I have been waiting since last November for Geoff to call me when he was at the airport on his way to Brazil. I missed his call last November when he called me at the Salt Lake airport to go to California, because he had told me he wouldn't have time to call anyone. So like I do every night, I turned my phone on silent and slept until right before my alarm went off (I am scared to death of my alarm clock... my body somehow always knows when it's about to go off so I wake up and turn it off a couple of minutes before it's about to go off). I woke up the next morning with a missed call and a voicemail. I started listening to the voicemail and heard, "Hey Kylie, it's Geoff! I was hoping you'd pick up, but that's ok...." Before even paying attention to the rest of the message, I said out loud, "Who on earth is Geoff?" because it didn't sound like the Geoff I knew at all! Weird I know. I startled my roommate and she looked at me as if I was going crazy. Then I realized who it was and was so upset and angry at myself for missing the call. I wanted to stay in bed all day and be mad!
I was so eager for Geoff to call me this time around, and I for sure would not let myself miss his call. He said he would have plenty of time to call me once he got to Georgia, because he had a 5-hour layover before he boarded the plane that would take him and another Elder to Brazil. So at least this time I knew for sure to expect a call... unlike last November!
I probably checked my phone every 30 seconds all... day... long... even though Geoff emailed me his itinerary with all his flight information on it. I even tracked Geoff's flight as it was flying from California to Georgia. My step-dad does this, and I always secretly thought it was weird. But I guess I am the weird one now!
Geoff's flight was a little over 4 hours long, and he was on the plane during the exact same time I was at work. I got off right when his plane landed. I was so happy that his schedule matched mine so perfectly! Once I got off work, I rushed home and tried to act calm and natural, even thought my heart was pounding because I knew any second Geoff would be calling me! I don't think I have been so excited for something in so long. And when I say "so long," I mean "a really long time"... I don't even get that excited for Christmas or my birthday anymore. I would rather sleep in on Christmas morning than to get up way too early to open presents!
At 2:36, a half hour after I got home, my phone rang and showed that someone was calling me from Atlanta, Georgia. I answered all excitedly and started freaking out when I heard Geoff's voice. He was so excited too and we seriously acted like little school children going outside for recess to play on the swings or something. I felt like I had so much to say to him, but didn't know how to say it because I was just in shock to be talking to him on the phone!
After a few minutes (more like 15), we settled down and started talking like civilized people. I told him all about my classes, work, dieting, working out, so-excited-to-graduate-in-2-months life. And he told me all about his awesome, spiritual, finally-going-to-Brazil-after-waiting-8-months missionary self. I can't even describe in words how great it was to be talking normally to him! It still seems like a dream, and that I never really talked to him on the phone. But I did! And I am so grateful I was able to.
Geoff is becoming such an amazing guy. I can tell he is the happiest he has ever been in a long time. He loves sharing the gospel and serving the Lord. He even taught me a shortened version of a lesson he has taught many times. It's crazy how he could reference so many scriptures without having to look at notes or anything! He even knew the exact verses, and would tell me to "skip the next two and read the third." He is such a good teacher, too. He would be like, "So what does that scripture saying?" or "What do those words mean to you?" And once I answered, he would add some input before continuing onto the next scripture. Once he was done with his little lesson, he said, "I am the happiest person in the airport right now, because I was able to show you exactly what I do everyday. It's the best thing in the world!"
He is so passionate about the gospel. He has said he never knew how fascinating the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are. He's already so knowledgeable. It's amazing how different people are when they are missionaries. It definitely has to be one of the best experiences ever, considering you are doing nothing else but learning and teaching about Jesus Christ all the time.
After what seemed like 20 minutes, Geoff asked how long we had been talking for. I looked at my phone, and it said we had been talking for 2 hours! Time flew by so fast. How come when you're waiting for something you are really looking forward to, time is slower than a snail, but then once the thing you have been waiting for is actually happening, it flies by way too fast? It's just crazy and not fair! We ended up talking for this long:
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Yes. 2 hours and 24 minutes. Such a long time, but it really wasn't long enough!
I will never forget how hard it was to say goodbye to Geoff. He felt so bad having to leave, but he hadn't eaten all day and he still needed to find his gate and the Elder he was meeting up with. I just get silent when I know I'm about to lose it... and he knew right away that I was crying. I just started bawling and I felt so bad, because I am so happy for him because he is so happy and growing so much, but when I cry it seems like I'm sad. He tried to comfort me by telling me I was a strong person and time will fly by and before we both knew it, he would be home. I couldn't even spit out any words because I was just crying out of control! I wanted to tell him how happy I was for him, what an amazing guy he is becoming, and so much more. But all I could say was, "I'm so proud of you." He started getting a little emotional after I said that too, and told me that those words meant a ton to him. He is trying so hard to make me and everyone else proud. But he tried hard to not cry... "it's embarrassing crying in front of a bunch of strangers in an airport," he said.
I've been up and down ever since that phone call. I'll be really happy one minute thinking about how I was able to hear Geoff's voice, then I'll start getting teary-eyed the next because I'll start thinking about saying goodbye to him. I think that was one of the hardest thing I've ever had to go through! I probably experienced every type of emotion within those 2 and a half hours.
It's crazy that even though Geoff is now far, far away in the land of Ribeirao Preto in Brazil, my feelings for him and our relationship grow more everyday. It's weird to think that experiences like that are even possible, but now I know they are because I am experiencing it at this very moment.
223 days down, 507 more to go :)
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