Missionary romances
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:51 am
Ze link.
I actually had two bishops in a row in my home ward who married someone they served with as a missionary. In the first case, by my understanding, they never really got to know each other while they were still in the field. In the second case, if I remember the story right, they were serving together and both had the strong impression that they'd get married someday, so they (separately) went to the mission president, who either had the same impression or was like "this is weird but I'll roll with it." He made sure they never served in the same zone but let them keep in touch, and they got married a while after they both went home. (I'm not 100% sure about the accuracy of any specific detail, but the overall thrust of the story should be correct.)
My MTC companion fell for a girl about 3/4 of the way through his mission. (I was acquainted with her, since I'd served in the area previously.) The feeling was mutual but they both kept it under wraps until about a week before transfers when they confessed their love for each other. My ex-companion immediately realized he had screwed up and went straight to the mission president, who immediately had him transferred to an outlying area of the mission. Since our mission was so small geographically, there was apparently talk of having him transferred to another mission to finish his last couple months, but that didn't happen. We were in the same district later on and he was even my district leader for a transfer, although I don't think he ever fully regained the mission president's trust. A couple years later he ended up marrying the girl, and they're still together and happy as far as I can tell.
My mom moved back to her mission a few years after coming home and while she was there she was engaged to one of her converts before breaking it off. He had flirted with her while she was a missionary but it had never been anything serious or mutual from what she told me.
I personally think the bigger issue here is that it's easy for missionary mindset + hormones + mutual attraction to lead to a drive to get married RIGHT NOW when in fact getting married right now to someone you've only known for a month is almost always a dangerous decision. You can't experience a normal relationship as a missionary, and getting married to someone without having experienced a normal relationship with them is just asking for trouble.
I actually had two bishops in a row in my home ward who married someone they served with as a missionary. In the first case, by my understanding, they never really got to know each other while they were still in the field. In the second case, if I remember the story right, they were serving together and both had the strong impression that they'd get married someday, so they (separately) went to the mission president, who either had the same impression or was like "this is weird but I'll roll with it." He made sure they never served in the same zone but let them keep in touch, and they got married a while after they both went home. (I'm not 100% sure about the accuracy of any specific detail, but the overall thrust of the story should be correct.)
My MTC companion fell for a girl about 3/4 of the way through his mission. (I was acquainted with her, since I'd served in the area previously.) The feeling was mutual but they both kept it under wraps until about a week before transfers when they confessed their love for each other. My ex-companion immediately realized he had screwed up and went straight to the mission president, who immediately had him transferred to an outlying area of the mission. Since our mission was so small geographically, there was apparently talk of having him transferred to another mission to finish his last couple months, but that didn't happen. We were in the same district later on and he was even my district leader for a transfer, although I don't think he ever fully regained the mission president's trust. A couple years later he ended up marrying the girl, and they're still together and happy as far as I can tell.
My mom moved back to her mission a few years after coming home and while she was there she was engaged to one of her converts before breaking it off. He had flirted with her while she was a missionary but it had never been anything serious or mutual from what she told me.
I personally think the bigger issue here is that it's easy for missionary mindset + hormones + mutual attraction to lead to a drive to get married RIGHT NOW when in fact getting married right now to someone you've only known for a month is almost always a dangerous decision. You can't experience a normal relationship as a missionary, and getting married to someone without having experienced a normal relationship with them is just asking for trouble.