{THE Post the World's Been Waiting For}

Everyone,
hold on to their seats.


Yes,
it is FINALLY time
for the post the world,
universe, and all of time
has anxiously been
waiting for.

The fact that I'm even blogging
about this is STILL
blowing my mind.

Is he REALLY still here?
Am I gonna wake up from this dream
and find myself
without my best friend,
once again?

Now THAT is the definition of
NIGHTMARE.

Well, here's to hoping
I never wake up from this dream. ;)
***
Ladies and Gents,
littlebestypublishing presents:

{The Return of the Missionary*}

It all started about a month previous.
{Well, 4 years ago during a play,
but for the sake of the story,
let's just start here.}
I sat in my kitchen and could not,
for the life of me,
get down my yummies before me.

How long was this tummy trouble
going to last?
What was wrong?

My thoughts drifted to the usual
thoughts of my BFF soon to arrive,
and then I realized....
duh.
You can't even eat you're freaking
out so much about this, girl!

It was true.
It's a miracle I survived
with such little substance.

{For the sake of the well-being
of my mother and family,
I am eating quite well, once again ;)}.

The day was coming FAST.
All the emotions of 5 million goldfish
were running through my every
fleeting mind.

What's gonna happen!
What if this...
What if that....
Ah, my potato is burning...wait.

Scratch the last one. ;)

WHAT!

Well, it never got better,
besides the constant reminder
that I trusted in Heavenly Father's
will above anything else.

It would all work out how it was supposed to.

It was just the "supposed to" that scared me.

Shall we cut to the chase?

{The Day Before::}
I went to class
{not mentally},
and finished up my last minute
packing and arrangements.

I had to wait until 5:00 PM to jump
into the car to zoom out of Cedar,
and the anxiety was going to
MASSACRE
my whole body.

Yet, I felt chill.
Cool.
Relaxed.
I could do this.
Yeah.

Well, 5 finally came-
and I drove off.

Let's be real.
I may have cried
just a wee bit
for the mere fact
I was ACTUALLY making
that drive I thought would
never arrive.

I stopped by the Scipio Petting Zoo
along the way to calm my pumping heart.

{Side note: Not all baby rabbits are friendly}

When I reached home,
it felt like a dream.

I went over to his house
to practice a song with
his sister...and it just felt
so....SURREAL.
It wasn't possible that
I'd be sitting next to him in less
than 24 hours!

Well, I'd soon find that it was. :)

That morning,
I got up and felt quite collected.
It wasn't real yet.
In the slightest.
I went out on my own and bought
some new jeans.
{my other ones had ripped completely
open right before my drive home-ha!}
This was actually the best thing
I could have done that morning.
I had time to relax...
chill...
and pull myself together.

I came home,
and Ginger {his mommy}
called to say they were almost
to the airport.

Not real yet.
Or...maybe a little.

My family and I went
to his house to set up balloons
in the front yard and
make sure everything was ready to go.

Might I mention,
he had the COOLEST sign ever.
{Melissa, we ROCK!}
I loved that family put hand prints
{and Ginger's foot print}
on the sign.
Such a great idea!

Looks good, eh? ;)

Now...the waiting began.

Let's just forget the heartache,
anxiety, and impatience that occurred
in the past 2 years.

The next hour was torture.

I sat in his home
with my family-
then I went outside to wait
{which is where he would come
to see me}.

I felt something like this:

{Thanks to Leafy for capturing
all these moments :)}

Oh goodness.

So,
he actually came to the house
for a split second to use the restroom
before he went to get set apart-
so imagine being me.

I can hear his laugh
from outside,
but can't see him.

Torture,
once again.

I wait again.
And my sister gets
a shot of me doing this:

Ya, I was a wee bit nervous.
The past 2 years built up in my head.
I thought of everything I could in those
45 minutes that I waited after he'd
been to the house.

I thought of everything the typical MG
would think of.
"What if..."

It was all about to come to pass-
the actual "what will" happen,
and, let's be honest,
I almost ran away.

But didn't. ;)

Suddenly,
the sister signaled to me
from the window where she was
oh so carefully placed to snap a shot
of the first time we saw each other
while still keeping the moment "ours",
that he had walked through the door.

Heart stopping.

I can hear him happily greeting
all my family inside the house
and he's laughing.

Oh sheesh.

Then,
I hear the doorknob
to the backdoor turn...

it creaks open...

and the whole world made sense.

There he was.
He couldn't be real.
No way.
Nu-uh.

He smiled THE greatest grin
I've ever beheld as he stood
on the top of those cement steps.

Light headed.
I laughed.

I couldn't even look at him-
it couldn't be!

Suddenly,
He bolted down the steps
so fast that I didn't even realize
till 10 seconds later that I was
in his arms.

Whoosh!

Then 5 guzillion and 1
things occurred.
Thoughts and confirmations
fleeting in and out of my mind
like a film-reel stuck in
el super fasto mode.

But seriously?
It was like a gushing waterfall
of events, happenings, the last 4 years,
letters, heartache, tears, laughter, memories,
"thank heavens you're here" 's, goodness,
and clarity cascaded all over me.

We just kept holding on.

I wondered...
If I let go,
will he disappear
once again?

Well,
I snapped into reality for a split second
and realized this young man
had, in all seriousness,
just gotten fresh off the press
of being released,
so I didn't want to push my limit.
I pulled away,
...but he pulled me back.

Here's the shot the world
always wants. :)


While in the midst of the hug,
I asked if he was real life.

He said, "I sure hope so!"

:) Yeah.

And that was that.

We went in the house,
and he looked like he had just
been hit by a lightning bolt.

Poor thing.
Talk about utter shock.

Imagine that adjustment,
my friends.

On my side of it,
as I sat on the couch with
my siblings and his nephew,
who was snapping shots with the camera for fun,
I had to keep looking over at the RM
over and over again,
just to make sure he was really there.

This is what I looked like soon after
we saw each other.
{Taken by his nephew, Jayden. ;)}

Can you see the shock I had
on my face?

Haha, oh boy.
Fresh off the mish.

I couldn't believe the "growin' up"
that had happened while he was gone.

Of course he's still the stick boy
we all remember ;),
but he had grown up-and I like it!

Well, friends,
the rest of that day
was somewhat of a blur,
due to utter shock and
"this can't be real"ness
occurring.

Of course I remember
every minute,
{who wouldn't?}
but if you wanna know more detail,
you'll have to contact me
and I'll happily fill you in. ;)

One thing I do want to mention,
however;
We took a little walk later that night,
just me and him,
and it felt exactly the same.

He was still him.
Yeah, he's grown in ways
that were marvelous and truly
phenomenal,
but he was still same ole'
Chad.

You can imagine the relief
I felt from that. ;)

Over the next few days,
we spent time together
with both our families and friends.

The morning after he returned,
we went to do baptisms
{he hadn't been to the temple in 2 years
due to lack of a temple in his mission},
which was the greatest thing EVER.

I highly recommend that option
for an activity. ;)

Later that night,
we semi celebrated Halloween
because I wouldn't be home for
the holiday {once again},
and Chad and his family came over.

:)

Let's be honest, folks.
I never imagined it would be
this good.

Everything just clicked,
and happiness was everywhere.

Do people actually deserve
this type of happiness?
I just didn't think one person
could contain all that bouncy,
crazy sweet joy inside and still
live to tell the tale.

Anyway,
he gave an incredible talk
on Sunday-
and I was just blown away.

I mean,
what had happened to the boy before?
Don't get me wrong-
Chad Edward Johnson was fantastic before
the mission,
but he had been transformed.

Or,
like he likes to put it,
"Truly Converted".

I couldn't be happier, folks.

Of all the advice I could give,
if you're writing a missionary,
whether friend, possibility, or yours,
keep living your life.
Do not put it on hold.

Yes,
I completely understand
how much you care,
but you will find the greatest joy
and happiness together
when you can sit down after
those 2 years
and you realized you've both grown
into spectacular individuals
with the time you were given.
And you end up incredibly close
as friends afterwards because
of the dedication and sacrifice
you gave to the Lord.

Don't be discouraged
if it doesn't work out.
Wouldn't you want what
the Lord knows to be best for you?

He's going to give you the greatest happiness
possible for you when it comes
to your eternal sweetheart-
so have faith and trust in Heavenly Father
and it will work out if it's supposed to.

Besides,
you grew leaps and bounds
in that blessed time. :)

And the other advice?
Never settle.
Never think that the sweetest,
greatest, all you dreamed of,
special person won't come into your life.
They will. ;)
No one is perfect-
but you can love an imperfect person perfectly.

You may get to the point where
you just want to give up-
but DON'T do it.
You wait.
Live and wait.
Because it will come.
I promise you that.

Also,
give it a chance.
You'll never know unless you risk
just a little. Right?


I hope this satisfied the waiting souls. ;)

Be ready for more adventures to come!

Trust in Heavenly Father,
and you will be blessed.

And that's a promise.

Love always,
Little Besty