“I Don’t Want to!” . . . “Yes, You Do!”

I don’t usually like to fight with the Spirit.  It isn’t a smart thing to do and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.   But I argued with it the night it inspired me to ask Steve Wassom to the Fall Preference girl’s choice dance.  We had gone out a couple of times since our first date to the football game and I was trying my best not to mess things up!  I had made up my mind three days earlier to not jinx everything by asking him to the dance.   Every other time I had asked someone to a girl’s choice dance in the past it had turned out poorly and I wasn’t going to chance it with him!

As I knelt to say my prayers one night I had a strong spiritual impression that I should ask Steve to the Preference dance.  I sighed with dismay.  A little argument followed:

Spirit:     “You need to ask Steve to the dance.”

Me:         “Nope!  I don’t want to.”

Spirit:     “Yes, you do.”

Me:         “Nuh-uh.”

Spirit:     “Uh-huh.”

Me:         “o.k.”

It was a leap of faith, but I would do it!   I immediately began to think of a way to ask him.  The dance was a little over a week away and I decided to write a clever letter.  I typed it on my break while I was at work on Honors Program stationary and was trying to figure out a way to deliver it to him.  Steve often studied in the Honors Reading Room down the hall from my office and it just so happened that he was there that day.

Enter…Crazy Dr. Flammer!  While I was debating on how to do it, he grabbed the letter from my hand and marched straight into the Reading Room.  He loudly demanded, “Is Steve Wassom here?”  Steve was rather mortified and slowly raised his hand.  Dr. Flammer thrust the letter into his hand and marched right back out.

I had mischievously designed the letter to make it difficult for him answer me.  He was to choose one of several very inconvenient methods.

1. Carrier pigeon
2. Paper airplane
3. A note inside a cereal box
4. Yodel it from his housetop
5. A singing telegram
6. A handwritten message delivered by President Dallin H. Oaks
7. A Chinese fortune cookie.
   
   

   (This is the actual cookie. It is almost 40 years old!)

I nervously waited.  I was amazed that evening when a messenger stood on the doorstep of my apartment with a Frosted Flakes cereal box containing Steve’s answer.  He had responded in almost every way only to tell me, “No.”  He had already had a date that night.

I was very confused.  He had obviously gone clear out of his way and wanted to go out with me because he gave me several other options. It was then that I realized that I had made a huge mistake.  There was no Preference Dance on the Saturday night I had asked him for!  (My attention to details isn’t the greatest!)  The dance was on Friday night and he could go with me then!

The rest is history!  We had a delightful time and were engaged 2½ weeks later!