15.

This week I got to chat back and forth with Mason on email! Such a different experience than just reading the weekly email. He sounded amazing. He is such an optimistic guy, and I know he brings a light to Uruguay that no one else could. He's decided to learn Portuguese, because he is so close to Brazil and also because I will be learning Portuguese! Of course Mason would learn 2 languages while he is on his mission. Such an over achiever! But how can I complain?

Celebrations

October and November are full of celebrations. Thanksgiving, halloween, and probably the most exciting for Mason and I this year—Our one year mark. I cannot believe it has only been one year since I met my sweet boy. It feels like I have known him my whole life, but at the same time this year has absolutely flown by!
It took me such a long time to come up with something to give Mason for this special event. Missionaries are complicated! Combining practicality and meaning into one gift that fits into a standard rate box is extremely difficult. Trust me. In the end I ordered him a leather bound journal, and I am extremely excited about it! It turned out better than I was expecting. That was one thing I admired about Mason, he always wrote in his journal. I also included my favourite book of the moment: The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. It is an AMAZING book. I know I have loved this book, so I figured Mason would enjoy it. The only downside is that I'm not sure how strict his mission president is when it comes to the books they read.
This package had a little bit of everything. Spanish CTR rings to hand out to the children in Uruguay, Nutella—because who doesn't like nutella, pringles, and as many fall/halloween treats as I could pack in the box. There is no better feeling than seeing all the time and effort come together to make a package for someone who means so much to me. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

14.

3 months down, only 21 to go!
"The weeks are still flying by and before I know it I have finished a change with Elder Degn my trainer!  How crazy that I probably only have one more with him.  It is also crazy to think that I have been out on the mission for 3 months!" 

single pressed rose

Thousands and thousands of miles apart and he still manages to let me know he cares for me. Every letter is filled with more than words. They are filled with love. Today it was a single pressed rose. It was the perfect gift to mark 3 months being apart. It hasn't gotten easier being away from my best friend, but every passing day makes me realize more than ever just how lucky I am to call him mine.

our first kiss went a little like this

Things moved fairly fast with Mason and I. It was only two short weeks after we had our first conversation that we were sitting on a hill, on a freezing November night, bundled up in blankets watching Fantastic Mr. Fox. My favourite. Was I expecting it? To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect. As the movie was ending Mason asked if I was cold. On a late November night as the weather was approaching -20 degrees celsius, of course I lied and said I was fine. I asked him the same question. Of course he lied and said only his nose was cold.
Ok, opinions: when someone says their nose is cold....does that not sound like some subtle hint?
What happened next still shocks me to this day.
I made the first move.
WHAT?!
This went against absolutely everything I believe in. My act of playing hard to get went down the toilet in a matter of seconds. I began to press my face up against his to "warm up his nose". I didn't know exactly what would come of it, but it didn't take long before our lips met. This is how Mason described it in a letter to me, " The feeling was incredible. The heat rushed between our lips. Not because it was cold outside but because it was special. The kiss was unbelievably in sync between the two of us."
I found out months later, that Mason's roommates had told him he shouldn't go that night. It was late and with church the next morning it probably wasn't the smartest decision, but he was determined to go. His roommate Sam asked him if he planned on kissing me that night. Mason said he was sure it wouldn't happen, but Sam still told him he had to text him if it was going to happen. Mason promised he would, and when Mason makes a promise....he doesn't break it. Ever. As soon as Mason realized what was happening that night he pulled out his phone and texted Sam. Without me even knowing it! Sneaky devil!
It was the agreement in Mason's dorm that if they ever kissed a girl they owed the dorm ice cream, so after our special moment I reminded Mason that because of me he owed his roommates some ice cream. We ended our night with a quick trip to the nearest 7/11. I never wanted that night to end, but things just got progressively better from there on out.

times like this

I opened package #2 at the end of a long day. More than anything I was hoping that the letter would feel like the warm hug I was so badly craving. But what was inside touched me much more than a hug ever could. The letter addressed "open when you need to know how much I love you" was simple and sweet. That alone was enough to make my heart content. But when I opened the box that went along with that precious letter, I lost it. Inside was the most beautiful watch. Honestly, if I could make a custom watch for myself, it would look exactly like the one I saw inside that box. He knows me unbelievably perfectly.
When Mason came up to Canada in the summer, we were scrolling through my pinterest boards (a typical activity). I had a Nixon watch pinned to my board, and I specifically remember Mason asking what I had pinned that for. I said simply that it was because I liked it. He then asked me why I didn't ever wear watches, and I said it was because I had a hard time finding watches that didn't look huge on my little wrists. He got the hugest grin on his face and just nodded nonchalantly. At that point I was totally confused at his response, but now I know exactly what that was about. He had ordered me the watch I'm wearing on my wrist right now (not the one on my pinterest board, but an even more perfect watch), and was thinking "Oh I did good!" haha. And yes, yes he did.
It's times like this that I don't understand how I got so lucky. I will question that until the day that I die. I'm blessed to have someone who loves and cares for me in ways that touch me so deeply. To love me in the way that he does despite being thousands of miles apart is incomprehensible to my little mind. He is the most thoughtful human being I have ever met. I'm the luckiest.

13.

This is what I love about my elder:

"I almost cried this week.  We were on the porch of a lady when I was doing divisions with Elder Lopez and he got to the point of contacting in a way that I don't like... Because for me, I like to be friends with them before I try to tell them how to change their religion but he didn't really do that and it got into a brawl with scriptures and stuff with this Christian lady and then at the end I just stopped and I told her that I didn't want to fight with her and that is not the reason that missionaries are here and we are sorry if it came off that way and then I explained that we do not get paid to be there, we do not receive anything for what we are doing in a far away place away from our families, that we had to leave things behind, miss things such as my brothers wedding, and we are there for people like her, because we love the gospel and we love our Heavenly Father and because we know that everybody is a child of god we want them to have the knowledge of all Heavenly Father has given us including his scriptures the Book of Mormon and his restored church on the Earth today....  Michaela, I have definitely felt the spirit since I have been here on the mission, but I was just about in tears as I said those things to her, I was really holding it back! Ahhh!!!"

small encounters

There are so many memories that I cherish with Mason. Although there are too many moments to write them all down in detail, I want to start writing down as many as possible. I have to make up for my bad habit of not writing in a journal, and this is the easiest way to do it. I don't plan to write these in any particular order or significance, just as they pop into my head. Ready.Set.Go.

Although I always pretended not to notice the attractive boy in my ward that all the girls seemed to be chasing from day one, I have to admit that I did get caught up in his perfect teeth, hair and eyes once or twice before actually meeting him. After dating Mason for a short period of time, he admitted to taking a special interest in me (without my knowledge) from the day he saw my name on the ward directory. I might have done the same.

1st encounter: It was break the fast on the first Sunday at BYU. It was outside of Carroll hall. Mason was sitting on the grass under a tree. He didn't seem super talkative, and seemed content with just eating his food. He wore a kitten shirt. I didn't talk to him nor did he talk to me. It was the first time I saw him.

2nd encounter: Obviously I was doing more than pretending not to notice him. I was definitely noticing him. Not only was I noticing him, I was hoping he would notice me. It was only a short day later that I saw him at an FHE activity. I may or may not have worn my Messi soccer jersey to that activity because I new he liked soccer (but he doesn't know that) #pathetic. But I later found out that he did notice. Winning. He was wearing his white sweat shirt that I have come to love and adore. Again, we didn't say a word to each other, but if I remember correctly we made eye contact in the ice cream line. That's progress right?

3rd encounter: 6 days later, second Sunday of the year (are you picking up on the pattern) Mason was asked to give a talk. I was sitting near the back on the right side. He got up and made a joke before beginning his talk. I thought he was starring directly at me, but I couldn't be sure. He later told me that he had intentionally looked to see if I'd laugh. It worked. I found myself becoming more and more interested—not that I would admit that.

4th encounter: it wasn't until we had an activities committee meeting that Mason finally said something to me. We didn't have long conversations, just an opinion here or a comment there. What made the biggest impression was the fact that he remembered my name at that first meeting even though we had never talked. Again, he made an impression on me and I found myself thinking about him more and more.

I will treasure these small encounters forever. They are simple, vague and incomplete in so many ways. We didn't know it at the time, but we both had the same goal in mind, and eventually these small encounters led to a special night in November where it truly all began.

12.

Conference week was really exciting for Elder Bentley and Elder Degn. They spent the week trying to invite as many people as they could to hear the word of the prophet. Mason was pretty disappointed when it was Sunday afternoon and no one they had invited had shown up. Fortunately, halfway through the last session they had one lady they had talked to show up.  They have been finding so many promising investigators lately, but they've found commitment is a struggle. There is still so much promise in Riviera though because the other Elders in their area had a baptism this week! Mason loves his service, so he was pretty excited to get to do some more of that this week for the ward mission leader. Overall it was a highly productive and uplifting week for Elder B.

always in my head

There are days that are so much harder to endure than I ever comprehended. When looking through old pictures and listening to nostalgic music is the worst thing that I could be doing to my heart, but the only thing that seems to suffice. When everything I see reminds me of him. When all I can think of is how little time it has been, and how much longer there is to go. I'm an amateur. It hasn't even been three months and I feel like he's been gone for three years. I heard it gets better, but I'm not so sure. I can't help but think of the future. How perfect it would be. I just need to tell my little heart to be patient, because it will happen in due time. But it is just.so.hard. So now I just pray I can get through the rest of this semester without totally letting myself go.

a practical package

I asked Mason if there was anything I could put in his next package, and his response was not exactly what I was expecting. School Supplies. Well, it's not the most exciting thing ever, but I guess I'll give the boy what he wants! So this package included:

>>Pens<<

>>Post-it tabs<<

>>Post-it notes<<

>>Glue Stick (he specifically asked for this?)<<

>>Crayola Twistables (the best scripture markers)<<

>>I also added in some treats and a tie to make it a little bit more exciting!<<