Mission Memories -- Port Charlotte -- Sister Wilson: Part Thirteen

apparently this is going to be a short one.  I thought I had more pictures than this left but this is it for Port Charlotte.

I do have to finish the story that I started a couple of posts ago.

this is me packing up to leave Port Charlotte.  :-(

After serving nine months in Port Charlotte, I was transferred to Seminole.  And true to form, I was going to be opening up a new area to Sisters. Except this time I wasn't going to get to bring my companion with me.  :-( , And in fact, not only was I opening up a new area, but I was going to be training a new Sister fresh out of the MTC again!

I think that is Amanda, who was helping me close my suitcase. In fact, I think if memory serves me correctly, Amanda drove me to my new area.

You can see, it must be pretty early in the morning because it is still dark outside.

I must've acquired a few things in those nine months in Port Charlotte, because apparently I'm having quite a struggle trying to close my suitcase :-)

It looks like it takes two grown women to close it.  :-)

So here's the rest of the story:

It was probably about the time these pictures were taken, as I was preparing to leave Port Charlotte for good, that there was a knock on our door.

This was extremely unusual, especially that early in the morning.  I don't know why, but we must've answered it. It was Joe. The member who frequently took us out to lunch and gave me the Elvis cards for Dad. He came to say goodbye to me and handed me a letter. I thought that was a little odd. Especially since he knew we could not invite him in to our apartment, as per mission rules.  The whole exchange had to take place outside on the porch. So anyway I bid him adieu and he left.

One interesting thing about Joe that I had forgotten, that just came to me now.  He seemed extra worried about our safety.  He gave Sister Wilson and I an alarm type thing to carry with us.  The way it worked -- it looked like a pager that had a string attached to a pin that when pulled would let out a very loud, high-pitched screeching noise.  I think he actually gave both of us one. I don't remember if we ever took it with us as we went tracting or anything.  We may have-- I think we did.  But I do know that I used it every time I went running after my mission -- and probably during my mission -- so I actually got a lot of use out of it. Thankfully I never had to use it.

I think Joe also gave us that metal brace you see in the picture above, by the door. it was to prop up under the door handle.  So people couldn't break in. 

So now that I'm thinking about it, him coming to our door in the early morning hours is somewhat oxymoronic.

Well, you are probably wondering what was in the letter.  Let me tell you, it was a doozy.

 I don't remember if I read it as soon as he left or if I waited to read it later.  But I wish I'd never read it at all. Or I should say, I wish he had never written it.

Basically in a nutshell, the letter was Joe professing his love for me and asking me to marry him.

Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. Granted, after the Elvis card incident, I thought he might have had a little crush on me.  But I had no idea the extent of it.  I'm glad I didn't because it was kind of creepy.  I was certainly glad to be getting out of that situation.  And I was glad that I didn't know the extent of his feelings before hand.

Don't these people know that I was just a missionary trying to do the Lord's work?  Why did they have to go and cause me added stress?

I couldn't help it if my exceeding good looks and magnetic personality drew men to me like flies to flypaper.  :-)

So, that was my first marriage proposal -- on my mission, no less. And it wouldn't be the last creepy marriage proposal on my mission -- unfortunately.  Stay tuned for that story later. :-)

So, of course, I had to break another heart.  But I didn't feel as bad about breaking Joe's heart because he should have known better than to put me in that predicament. 

Little did I know that serving a full-time mission included turning down marriage proposals and breaking hearts.  :-)

I think this is the same as the first picture, but this one has the conversation bubble stuck to it.

I was right, that was the last time that I was transferred before going home.

I forgot to mention in my last post, that after my mission, I attended Amanda's wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. I remember driving down from Logan to Salt Lake early one Saturday morning.  I think that was the only time I ever set foot inside the Salt Lake Temple.

Okay, this concludes my time in Port Charlotte.  It was sad to leave my favorite area, where I served with my two favorite companions. But as you can gather from the above story, it was time to move on.  You can see why missionaries are transferred every few months.  

I was transferred from Port Charlotte to Seminole.  Which is where I spent my last 4 to 5 months as a full-time missionary.  

For completeness sake, I wanted to mention that Sister Wilson ended up falling for one of the Elders -- this is after I left -- and I think she dumped Rob, for a while.  She eventually came back to her senses and ended up marrying Rob in the Los Angeles Temple.

I was honored that she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.  It ended up that Sister Vega met me in Utah and I drove us down to Los Angeles to attend Sister Wilson's wedding.

I've got a few pictures of that trip with Sister Vega, so I will post those after I finish all of my mission memories.  

the last I heard, Sister Wilson and Rob had three children.