Companion

Before I went on my mission, I was reasonably confident that the whole "companion" aspect of the mission was going to be a .... special trial. As a Mormon missionary you have to stay with in sight and sound of your companion 24/7. The only time you should not be with in sight of your companion is when one of you is in the bathroom. The one exception to this is the rare "exchange" (aka each of you goes to an appointment with a different adult member of the church who serves as your companion for a few hours).

And before I left on my mission I was sure theres hardly anybody that I'd want to spend that much quality time with. I was moderately confident this was going to be an ordeal to be overcome. So what I was completely and totally unprepared for was how quickly and completely I loved having a companion.

With in a few days of my entering the MTC (Missionary Training Center) I discovered that I could almost feel when I had lost my companion before I was actually aware of it. It was like all of the sudden the little hairs on my neck would raise and I'd look around quickly and the bottom would drop out of my stomach and I'd realize, "Oh Crap! Where'd she go?!" lol. And the peace was restored the second I caught sight of her little blonde head again.

I think thats probably part of why I was so fond of my taller companions. They were so much easier to keep track of in a crowd. lol At one point I was in a threesome (get ur mind out of the gutter, is just when we have an odd number of missionaries so they put 3 of you together instead of two), and they were both little tiny, remarkably speedy girls and I nearly went crazy trying to keep track of them at all times. lol

Thats not to say that companions weren't a challenge. I quickly discovered the truth of one of my favorite companions statement: you love all your companions, but about every single one theres going to be one little thing that makes you crazy. And so often it was something completely and totally stupid, but it made you batty none the less.

On the list of "stupid things" probably the dumbest was the sister who every single morning would make a bowl of some organic concoction and sit and eat it during our hour of personal scripture study. This in itself was not at all unusual. What made me crazy was two things: 1. with every single bite she would bite the spoon and rake her teeth down it and SUCK the spoon clean with a smack. Doesn't sound bad but in the morning silence, it was LOUD. 2. And then, after listening to that for 10 plus minutes, she'd reach the bottom of the bowl. And every single morning, she'd try to scrape up every last molecule of her breakfast with that farking spoon.

*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*scrape*

I am SO not remotely exaggerating. It was like "SISTER! You're going to dig through the bottom of the friggin bowl! Just take your finger and wipe the bowl and suck it clean! Heck LICK the bowl clean for all I care BUT STOP WITH THE SCRAPING!!!"

I didn't say that, but thats what I thought.

I had another companion, who would not be rushed. if you rushed her, she'd take longer. That was just her thing. And what could be construed as "rushing" was rather ... goofy at times. For example, should I manage to get ready to go before she did in the morning (which was most of the time), I couldn't stand quietly by the door and wait for her. That was "rushing". I needed to put my bag down, and sit. Now this was obnoxious to me because I'm lazy and I don't want to put down my heavy bag and go sit my butt down in a chair for the minute that I have to wait because the bag is heavy and it takes effort to haul my butt back up out of the chair. But no, standing was unacceptable. So I'd sit, preferably in the other room for the minute or two that I waited. It was stupid but it kept the peace.

One of my more vexing situations was a companion, who was otherwise very articulate, but when she didn't like something or was bothered by something, was completely unable to express why. Now this was a problem because with companions you need to be able to sit and talk and discuss things so that you can always be in accord. And it was so amazingly frustrating to me, whens he couldn't tell me why she thought/felt the way she did. You couldn't discuss and be won over by "I don't like it but I don't know why". And its not like she's claiming its one of those "I have a gut feeling that this is a bad idea." That I can respect. It was more like her panties were in a twist and she didn't know why, she just did. Which was frustrating.

Now to be fair, I asked around, and apparently the consensus from my companions was that the thing you had to deal with when you were with Sister Davis was this: Apparently, I'm always right. I find this vexing because to me, no I am not always right and I admit when I am wrong. But, admittedly, it doesn't happen often and I am confident in the knowledge I do have. So I'm not always right, just... most of the time. lol *head desk*

But I did love having a companion and a partner far more than I would have ever given the idea credit in the beginning. In fact, when I came home from my mission one of the single hardest adjustments, that caused me the most anxiety, was being companionless. Don't get me wrong I can and do function perfectly well on my own, its just that for the most part I infinitely prefer to have a companion and partner.