"The Dudes" Who Appeared from No Where

Moving Sucks

Matt and I moved over the weekend. From our tiny-but-seemed-huge-when-we moved-in one bedroom apartment into a bigger "townhouse" apartment with 2 bedrooms, a basement, and a garage. It's nice to have some space to live.
Although worth it, moving was not so nice. We are not good at moving. With all the moving that Matt and I have both done in the past decade or so of our lives, you'd think we'd be great at it. You'd think wrong. We found our new place 9 days before we had to be out of our old apartment. Side note: I say place because I don't feel right about calling it an apartment... if feels more like a house. We started packing boxes the night before the big move. Oh, and Matt calls to book a U-Haul the day before the move. There is only one available in our area... on the other side of Toledo, which would be OK, but they charge by the mile. Lame. Procrastination is an issue for us. We're trying to get better.
So moving day comes and I'm still frantically packing and cleaning our old apartment and we have tons of boxes, heavy furniture, etc to move. The only person we have to help move is Matt's mom. Side note: NEVER EVER EVER move on Halloween weekend. The friends you thought you had will be MIA! Trust me, it's a horrrrrible idea. So Matt and his mom start loading boxes on the truck. Just boxes. Nothing serious like couches, dressers, heavy stuff. Matt's mom is already gasping for breath. Matt sees his mom and begins to worry that she is going to have a heart attack helping us move (seriously, no joke). And I'm still packing boxes and cleaning. Matt says to me, "I wish I had just one more person with my strength and energy to help. I don't know how we're going to do this." I can see him stressing and don't know what to do.
Minutes later, on the next trip down to the truck (did I mention we were in an upstairs apartment, making the task twice as difficult?) Matt hears a voice, "Do you guys need some help?" It's a guy from our building. We don't really know anyone from our building, especially not outside of our hall. Instinctively, both Matt and his mom begin to say,"No thanks," but he persists, insisting that it's no trouble and would love to help. Matt tells him we'll need some help in a little bit, when we get to the furniture and tells him he'll knock on his door when we need him.
In less than five minutes, the guy shows up at our door, with a friend. They both insist that they have nothing else to do and turn down Matt's offer to "buy them a beer later."  They explain they are missionaries and do this kind of stuff all the time. That is when I notice the name tags they are both wearing: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Suddenly there is an awkward tension in the air. They're Mormons!
I realize I have seen (and avoided eye contact with) them before in our building. Matt and I have even had conversations about how "weird" they are. Usually they are in suits, but today they are dressed in jeans and t-shirts.
My thoughts in this moment: Oh crap. Are they going to try to convert us? Why did Matt have to offer them a beer?; Now they think we are alcoholic sinners who need to be saved. We don't have time for this today of all days.  I know Matt and his Mom both have thoughts racing through their minds similar to mine, but there they are, and willing to help.
Not only did they help pack up the moving truck, carrying box after box and all of our heavy furniture, "the dudes," as they said we could call them, insisted on following Matt in their own car to our new apartment to help move all of our belongings into our new place. They gave us their entire afternoon and early evening and would only accept a bottle of Powerade when we practically forced them to drink it.

Matt and I "heart" our new Mormon friends.

Within half an hour of meeting The Dudes, we were laughing, sharing stories, and just having fun with them. Not once did they try to "convert" us or even talk about religious beliefs. Not once did I feel judged by them. They were some of the nicest guys I have met and were very normal - if there is such a thing.
What would have been an entirely difficult day turned out to be much easier, even fun, all because The Dudes showed up when we needed them the most. I am so incredibly grateful for the random Mormon Missionaries who  appeared out of nowhere and helped us move (ALL DAY) on Saturday. I honestly don't know how we would have done it without their enthusiastic help!
The interesting thing is that being open-minded is something Matt and I take pride in. I have friends from all different walks of life. I think of myself as someone who is open to all people, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I embrace diversity. I often refer to myself as "close-minded to close-mindedness." All of this, and we judged these two guys without giving them a chance. Ironically, we assumed they would judge us. It was eye-opening. It made me realize that everyone has room to grow. Society as a whole has many prejudices and it is important to be aware of them, even within yourself, in order to fight them. Diversity has many faces, even those of conservative white males.