The mission of love.

Today I will address a topic to which I am very sensitive:
Waiting for Missionaries

I have had some experience with multiple sides and perspectives of the whole waiting for missionary experience. My freshman year I dated a dear boy who left on a mission. We were both under the impression that I would date other people while he was gone, but if I was still single when he got back, we would definitely date and probably get married. He came back, I was single, we didn't date, that was almost 2 years ago and he's married now (not to me, obviously).
I knew a lot of girls when I was 19 and 20 who were waiting for missionaries. Something I could never handle was the girls who refused to date anyone else for a whole 2 years because they were waiting for this boy. I felt like they were limiting their opportunities to meet new people and possibly meet someone who would be better for them. Most of those girls ended up getting married to someone else before their missionary got home. Yes, some of those "waiting" relationships worked out, but not most.
And then the missionary age change happened. I was just about to turn 22, so it didn't effect me, but I swear it effected every person around me. It changed the face of dating in Provo for the next couple of years. Now I have to face something that I rarely was confronted with before the age change: boys waiting for missionaries. There are tons of them. Boys who started dating and fell in love with a girl even though they knew she was working on her mission papers. Boys who fooled themselves into thinking they could convince these girls to stay home and marry them. Boys who were brokenhearted when these girls still decided to go on their missions. And boys who are either struggling at dating or just not dating period because they are convinced they will marry this girl when she returns.
This is the world we live in now. It's making dating way more complicated than it needs to be. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
There are multiple boys that I have wanted to date, who are perfectly wonderful, but won't consider dating anyone because they are waiting for a missionary. Some examples? Most recently and heartbreakingly: Samwise. And also a couple other boys who I have yet to mention because nothing significant has ever developed.
Am I just being overly sensitive because my heart is invested in Samwise? Possibly, but I honestly think this is a problem in Provo right now. I just want to slap every boy who is waiting for a missionary and say "If she really wanted to marry you, she wouldn't have left!!" Maybe that wouldn't be the best approach, but I think that in many cases it is so true. The first wave of sister missionaries will start coming home in about 6 months, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Yes, I'm sure some of these "waiting" relationships will end up working out and they will get married and live happily ever after, but in general, I see these relationships playing out much like those I observed back when all the guys my age were on missions. I don't think the relationships will work out, to no fault of the boy or the girl. People just change and 18 months is a long time. If someone is truly invested in the work of the Lord, I honestly think that they should not be worrying about the girl or boy back home waiting to marry them.