Mission Memoirs: The Muffin Man

Day 316

On my mission I had all sorts of companions. Most of them I liked and got along with good. But there were a few that were a bit difficult to get along with. When I got to Staten Island I was paired up with a guy that was a very hard worker. I was not afraid of hard work at all, what I worried about was if the guy liked to have fun. I don't mind working hard just as long as we are having a good time doing it.

With this new companion, Elder Davidson, I was in for quite a ride. He did like to have fun but he was a strange person. He was not freaky or anything like that, he was just an odd duck.

April 25th, 1995

Today marked the 20th month that I have been on my mission! I cannot believe how the time really has flown. Today was DLZL so I was on a split with Elder Davis and Elder Anderson. We waited and waited for Davis to get ready so I called Reese and Powell (my former companions) and I got caught up with them. Reese was doing well in my old area but Powell was not having much fun out in Long Island. It seems like he has been taking a lot of flack from El' Presidente.

We finally left and went to our appointment with Angela and she juked us. This is not a good sign, she has been flaky the last couple of times we have seen, or at least tried to see her. Then we went and got some lunch at the mall and dropped in on the Mendez’s. Susan was not there, which is too bad because she was the one that was most interested but we spoke with Nilsa and Christina. After we looked up some referrals and we got back together with our companions around 7:00. Davidson and I saw Denine that evening for another long discussion.

 On the way home, my companion reminded me that he was such an odd duck. He was starving and after our appointment with Denine, I suggested we stop by and I’ll treat him to some muffins. (Sidenote: There was this bakery in Staten Island that made the best large muffins! They had all sorts of flavors like cherry crumb, chocolate chip, peach, apple and a ton more. They were baked fresh and they were 50 cents for two of them. We must have stopped in almost everyday.) Davidson was excited and so we headed over to grab some on the way home. I could tell he was tired as well so I was drove. We picked up some of those tasty muffins (I didn’t get any because I was not hungry) and we were driving home and he was digging into them. Then suddenly he asks me to roll down my window. I thought maybe he farted and was just being polite but I learned quickly that was not the case. Remember, this is Elder Odd Duck we are talking about here. I rolled my window down and he asked for me to roll it all the way down and so I did. Then he chucked the muffins out my window!

They looked like these. Only they were as large as your fist.

I turned to him shocked and he was smiling. “What did you do that for?” I asked him and he said he was just seeing if he had the willpower to throw them out. “I thought you were hungry?” I asked and he replied that he was really hungry but he had something to prove. I replied very sarcastically, “You proved something alright.” I don't know why that ticked me off but it did. I don't think that Davidson likes me anyway and here I am trying to be nice and he slaps me in the face. He then said that he was stronger for doing it. So I selfishly decided it would be best to make him feel guilty so I said, “You could have shared those muffins with the Spanish Elders or something. And are you going to eat something when you get home?” Davidson didn’t say anything so mission accomplished! What an odd, odd duck.

That was not the first time he did something strange nor was it his last time. I think I liked Davidson more than he liked me. He did things his way and I did things my way. Unfortunately at this time while on my mission, I did not see eye-to-eye with my Mission President and I got a bad reputation. Looking back I would not change a thing of how I worked. If Davidson contacted me out of the blue I would be happy to speak to him again.