"I am finding myself in the calmest state right now." I typed on my computer screen. "Can't even imagine where I have been the last month, let alone few weeks I'm in such a daze. I can't believe it."
"Why is that?" Heo asked in his reply message. Heo's chat window showed a sandy blond haired, blue eyed beauty at a portion of his five foot five slender frame.
"I'm getting baptized on Saturday, June 29th, and confirmed on Sunday, June 30th. After how many years that I said I was going to research the religion and find out if it's for me." I replied. "Me, a Mormon. Not a lot of people are going to like it, but I will enjoy being a Latter-Day Saint and maybe we can start publicly dating when you get back in a few weeks."
"Sounds like a decent plan, but you have to realize that my parents were raised as Mormons, so they won't like a convert and a full born dating."
"Your sister seems to like the idea of us being together. While I was having a dinner party with her and your parents, she almost blurted out that we were together. Sort of a hoot."
"That is my sister. She is more open to this than my parents would be. Anyway, it's time for me to go. Same time next week?"
"Yeah. Talk to you then. And I'll let your sister and parents know that you're all right and doing great."
This conversation was one of many that Heo and I had. Heo, short for Heodore, and I met while I was a junior and he was a senior in high school. We spent time together with friends during our open times, and grew fond of each other until we exchanged numbers and chat names so we could talk while he was on his mission. I missed him for the first few days while he was gone, I had to admit. As the days spanned weeks and Heo and I spent an hour every week talking, I started doing research on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I didn't want to believe, at first, what they were talking about was true, but after a few session with some missionaries and with what the Latter-Day Saints believed in, I believed in.
I grew up in multiple denominations of Christianity and none of them fit what I held to be my values. I tried other religions, and being an atheist, but none of those religions that I tried fit me or my personality, less of all my strength as a person. I was really excited when Heo was helpful and gave me resources to look into for furthering my experience with Heavenly Father. I couldn't imagine what my life was going to be like after the Baptism and Confirmation. Nothing could keep me from knowing my Heavenly Father this time around.
After I closed down the chat link, Heo's sister, Tanya, came waltzing in with a few of her friends. All of them were beautiful, but Tanya's auburn hair with red highlights and five foot slender frame stood out as the most beautiful. They were talking about the latest Mormon fashion trends that they could salvage off the internet, and how they can help others in the congregation of their last teenaged years before adulthood. Tanya looked at me before she ushered her friends out of the door with a mission to find more fashion on their smartphones. Tanya closed the door and turned around to look at me. She had that look on her face that screamed pain and anguish that she only showed to me since Heo left.
"How is Heo?" Tanya painfully whispered.
"He is doing fine. Converted three people last week and five more are committed this week. He got excited when I told him I was getting baptized. He also said that he wanted you to know that a Mexican boy liked how Heo spoke of you to the person, so you have an admirer now." I gambled. "But he said not to worry about him. He has two weeks left before he comes home."
"And those two weeks, I can't stand to be with my parents alone. Can you imagine what they say over dinner about Heo being the prodigee?"
"I can imagine. I've been there watching the conversations happen, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I remember now..... What did he say exactly about you getting baptized and confirmed in the church?"
"All he said was that he couldn't wait to come home into the arms of a newly devoted member of the church."
"Meaning that he is excited about the baptism and confirmation too."
A voice vibrated through the door. "Time for dinner, you two. Don't make your father wait any longer than he has."
"Yes, mom. We'll be right there." Tanya yelled back. She turned around to look at me. "Ready to talk with mom and dad about Heo's news?"
"Not really. But I guess I can jungle search my way through it like I did last time." I said.
Tanya and I walked down the stairs from her room, where we were chatting and I was messaging Heo, down to the dinning room. Tanya sat down and started scooping out a salad onto her plate as Heo's and her parents got fruits and other parts of dinner onto the table. Four dinner plates were around the eight chair rectangular sized table. I sat down as Heo's parents sat down across the table from me.
"So, Aaron." Heo's mom said. "How is Heo this week?"
"He's good. Converted three people last week and five more are committing this week. Says that he can't wait to see what more he can do with the two weeks he has left, since his elder missionary said that he is converting people like he's dishing out candy on Halloween." I said.
"Really?" Heo's father asked. "That's good, very good."
"Can we not talk about Heo for one dinner this week?" Tanya angrily asked. "I'm sick of always hearing about Heo."
"Then why can't you be like him? He is responsible and is respected in the church and in both his work and school." Heo's father said. "May I ask, Aaron, what is going on between you and Heo?"
"Nothing is going on, Sir." I said. "We are just friends."
"Tell the truth!" Tanya said. "We all know that Heo and you have been dating since he left for his mission and the few months before that."
"Is that true?" Heo's mom asked. "Have you been dating Heo for over two years?"
"It's true that Heo and I have been dating, but it's not true that we have been dating for two years. We have been dating for three." I said.
"Why have you dated my son since before you started investigating the church?"
"Because my values matched his and he kept asking me to come to the church. I promised that when I was ready, I would come to the church and do everything that I need to do to become a member. Because of him, I was able to be closer to god and not feel like I'm forcing myself to have the relationship. And now all I'm doing is fighting you two over it."
"But it isn't right for a convert to be dating my son." Heo's mom and dad shouted at the same time.
I got up from my chair and walked to the door. I turned around to look at Tanya and her parents at the table. "I'm glad that I met Heo. Otherwise I wouldn't be walking away from this and praying." I walked out the door into the pouring rain and walked to my house two blocks away.
"Told you she would get angry if you tried to pry Heo away from her. Nice going." Tanya belched. "I'll be in my room."
Later that night, as I was praying and reading the Book of Mormon, one of my windows was broken into and a masked man came in. I stood up to try and get someone to help me, but the masked man knocked me out and stabbed me with an enlarged hook in my left shoulder and in both of my feet. My dad walked into my room the next morning to see me laying on my bed, which was soaked in my own blood. He immediately called 911 and had me taken to the hospital to go into surgery to patch up the holes the man left. The doctors looked at how much blood I had lost and didn't think I would survive.
Heo arrived at his house four days later. Tanya called him on his cell phone to let him know what was going on from my room in the hospital, and he came.