted to wait, blah blah. Haha) How could I not? He is a pretty attractive guy. ;)
Two weeks later I went to his family's house in Idaho while he was there for a weekend. This weekend is really what started everything. By the end of the weekend I had had a strong feeling that his family was my family, he told me he loved me, and by the drive home we were talking about getting married. I had the strongest feeling that he was going to be my husband. Heavenly Father gave me insights into my life and brought back different memories to help me see that He had led me to right here, right now, and that this was such a good thing. I was so happy! It felt so natural, and so right.
Not to say the rest of the time until our marriage was blissful, perfect, and like the fairy tales, but it was what we needed. But that is for another post.
Needless to say, Jaren is the most persistent man I have ever met. He fell in love with me (so he says) from the first time he saw me, and he never stopped fighting for me. He would tell me, "until you tell me, 'Jaren, I don't want you in my life anymore, I will keep fighting for you.'"
I'm the luckiest girl in world. It really was always him. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father was patient with me until I could truly see that.
