January 14, 2015
January 1,
2015, afternoon:
My cell
phone rings. It’s an unknown number. I’ve got a friend… she’s extremely
annoying and always calls with an unknown number. I think it’s her and don’t
answer the phone because I don’t feel like talking to her right now. A few
minutes later my mailbox informs me that someone left a message. I never check
my mailbox. I want to put my phone away, but for some reason I can’t, and I
call my mailbox to listen to the message. I’m honestly surprised when a woman
explains that they are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints (Wow, so many ‘of’s in that sentence) and that I should call them back.
Why I’m surprised? Not even 12 hours have passed since I filled in the form! I
really didn’t expect to hear from them that
quickly. And it’s New Year’s Day! It’s a holiday, isn’t it? Aren’t they
celebrating with their families and friends?
My family
wants to know why I look as if I’ve just seen a ghost. I tell them about the
unexpected call and they laugh. That doesn’t help! I have no idea how I should
react to the call. Should I call back? Do I really want to meet these
Missionaries? Maybe I made my decision too fast. I should just ignore them,
shouldn’t I?
Instead of
helping me my family scares me and tells me horror stories about sects and that
I will never be able to get out again, once they caught me. In addition, my
mother says that if I really want to meet them, I have to meet them somewhere
else. She doesn’t want any “sect-people” in her house. I feel a little sick to
my stomach and decide to ignore the call. But I have a feeling that it won’t be
the last call…and I’m determined to answer the next one.
January 2,
2015, evening:
I’m
currently watching “Lost” with my mother. My phone rings. Unknown number. This
time I know immediately who’s at the other end of the phone. “The Mormons are
calling!” I say wide-eyed. My mother tells me that I should answer the phone
because they won’t give up, but I’m too afraid. Again, with a strange feeling in my stomach, I
ignore the call.
January 3,
2015, at noon:
It’s
Saturday. I pretty much just got up after staying awake half the night. The
doorbell rings. I think it’s the postman and I’m about to open the door, when my
mother says, that it’s probably a Mormon. I look at her in shock and beg her to
tell them I’m not home. I look absolutely shitty and am not even fully dressed!
She doesn’t say anything in response and opens the door. Those are really the
Mormons. I hear them ask for me. It’s so weird, but I seriously feel like a
serial killer who’s wanted by the FBI.
Of course,
my mother being my mother, she completely ignores my plea and calls me. No
kidding, for a second I look for places I could hide. Maybe the curtain? Or
behind the sofa? If I’m quick I could also take the back entrance and run away. My mother excuses herself for a moment and closes the door. I give her my best
“What the heck?”-Expression. She shrugs it off and tells me that the Mormons
were two young girls of my age with long skirts who looked just like Jehovah's Witnesses. I tell her that I don’t want
to talk to them right now. We have a short discussion. I win. “What should I
tell them?” my mother asks annoyed. “I don’t know! Just say I’m taking a shower
or something,” I answer. She rolls her eyes. “Tell them I’ll call 'em back!”,
I add before she opens the door again. The girls politely leave a card and go.
I feel sorry for them but I really couldn’t get myself to talk to them at that
moment.
Once again
I’m left with a terrible feeling in my stomach and don’t know what to do. I
don’t even know why the thought of speaking to them makes me freak out so much.
It was my decision to fill in the form, wasn’t it? And I wanted to talk to
Mormons for months now, didn’t I? So what the heck is my problem now?
My father
comes downstairs and wants to know who it was at the door. When we tell him who
it was and that I refused to talk to them he tells me that I am stupid. I should
just talk to them already so that I finally accept that Mormons are at least as
crazy as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I am pulled
back and forth. One thing’s sure though: I have to call them back now because
they will definitely come back, and my mother won’t lie for me again. I ask my
parents for advice but they just say that I have to decide it myself. I had
gotten myself into this situation… I am on my own.
I hate to talk
to strangers on the phone - I know, I’m a weird person - I just never know what to say.
Their number on my phone is a cell phone number. I want to text them but I
don’t know if their cell phones can receive text messages. Do they even know
how to write a text message? And if I text them…should I ask for a meeting or
should I just tell them that everything has been a huge misunderstanding? I
could say I was drunk or something and my friends forced me to fill in that
form. No, that’s too rude. And I shouldn’t lie anymore.
Hours
later:
I finally
decide to send a text. Well, it’s more of a tiny, but very formal e-mail. I ask
them if they’d be free on Monday evening for a talk. (I even used a
complimentary close!). They answer almost immediately. Very informal and with a
smiley! A smiley!! Like seriously, I thought they wouldn’t know what a text
message is, but they even use smileys! Maybe, against all expectations, they
are normal humans after all.
Anyway,
after a few more texts the meeting is set up. And they would be coming to our
place on Monday because my mother decided that it was safer for me to meet “sect-people”
at our house than somewhere else. I can barely sleep the following few nights.
To be continued…
(Okay, the
present tense thing doesn’t really work for me. Gonna write the next parts in past
tense again :D)
