Stories of Jeff Excell - Serendipity

After our evening at the temple, I decided to ask Jeff over to my apartment to play Nintendo 64 games with me and my roommates. Since Nintendo was his favorite Christmas present of all time, I knew it was a no-fail recipe. The group quickly dwindled to just me and Jeff battling it out on Super Smash Brothers, subtly inching closer and closer with each game. It got late and we had early morning church the next day, so Jeff decided to go home.

Sunday morning comes quick after a late night of Nintendo. I had to go to an early morning meeting for someone who was out of town. My morning grogginess prevented me from realizing the ward's Executive Secretary would probably cross paths with me on the way to my meeting.

A calling like the Executive Secretary isn't taken lightly. No, no. They have to call someone who has been in the ward for a while. Someone they know will be devoted to the early morning meetings, show up on Sundays and willing to take diligent notes. Jeff Excell was a veteran in that particular singles ward and had earned the trust to hold such a calling. A calling he took great pride in as he asked people to say prayers and listened to the latest ward hookups in the early morning meetings.

I was running a little bit late for my meeting because...well...I had had a late night. But tardiness is excusable in a singles ward as long as it's dating that's interfering with church.

As I approached the Bishop's door, I saw a dashing young man leaning against the wall. That dashing Executive Secretary smiled and said, "I dreamt about Super Smash last night."
I was still groggy so probably said something not worth trying to remember followed by, "Are you going to this meeting?"
"No. My meeting got out about 15 minutes ago."
Hmmm. It was early, but at this point I was awake enough to know there was a reason he gave up a post-meeting, pre-church nap that day to stand outside the Bishop's office.

***

Then there was the time a couple days later when he was texting me. He asked me what I was doing that night. I told him I had tithing settlement. Mind you, I was already on my way to tithing settlement as I was telling him this.

It was a busy night for tithing settlements. I sat outside and waited. After about...I'm going to say seven minutes...in walked that dashing Executive Secretary. This was too perfect to be a coincidence. I am certain of this because I now know it takes approximately...seven minutes to drive from Jeff's parents' house to the church.

We chatted. He told me funny stories. Then my mom called. I will always remember this. I had told her select things about Jeff, but I don't think she knew a lot. Jeff was distracting me while I was talking to her. I told her I was at tithing settlement and that Jeff had followed me. Then she told me I was being too giggly so she'd just let me go.

I didn't think I was being overly giggly. Then I realized I was. Then I realized it wasn't bad necessarily. Each giggle confirmed I had a good time with Jeff. He was winning me over one giggle at a time.

One of my favorite things about Jeff when we were dating was how forward he was. He literally chased me. Which sounds kind of creepy but he did it so adorably. He successfully made our lives imitate all those cheesy romance comedies where the guy and girl keep "accidentally" running into each other. It was perfect and fun to have him put so much effort into spending a few extra minutes with me.

Oh Jeff Excell. My very own Jonathan Trager.