It was the last day of my mission. I was sad and excited to
be going home. I’d had a great mission, but I knew it was time to go. I was
standing in the Frankfurt Germany train station, awaiting the Assistant’s to
take us to our hotel. It was going to be good to be home.
I’d served in a
little branch in Münster Germany for a year. One of the sisters who’d also been
serving in that area, Sister Teeples, excitedly ran up to me in the train
station. She was training and had a brand new companion.
And man was her new companion pretty. In fact, she was
probably the most beautiful human being I’d ever seen. I’ll never forget what
she was wearing. Her deep brown hair with natural blonde highlights, was
curled, she wore a bright orange dress with a spotted blue pattern, a shy
smile, excitement and adventure flashed in the brightest, deepest hazel eyes
I’d ever experienced, and she just glowed.
“Uh...hi!...N-n-nice to meet you. I’m Eh-Elder Ockey.” I
managed to stammer out.
“I’m Sister Heywood! Nice to meet you! So you served in
Münster?”
“Yeah!” I felt my cheeks grow hot. Stop it Dan! Keep it together man. I continued:
“Yeah I served there for a year. You’re going to love it!”
And I just talked about how great Münster was. And it was.
She smiled kindly, and my heart melted completely and thoroughly in that 2
minutes. I wanted to get to know her so badly! There was something about her I
just couldn’t explain. But it was the first day of her mission, and the last
day of mine. And I was probably never going to see her again. It seemed that a
great 2 minute interaction on a train station in the middle of Europe was the
last time I was probably ever going to see my dream girl again.
I’m so glad I was wrong about
that.
As I drove away from the train
station and looked back, all I could think about was her.
It was as a good thing I was
going home.
I sent Mikayla a total of 3 e-mails during her mission,
trying to establish contact, build a distant friendship, etc. She shut me down
hard core. My e-mails with 10 paragraphs would garner a 3 sentence response. So
I gave up on trying, but she never left my mind.
I may of read her mission blog...and talked to members in
Germany that were in the wards where she was serving to talk to her about me.
Nothing too big, just a reminder every couple of months that I was still there.
It wasn’t that way for her whole mission though. I was dating other girls, and
even a couple of them seriously, but every time my thoughts turned back to
Mikayla. I would break up with them and try some way in vain to talk to the
infamous “Sister Heywood.” Eventually though I become frustrated and angry. Why
won’t this girl leave my mind? Why can’t I date anyone else without thinking about her? I talked to her for 2 minutes at a train station for goodness sake. LET ME MOVE ON! (You should read some of my journal entries about this, it’s hilarious.)
Mikayla got home in December of 2015, but I didn’t reach
out. I wanted to stop thinking about her, not contact her.
In May of 2016, I had just broken up with my ex-girlfriend,
and I realized that I needed to at least talk to Mikayla one time, just so I
could move on at least. She was dating someone, and from a social media
standpoint it looked serious. (I’m so creepy, I know). So I just waited.
Then one day in the middle of August, her profile picture
changed from her and boyfriend, to just her. Oh my word. They had broken up!!
I danced out of some crazy, unknown joy in my living room for ten
solid minutes.
Then I realized I had to attack.
But how?
I knelt down and said a prayer. “Heavenly Father. This girl
has been on my mind for two years. I have broken up with 2 girls, not been able
to go on dates seriously, and wondered why for so long. If something is
supposed to happen here, I need thine help. I don’t know what to do. Maybe she
could message me? Maybe she could send me a Facebook Message?”
That would be too good to be true! I ended my prayer, and
moved forward. I called my sisters for advice and asked them what I should do.
I debated going up to Rexburg to visit friends and message her per Facebook to
take her out. I was nervous but excited. Maybe I could finally crack this
mystery girl!
2 days after I had said that prayer, I was at dinner with a
friend. He was showing me an app on his phone when my phone on the table lit
up.
It was a Facebook Message from MIKAYLA HEYWOOD, and it
looked like a long message! My face turned ghost white and I almost fell to the
floor. My friend asked me if I was okay, and I explained everything to him. I couldn’t
believe it! How was this possible?
In her message she thanked me for an e-mail I had sent her
almost 2 years previous in my attempts to get to know her while she was on her
mission. She had been feeling down about her mission and had been going through
her mission stuff and had come across my e-mail. She was touched and reached
out to thank me. (With no romantic intentions).
I was so shocked by what had happened I went on a two hour
walk. I couldn’t bring myself to respond until the next day. I called my
sisters who were familiar with the situation and explained it. They were
shocked. I knew this was my window of opportunity. I was not going to let it
fly by!
The next day, I responded to her message. At the end, I
asked her if she would like to skype and talk about our missions sometime
because we’d served in a lot of the same places. I said anytime over the next
two weeks would be good.
She responded and said that today would work. I don’t know if my heart has ever beaten so fast.
I was a wreck the 6 hours leading up to call. I couldn’t pay
attention in church, and when I got home I paced for 2 hours. My family laughed
at me. (I was home for a short summer break).
Finally the appointed time came. I turned on the computer,
heart racing, excitement and butterflies all mixed together like a good mexican
dish.
I hit the “start video call”
button on Facebook.
Mikayla’s face filled the
screen. Those hazel eyes and that smile. Man. That glow.
“Hi!!” She said. “How are you?”
I was done for.
