Not too long after Stephen had admired Victoria from afar (he had heard her testimony in a joint society prayer meeting as well as was the usher on her aisle for chapel) the Lord finally brought them together in Bible Doctrines class fall semester of two-thousand and seventeen. After sitting in front of Stephen the first day of class, Victoria showed up the second day of class and lo and behold, the only seat left open, literally, was right next to Stephen. Half way through the class period, Dr. McGonnigal said to turn to the person next to you and discuss your thoughts about doctrine, and conversations continued on from there. What a blessing to get that conversation over with in the beginning! ;) If you'd like to hear more, let us know, we love to share our story!

On May twenty-first Stephen proposed to Victoria in a simple but surprising way. The day before the engagement Stephen could not sleep because he was about to make one of the most important decisions in his life (apart from salvation). He got up, brushed his teeth, and confirmed that morning “I am going to marry Victoria Keise”. He went to work and shared with his coworkers what he was going to do that day and left right at five-o-clock heading straight to Victoria’s house. Stephen showed up right when Victoria pulled into her driveway. Victoria looked at him like “what on earth are you doing here?” In his hurry to get out of the car he picked up the ring but he did not drop everything else in his hands (phone, keys, wallet, everything) but it was too late to go back! He kept everything behind his back forgetting that usually when they see each other, they hug. Stephen knew Victoria is smart and that she would try to look when he released from their hug. So, he got really close and threw his arms around Victoria, and when they released, he quickly switched the ring to his other hand with Victoria seeing nothing. Yup, she looked. Stephen then began his engagement speech. After placing all of the items, but the ring, in his pockets, he was ready to get to the proposal. He mentioned verses in Proverbs 31 such as “an excellent wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” He then paused, said to himself "I am about to propose to Victoria Keise,” got down on one knee and asked Victoria to be his wife. Most importantly, she said, “yes.”