My Mission--Part 9--Coming Out Cont'd (and a Taste of Hell)

After I told one of my best friends from the mission, my life got easier. I was no longer burdened with the weight of my sexual identity. And, every day was so much fun!

In my mission--and in most missions--the elders would play a game. Traditionally, if you saw a hot girl, you would rate her by number, saying something between 1-10, 10 being the highest. Now, after telling my companion that I was attracted to guys, he would whisper, "Number?", when we would pass an attractive guy. I would give the number and we would move on. He would rate the girls and I would rate the guys. It was pretty funny.

That companion and I were only together for one transfer.

I then continued my mission as normal. Life went on. I went to different areas, met new people, had amazing experiences, and loved every second of it.

When my mission was coming to an end, I new that I would be "promoted" to Zone Leader. Each time there are transfers, elders try to guess who's going to what area. Most of the elders in my zone and district all placed their bets on me being transfered to Faro, the farthest south you could go on the mission.

On the day of transfers, I got a call from my mission president. They were right.

I was being transferred to Faro to be a Zone Leader.

My mission president continued, "You'll also be serving with Elder Van Ackerman."

"What?!" I exclaimed with joy. "Are you serious?"

I had thought he had left the mission already. He was a great guy. I had only heard good things about him.

President chuckled, "Well, I'm glad that you like him already. You two should work very well with each other."

"Obrigado, Presidente!"

The next day, I packed up my bags and took the 5 hour bus and train ride to Faro, Portugal. Since I was serving up north, I wasn't ready for such a humid and hot climate. Stepping out of the train, the heat hit me like a ton of bricks. I immediately started sweating, even though I was just standing there.

I looked around to see if my companions was waiting for me. I didn't see any tall German-American with a white shirt and tie anywhere. So, I sat down and waited.

And waited....

And waited some more...

I finally went to a payphone and called the mission office to see if they could give my companion a call.

About one hour later, my companion walks up with two other elders.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Elder Van Ackerman!"

He ran over and gave me a big hug.

"How's it going, Artaxerxes?"

"Great! I've just got here, so...you're right on time!" (lying never hurt anyone)

"Well, let's head back to the apartment, unpack, and then we've gotta go; we have some appointments tonight."

I was stunned.

"We...have...investigators here?"

He laughed. "Yeah. Why wouldn't we?"

I was so excited to be serving in an area with real-life investigators! I guess they weren't fiction after all!

We trudged back to our apartment; all the other elders carrying my bags for me. Wow! I thought. These are all great missionaries. I am going to love it here.

Walking up four flights of stairs and entering our apartment, I was shocked of its size. We had three bedrooms--one for sleeping, one for studying, and one for exercising. We had a full kitchen and a full bathroom. It was nice.

I unpacked my things and we headed off to teach.

We were a bit ahead of schedule, so Elder Van Ackerman decided to give me a tour of the Church meeting house.

I nearly peed when I saw it.

"You mean..." I gasped, "...you mean...it's a real chapel!? Not...a basement apartment converted into one?!"

"Yes, sir," he said.

I started laughing. This was great!

"Now," he stopped, opening the door. "There's just one thing that I need to do here and then we'll go."

We went to a back room. It was dark and kinda scary.

"Ummm...you're not going to rape me are you?" I jokingly said, trying to ease the mood.

He stopped. "Elder. That is not missionary language."

"Oh. Sorry."

We entered a room. It looked like the family history library.

He turned on a computer and sat down. I pulled up a chair next to him.

He took a breath and said, "We've got a very special project we're working on for Presidente and Irma Terry. We're making a photo book with pictures of all the areas in the mission, all the elders and sisters, and everything else. It's a pretty big surprise and a secret. And...we're the ones in charge of putting it all together."

He opened Microsoft Word and started adding more images, text, etc.

I watched him throw everything together. It seemed haphazard and it honestly didn't look good at all.

I sighed.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Well...I just think...that...um...that picture should go over there and not there, " I said pointing to screen.

He scoffed. "How about no?"

"Okay, well, this is your project, not mine. I just wanted to give some insight."

He scoffed again. "Well, I don't need it Elder Artaxerxes. You can just go read your scriptures or something while I do this."

I was shocked. "Wow. Our first fight." I pretended to whimper.

He turned to look at me. His face was stone cold. "It won't be our last," he whispered. "Now, go read."

I couldn't believe it! All the great things that I had heard about this elder were false! What the hellsies was going on? Maybe he's just having a bad day, right? People are entitled to those.

I just didn't know in that moment, that this elder was going to have a bad day every day. Every single day of the week. At all times. All moments.

I had a little taste of Hell.

How did I know that this elder would become the only person I've ever hated--yet respected so much?

The next installment will cover my coming-out story to Elder Van Ackerman and our countless fights. In an up-coming post, I will go over what my mission president had to say about me being gay. Yup. I even came out to my president. Stay tuned.