Willard Reporting:

His date seemed to have a good time, though it was obviously the time to put his arm around her or take her hand, and he did nothing in that area. Poor thing is likely confused now.

Willard had the clear impression on the date that, wonderful as she is, this girl is just too young for him. Maybe it’s not a matter of age, maybe it is, but he’s not feeling the sparks. If it’s not happening by the third date, it’s probably time for Willard to move on. Shucks. Willard really is a nerd. No wonder he’s not married.

Isn’t that irony at its best? Those who are worst at dating have to do it longer?

For His Next Trick . . .

Willard will attempt the third date. Only the bravest dare try this feat, and Willard is shaking in his boots.

To add to the excitement, Willard will also be introducing this girl to his entire family. He didn’t originally intend this – it was an activity his family had planned, and he decided to bring a girl.

They will be traveling an hour each way to see the family as well, so to top it off, this will be a marathon date.

Tune in to see whether he soars or splatters on the pavement.

Waiting for Missionaries/Willard takes a leap

“Why, Wally Kessler, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

86% of pre-mission relationships do not end in marriage, according to this article. It makes sense that through all that time, people would grow apart and either find someone new (hopefully only the girls are doing this) or just not be as compatible by the time they get back together. Of course, lots of those relationships probably wouldn’t have ended in marriage even without the mission. Still, it’s interesting how people change. Hopefully married people can change together and not grow apart the same way.

On a separate note, Willard did it. Willard told one of the girls that likes him that he doesn’t want to send the wrong signals or waste any of her time. She sent him a facebook message saying that she likes him, and he had to be honest so she doesn’t feel worse later on. Willard hopes she takes it well. She’s a good girl.

Women + friendship = confusion

Yep, Willard is realizing that being friendly with girls leads to confusion sometimes. It’s not that he flirts with them, but he just likes who they are and being around them, and he enjoys showing it. He does it in a careful way, of course: when he wants to spend time with one girl, he asks her on a date, and that’s different.

Well, he’s realizing that girls take friendliness for interest most times, even when he’s being friendly with several girls in an apartment all together. He doesn’t initiate these friendships really – usually they invite him to do things, but Willard thinks maybe he can’t treat girls like he does guys. Maybe he can’t be friends with girls the same way.

This is even a problem when he talks to his girl-friends about the girls he’s dating! Willard didn’t realize this, but they think that him opening up to them is a sign that he’s interested in them! He thought it was a way of being friends – talking about other relationships!

Maybe girls don’t realize that if Willard likes them, he will pursue them directly. Maybe this is a symptom of their thinking people don’t date much, but Willard thought that, where they know he asks other girls out, they’d surmise that he dates the girls he’s romantically interested in.

It’s not happening on several fronts, and Willard realized in the last week or so that he’s sending the wrong signals by being friendly with girls – either in the way he’s doing it or by doing it at all. Those poor girls. Don’t they know what a nerd Willard is?

They probably do now.

Mormon Times

A new website dedicated to LDS-centered news was launched today called Mormon Times. Willard thinks this is a great thing.

Date Eve

Tomorrow is the big date. This one will be a second. It has actually been a little challenging for Willard to pursue this girl, because her roommate liked him for a long time, and Willard is a sensitive guy; he didn’t want to hurt her roommate’s feelings.

Well, the roommate got the picture without Willard having to be mean. They’re still friends, which makes Willard glad. He’s pretty excited about this date too. The girl is smart, fun, attractive, and good, and Willard enjoyed their first date (two weeks ago). They went to the ballet, and Willard liked it! the ballet!

Strange.

Breaking the news without breaking the heart

Willard has a situation. Willard has been seeing a great girl for the past few weeks, but he has decided to not pursue a relationship with her anymore. She has actually taken a lot of initiative, which Willard has appreciated, but that means she’s still going to invite Willard to dinner (probably tonight).

Willard obviously shouldn’t lead her on at all, but he wants to break the news in the best way – the way that will hurt the girl’s feelings least and make her feel the respect Willard has for her.

Yesterday, Willard’s friend said to tell the girl openly that he appreciates her but has decided to pursue someone else (this is true. There’s another great girl that Willard thinks might be a better fit for him, and he’s taking her out on Friday). That way, she won’t feel like the only reason is that Willard doesn’t like her.

So even though the first girl might feel bad, and Willard might feel uncomfortable telling her, he’s going to do it so she can move on to life after Willard, which should be pretty good.

Willard is a brave and caring man.

Marriage an Act of Faith

Willard thinks that a lot of people are scared of marriage. Willard knows he’s selfish and kind of lazy, and he’s afraid he won’t be a good father or husband. He sometimes wonders if waiting until he’s a better, happier person is a good idea.

However, Bishop Jon Hale reminds Willard that “the scriptures say that if a person will lose their life, they will find it.” Willard thinks this is good advice; he has to exercise faith in marriage and in himself before he will receive the witness.

He doesn’t want to be another of the “twentysomething Peter Pans’ who never ‘grow up,” – Deseret News Article

(Relatively) high amounts of dating at BYU

If only Elder Oaks could see us now.

Willard read about a study saying that “Most Brigham Young University students have more dates in a semester than other students do during their entire four-year college careers.” Willard thinks that is sad for those other students.

Willard likes going on dates and knows that, even though BYU students may be dating more than other students, they can still do better, date smarter. He heard a keynote speaker recently who said that even BYU students get married later and less often than they used to.

Durned x-box.

Mormon Reality T.V. and Online Dating

Willard read an article about a Utah-based reality dating show about to begin its second season featuring mostly LDS singles. It’s a clean show designed to promote newduck.com, a new free dating website. It’s funny, because Willard and his roommates were just talking about online dating last night; they’ve known several people who have had successful experiences with it, though Willard hasn’t tried it yet (he goes on so many dates with girls he already knows; how could he find the time?) Willard thinks dating through good web services might be fun whether you find a spouse or not (though as the article he mentioned in the last post says, dating merely for entertainment won’t get a bloke very far. Shucks.)

Still, online dating or not, he thinks a reality show about how Utahans date is a great idea – like a milder version of Napoleon Dynamite maybe.