Bad Date Hall of Fame: Stefany

My worst date ever was before I joined the LDS church. However, it was with an LDS boy, who, for purposes of anonymity, I'll call "Nick." It was the Jack of Hearts dance, which was a semi-formal girl's preference dance in February. I showed up at Nick's house to pick him up. He had a fresh haircut. It looked great, until I saw him from the side. He had playboy bunny shaved into the side of his head.

I felt humiliated. I was so embarrassed to be seen with him that night. I couldn't understand how my LDS boyfriend could do something like that (or how his parents could have condoned it). I suffered through dinner at Olive Garden with my friends, but when we got to the dance and stood up for pictures, he started to sense how upset I was - especially when I made him stand with the bunny facing away from the camera. Eventually, we got to arguing, and we broke up. My best friend and I traded dates for the rest of the night. Nick and I were no more, and Nick only spoke hurtful words to me for the next two years, with few exceptions.

I saw Nick again after I joined the church 5 years later. He had grown up a lot, and we became friends for the short time he was in town. He reintroduced me to his brother, who I dated just long enough to realize he wasn't the kind of guy who could take me to the temple (you know the type - "I'm trying to get active," "I'm trying to quit smoking," etc.). He was devastated at the break-up, and called me regularly for the next month to try to convince me that I should give him another chance. I made the decision after that to only date guys who were already worthy to go to the temple, and I met Aaron (my husband) a month later. What's really funny is that we discovered later that Aaron had been in their ward when they were 12 & 13. They didn't get along very well. I've never seen either brother since, but I've wondered if they ever heard about our marriage and made the connection.