Autumn was on a mission trip to Haiti, relaxing on a typical Sunday afternoon at the mission house when Hobson, AKA Pipo (Pee-po), showed up at the house to give his dad a ride home. Manno; host/interpreter in Haiti, Pipo's cousin, and one of Autumn's dear friends; knew Autumn wanted to ride a "moto" in Haiti and asked Pipo to give her a ride. Pipo obliged and Autumn was her usually giggly, giddy self as she climbed on the back of the bike and held on for dear life. Pipo showed up the next evening for dinner and devotions, and they connected on social media. He made his way to the mission house each evening following until Autumn had to go home.

I promised updates and I finally have one. Many people are unaware of the multiple steps that it takes for a foreigner to enter the US. Hobson and I have been working through the process and learning lots as we go. The first step was a form I-129F a Petition for Alien Fiancee filed with the USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services). We received an approval letter from the USCIS dated 6/18/19! This is an exciting piece of paper to get in the mail! Our case has now been sent to the National Visa Center for processing. The NVC will issue a case number and then we can move forward and work with the US Embassy in Haiti to schedule medical exams and an interview for Hobson. In the mean time we have been working with our lawyer on the next round of paperwork so we are ready when that happens! We are still planning and praying that we can get all of that completed before the July 27 wedding date! Once we are able to schedule the interview we will have a more certain idea of the timeline! Please join us in praying for the remainder of the process to move quickly and efficiently!

Well, to say I have bad news would be inaccurate, but to say I have disappointing news is a much more accurate portrayal of my feelings. The short story is that there is no visa yet, so we've made the decision to postpone the wedding until further notice. We won't set another date until we have more definite plans. As I previously wrote, we were waiting for a case number from the NVC. After persistent calling I was able to obtain that late Monday afternoon. Tuesday we submitted a form and needed to pay a fee in Port Au Prince. Pipo paid it and got a receipt number which is the next number needed to move to the next step- scheduling an interview. Today, a call to the Embassy in Haiti revealed that they had not received our case from the NVC yet. A call to the NVC determined that they are still entering data from the case into their system. They have no estimated time for it to be finished but assured me that I will receive an email as soon as it is sent (electronically) to the Embassy. With that new information and the reality that the remaining steps that will need to be completed once the interview is scheduled will take time, we made the difficult decision to postpone the wedding. Once the interview is scheduled and we have an accurate idea of when the process will be complete and we'll have the green light from immigration, we will start looking at calendars to schedule a new date. Once Pipo arrives in the US the clock starts ticking and we will have 90 days to be married. In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers as this process is long and tiring. We're approaching the finish line and there is hope. We know that when the long wait is over it will all have been worth it. It is not in our timing, but in God's that things will work out.

Here's the short and sweet. Pipo had his visa appointment today and was approved. I'm in Haiti now with him and we intend to travel home next week together! (don't worry friends, with the predicted snow, our first stop in MN will be to purchase a WARM coat!) We are planning the wedding for October 26th, 2019 In Bemidji, MN. Now there's certainly more to this story than the short and sweet tells, so if you'd like to keep reading, I'll share that. In true fashion of this process thus far, there had to be a few bumps in the road. Hobson got the call about a month ago(after waiting more than a month after submitting more documentation) that his interview was scheduled for September 30th. He was to arrive at the US Embassy in Port Au Prince at 7 AM. I booked a flight to get to Haiti on the 29th to be with him during this final step. The week leading up to my flight was stressful, to say the least. The political unrest (due to a lot of different factors) had the people of Haiti rioting and protesting in the streets. It was a question of my safety traveling as well as whether or not the Embassy would even be open for anything other than emergencies for US Citizens. I checked the Embassy website for updates religiously and the last notice said the embassy had cancelled all appointments for the 26th and 27th but nothing about the 30th, so I got on the plane. Pipo went to the embassy Monday morning without me because of the uncertainty of possible protests in the streets. Upon arrival, he was told that all interviews had been cancelled for the day and he would receive a call to reschedule. He stopped again Tuesday and there was still nobody working. We decided since the streets had been clear/calm we would go Wednesday together. We arrived and there were long lines. We asked a friendly security guard if we'd be able to get in and he said to wait. After waiting for what seemed like forever we were let in and he finally got called for his interview ending in APPROVAL!