How We Met As Told By Cristina

Why I was at BYU-I

The University made an offer to the Fall/Winter track students to stay for the Summer semester and get some extra classes in. I had been trying to decide if it's something I wanted to do or something I thought I should do.

As the semester came to an end, I was so blessed to have earned a full tuition scholarship as well as a little extra money for books. Things seemed to work out, and since I wanted to get school done as quickly as possible, I took the challenge.

First Impression

On our first day in the ward, after the new semester started, Ian was speaking in church. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember what he spoke about. All I can remember is what I thought at the time. I remember that he said that one thing or another really "stuck out to him." He said that at least 5 times in his talk. I said something to my roommate about it, and we had a little laugh. Despite all this, I could tell that he had a love for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That really impressed me. I also remember him saying that he was from San Diego. I took a guess before he said anything and thought "Utah for sure." Obviously, I was wrong.

Later on, I believe it was that same day, we found that Ian would be our home teacher. I had to laugh at the irony. It was interesting to me that when he called our house to set up a time to come by, he asked for me. My roommate had answered the phone, but he had to talk to me. I thought that was weird and came to find later, that it was just a coincidence, and my name was the only one he knew.

He came by to teach and mentioned how things "stuck out to him" a few more times. My roommate was giggling through the whole thing.

I thought that he was weird, but I certainly didn't have anything to hold against him. He seemed genuinely concerned about the girls in my apartment, which was a refreshing change from some of our previous home teachers.

The Plot Thickens

Occasionally, since we really appreciated his service to us so much, we would make him treats. One day, a friend of mine was over and I had made some peanut butter rice crispy treats. I called Ian to invite him over as well (by suggestion of my friend). The phone number I used was what he gave us after our first appointment in case we needed anything. To my surprise, I called the number and talked to Ian's Dad, Wayne. I was really confused at first and thought his roommates were playing a joke on us. I think he was pretty confused too. We got it all sorted out after a while. Ian stopped by later that night and I told him the story of how I had talked to his Dad. I think he was embarrassed, but at the same time, we were able to have a good laugh about it.

Time passed and Ian came to invite us to do things with other people in our ward. The first Saturday sport we played was softball. I love softball! How could I pass that up? The next week was Ultimate Frisbee which I had recently discovered I loved playing. I had to go to that. We spent many Saturday mornings together.

"I Think He Likes You!"

My roommates noticed that Ian had started dropping by more often and asking if I was home. They said he would play it off by trying to see if everything was okay with them, but they would say things like "I think he likes you". I was in total denial. I knew what Ian was looking for in girls (most particularly her testimony of the gospel) and I hadn't shown that to him in any way. It certainly wasn't that I didn't have one, I just didn't have any opportunities to share with him. At the time, I was teaching Gospel Doctrine, but he didn't know that. All he knew of was my other calling (Relief Society Greeter).

I remember one specific Saturday when we played Ultimate Frisbee. We had all gone to breakfast afterward. When saying goodbye, Ian got a funny look on his face as if he was sad to go. I thought it was a little weird, but I just shook it off. Later that day, he stopped by my house. He said he was on his way home from the Library (my house is not on his way home) and thought he'd just stop by. He asked me if I wanted to go to a concert with a bunch of people from the ward. I was already planning on going, so I agreed. After this episode, I was pretty sure there was something going on, but I wasn't sure why.

As time passed, Ian continued to stop by at the more random and inopportune times. I remember once, I was just about to leave on a date and he came over. All I could think was 'great timing'.

The Bonfire

The day I was absolutely sure how Ian felt, without him saying anything was a Saturday night. We had been out to the Sand dunes for a BBQ/bonfire. He had spent a lot of time around me (weather I wanted him to or not) and I could just tell. I decided that I would test it a little. When we went to play capture the flag, I went to Ian (since we were on opposite teams) and asked him to cheat for us. Knowing that Ian was an upstanding guy, I didn't think he would actually do it. When he agreed (after a lot of convincing) I knew there had to be more than just the duty of home teacher to his motive.

After the game, we walked back together to the fire where everyone else was. I expressed my fondness for walks. Ian said that he hadn't taken many walks, and I made the suggestion that he should. It's nice to have time to calm down a little.

That night, after I dropped him off at home, I was talking to my roommates about what had happened. While I was dropping him off, Ian had said that on a scale of 1 to 10, his day was a 9. Soon after I started talking to my roommates, I got a text message from Ian with a correction to his evaluation of the day. He said that his day was actually an 11. When I asked why, he said "because of the company." You can imagine my amusement.

Our First Walk

The next day, Ian called. I was sure he wasn't calling about home teaching, because he'd already done that for the month. When he called, he said "I'd been meditating on what you said last night about walks, and I was wondering if maybe you'd want to go on a walk with me today." On my end, I thought 'he's really trying hard' accompanied by silent laughter. I agreed resolving that it might be fun and that he was certainly harmless. Don't doubt that after I hung up the phone, I reported to my roommates what had happened.

Later that day, we enjoyed a short walk and each other's company. It was Father's day, so I got another chance to talk to Ian's Dad. That was definitely embarrassing considering what happened the last time we talked. To my surprise, it was good.

To Bake Is to Love...

The next day, Ian asked me to help make a cake for his roommate's birthday. We made the most amazing cake (Mike Wizowsky). It was a great time, and to my surprise, when he left, I actually missed his company. At this point I thought 'is he actually starting to grow on me?' He came back after his Family Home Evening and we took some cards that I had forgotten to send with him to his roommate, Won.

When we got to Ian's apartment, Won asked "so, anything new?" At that point, I knew something was up. I decided to go home and Ian offered to walk me to the car. It wasn't very far away, but I decided to allow it and see what would happen. We had some small talk and then he asked me, in what seemed like the most awkward way if I'd like to go out with him on Friday. I agreed and asked if he'd like to go to Devotional with me. He agreed.

I had no intention of asking him to go to Devotional with me. It just popped out. Weird.

We spent every night that week together until curfew. Neither of us were used to staying up so late so we were exhausted. Also some people in the ward had seen us at Devotional together, so needless to say, we were the "ward gossip," as my visiting teaching companion put it.

Thursday came and I started teasing Ian, saying that I never saw him really be serious and I never saw other emotions besides happy. I wondered for a while if he had any others. I also teased him that I couldn't trust him because he wasn't telling me everything about him. Mostly, I just wanted him to tell me that he liked me and this was the only was I could think to do it.

Our First Date

We went on our date Friday night and had a great time. It was a very simple date. We went down to the Rexburg nature park and took a walk. Ian and I had a serious conversation so I found he could be serious and did have other emotions. Then we had to address the trust issue. I think he knew what I was getting at all along. After trying to escape about a million bugs, we found a bug-free spot to sit and talk. After a little coaxing including me saying "just say it already", Ian told me that he liked me and I reciprocated the feeling. He asked me what the next step was since he'd never been in a relationship before and was relatively clueless.

I explained how we would need to decide to be exclusive or still date other people. He said "In my mind, the reason I told you that was because I don't want to date anyone else. Are you okay with that?" I agreed, but I wasn't quite sure about the whole thing. After making it official, I decided that holding hands would probably be a good idea and a good indicator if I actually liked him as much as I though. I asked him if he wanted to hold my hand and he said "yes, actually."

We walked and talked and got to know each other better. From that day forward we've hit it off!

And That Is History...

In the beginning with Ian, I wasn't sure what would come of it. I certainly didn't think that I would be marrying him. As time passed, somehow Ian changed into my wildest dream come true. He is my knight in shining armour and certainly the love of my life and all eternity. I'm so grateful to be getting married to him, and that through the mercy of God my judgemental mind didn't prevent me from missing out on this wonderful man, and tremendous blessing. I guess I've gotten more than just a husband out of all this, but a life lesson too. Don't judge a book by it's cover.