Written by Jacob in 2009
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Tonya. The summer was ending, I had already met everyone in my ward and I didn’t think that I’d be meeting the love of my life until at least the Fall semester. I figured I’d have a new ward, make some new friends and figure things out in the future. I’ve heard from a lot of different people that you don’t find the right person until you stop looking. That was true for me too.
I remember coming into church that day and waiting for things to get started. One of my friends was sitting behind me and started chatting with me before church. I remember turning around to look over my shoulder at my friend. And that’s when I saw Tonya – she was beautiful. I’ll be honest, I stared for a moment wondering if I should get up right then and go over and try to start a conversation. Not finding the courage at the moment I asked my friend, “Who is that?” He didn’t know, but right then the bishop got up and our church meeting had started. I decided that when the meeting was over I would make my way over and try to talk to her. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like you had to do something in your life, but for me it almost felt like I had to talk to her.
An hour later, I said “Amen” got up from my seat, and it seemed to me as if everyone in my ward suddenly wanted to talk to me and keep me from making my way across the room. When the crowd cleared I looked around, but she was gone. The rest of church was nice, but a bit of a let down. I wondered who the pretty blonde visitor had been, but by the time I got home and changed into my regular clothes I had almost forgotten about it. Almost…
Later that day some of my friends were having a potluck dinner. I was invited and showed up a little late. They had the food set up on some tables in the front room. I went over to fill up my plate when I realized I was standing next to the pretty girl I had seen at church. I don’t know who said what first but we started talking and talking and talking and laughing and talking… You get the idea. We were having a good time. Then Michelle, her friend in my ward who she was visiting, came up beside her and said, “Guess what Jacob? Tonya has a mission call, she’s leaving in less than a month.” Life froze.
I looked at Tonya, the light left her eyes, she looked down, I could tell she hadn’t wanted me to know that just yet. I thought about it for a bit. I was big on missions and missionary work, having been pretty churchy my whole life. I decided to be positive. “That’s great!” I said, trying my best to sound excited, “Missions are awesome.” And so we talked and talked and talked and talked about missions and scriptures instead of about phone numbers and dates like I had been hoping. It was turning out to be an interesting day.
Later we went to sing at an old folks home. It was funny, Tonya and I were just talking to each other the whole time and we were pretty oblivious to everything and everyone else. I still feel sorry for Brandon who stood between us while we sang at the old folks home. He told me later it felt really awkward. Sorry Brandon!!! After singing at the old folks home we went back to the apartments and Tonya and I said goodbye. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t ask for an address, a phone number, I didn’t ask for anything. It was just goodbye.
A week passed. I saw her friend Michelle at my ward prayer, and decided I would ask about Tonya. “You should call her,” was her immediate response. I was a little taken aback, not by her response, but by how determined and excited she seemed. I could tell they had talked… To make a long story short, Michelle gave me her number and Tonya and I went on one date. A few weeks after that she left on a mission.
I started writing a letter every other week. She wrote back. At some point it turned into a letter every week. I used to check my mail constantly, and when she finally came home it was a hard habit to break. She called on the Saturday after she came home and then the following Monday we went out for lunch. We were both so nervous, I can’t really describe what it felt like. But the excitement I had felt when I met her the first time was still there. We kept dating.
On August 16th we went up to Eden, Utah for a hot air balloon ride. We started out so early it was still dark. We had a nice long drive and when we got there I asked her to marry me. For those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, she said yes.
I love Tonya, and I’m happy to know she loves me too.