Potomac 4.0 Fireside - Day 3; Usher

I volunteered to be an usher and greeter tonight, so I arrived early to take my place with the programs.  I worked the entrance of the room, gave programs to people and directed them.  The speaker was part of the public affairs group and spoke on using digital media to spread the word about the church and do some missionary work through it.  I then helped put away the chairs and stayed for treats.  I met a guy named Douglas and we talked for a while about dating in the church.  We discussed the issues we are facing, the strategies that some use and the psychology and human nature behind it.  I had a few snacks and spoke to Anne-Marie and then left.  My conversation with Douglas was a little depressing because it felt as if we were all fighting an uphill battle to find someone to marry.

When I joined this ward, I came in pretty aggressive and may have rubbed some women the wrong way.  Instead of taking my time to befriend them, I saw them as potential dates and partners, which got me to focus on getting them alone for a date.  If I found that the woman was not immediately willing to date me or attentive to my advances, I would strike her off the list and move on to the next one.  That strategy failed miserably and caused some awkwardness between some of the women and myself.  It probably even caused me to have a bad reputation with some and word probably started spreading about my weirdness and flawed approach.

As time went on and I learned more about the social dynamics of the ward, my strategy changed.  However, the damage was already done with who I saw as some of the best women in this ward.  Unfortunately, I wasn't quite sure how to repair those relationships and wasn't sure how what my reputation was at this time.  I had felt especially prompted to contact Kelly, which I had a good rapport with but seemed very cold towards me recently.  I believe that it was because of some comments I had made about dating while we were on the temple trip, and also because I had asked her if she wanted to get together and when I felt that she did not, I asked her for information about another sister in the ward so that I could ask her out on a date.  Since that time, Kelly has been different around me and it's been awkward.  It wasn't my intention to create this tension, so I decided to text Kelly to see ask her if she had time to talk to me.  It's been 12 hours and I haven't received a reply yet, so we'll see how that plays out.