14 long years...

most recently andrew taylor, his cousin - reggie, and i went hiking up big cottonwood canyon. when andrew's dad asked who i was, andrew said, "well dad, we've know each other for 14 long years..."


and so the story begins...


at age 14 i attended EFY. while there, i took many a picture with all the "cute" boys in my group. it was quite an interesting time of life. (take note of the first picture below.) it was a time of discovery, a time of awkwardness, and a time of little-to-no sense of fashion. while there, i met a young man named andrew taylor. apparently he didn't leave much of an impression on me. as we fast forward to my 21st year, take note, that i had no recollection of this young lad.


in the year of our Lord two thousand, i served a mission for the LDS church. hualien was the first area i was assigned to proselyte. hualien has been described as the hawaii of taiwan. it is a captivating place. i have fond memories and could bore you with countless explanations of street signs. mopeds, and noodle shops on the side of the road, but i'll spare you those details. however, i won't spare you the details of my lovely district in hualien. elder telford - a real life cowboy, elder kearl - a mad scientist genuis, elder carter - my district leader and "father", and elder taylor - a westpoint cadet, all served with sister allen - my texas trainer, and i. these elders were all a real pleasure to work with. district meetings were packed with lots of laughs, feelings of the spirit, and lunch at the fried rice stand near the church afterward. i enjoyed working with everyone in my district. the combination of jet lag, the inability to communicate, and a bout of homesickness did not stop me from relishing the time i served in hualien. i would like to say that i served with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. i don't know what others might say - but, this is my blog, so it doesn't really matter what they say, right?


after hualien, i was assigned to beitou, and then to taidong. taidong was also like paradise - surrounded by ocean and many other scenic hot spots. once again, i had the opportunity of serving with elder taylor. he was my zone leader in, what we all liked to call "the taidong love zone". let me clarify, lest you be confused, the taidong love zone was all about loving all those around us with Christ-like love and charity. (just wanted to make sure that was clear.) my relationship with elder taylor had come full circle - from the first of my mission, when he said he didn't know if i was going to make it the full 18 months because i looked so bad, to the end, after i had tried my hardest to serve the Lord in the way He wanted me to serve Him - and i probably looked worse than when i started. elder taylor was, as alma describes in chapter 17, "still my brother in the Lord". our missionary relationship had come full circle. what a special experience, to begin our missions together, and to end our missions together.


but wait, can you imagine my surprise once i returned home and found elder taylor's 14 year old picture in my EFY scrapbook with our arms around each other. i felt my mission had been tainted. i was barely able to shake his hand while in taiwan, let alone have my arm around him. what had we done? it just seemed so wrong; so wrong, but so right; so wrong, but really funny. of course i copied the picture and sent it to him with a well versed letter discussing the destiny (or yuan) that must have been involved in us meeting up again while on our missions. please take a look at the sample pictures below:

sample a:

attractive 14 year olds at EFY - he couldn't keep his hands off me...

sample b:

serving together in hualien, elder taylor in one corner and me in the other - so well behaved...

sample c:

"the taidong love zone". hmmm...looks like elder taylor has postioned himself rather close to me. can you say, "lock your heart, elder?"

sample d:

oh, here we are, after "14 long years". finally able to be back in each others arms.

and they lived happily ever after.

the end.