In 2022 I went to get a dental exam at a dental office Veronica was working at the time. After a few visits I was invited to a bible study in which I got to know Veronica spiritually while desiring to spiritually grow myself in my relationship with God. It was during the bible studies that I grew an interest in who Veronica was and was aspiring to be which had everything to do with finding purpose in reflecting and living out her values. It's funny to look back at it now and say that at the time we were getting to know each other that we realized we had very different backgrounds and life experiences. We also shared a strong desire to reflect our beliefs in living for Christ or in other words reflecting the love of God in all that we do. I remember thinking that I just started to have this desire while Veronica has always desired to grow in her relationship with God. So I felt like it was a long shot to see us being together. But fast forward almost 3 years of intentional dating, ups & downs, growth in communication, character, and love for one another God made a way for us to be here planning a life as one for eternity with love at the center. ~ Ioane

The first time I met Ioane (Nane), he was a patient in the dental chair at the office where I worked. He could barely see my face, but I remember thinking he was very handsome and looked around the same age. I treated him with the same friendliness that I treated all patients and figured I would never see him again. But God had other plans. My friend Alix was working at the front desk and after one of Ioane's appointments, she found out he was new to Washington and invited him to a bible study. He started coming to church, bible studies and young adult events and I began to see that he was becoming invested in spiritual things. At these events I was able to talk to him more and realized that he was a man who was thoughtful and caring. As I learned about his desires to rekindle his spiritual life he had grown away from, I became more and more attracted to his sense of conviction and commitment. By the end of 2022, I was convinced that he wasn't interested in me. In January I was at church showing a friend a picture of my newborn nephew. Ioane came over, clearly interested in the conversation, but I nervously brushed it off and tried to ignore him because I didn't want to start to hope again that he might be interested. A few weeks later we ended up being leaders in the same bible study group (thanks once again to our friend Alix lol). After leading the first study, we and the other leaders of the study spent over an hour hanging out and I had a hard time keeping my feelings of interest from popping up again. Even so, I was surprised the next day when I saw text appear on my phone from Nane. "Are you free to hang out" he asked. I was nervous from excitement, but we agreed to meet up for boba that upcoming Friday. And we kept hanging out until Nane officially asked me to be his girlfriend on April 16, 2023. We have been through a lot together and have supported each other through major life changes and challenges and we are so excited to take this next step together. ~ Veronica

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