The summer of 2017.... Maile went on a missions trip to China with her dad and a small team of friends. Little did she know this trip would change the course of her life. The team was small, and responsible for a large youth camp at an orphanage, so her dad invited some good friends from China to join with the team --Wailepa being one of them. He was a former student of her dad's, and youth group kid from Beijing. In fact, he was already part of the Carigon family-- having spent a lot of time with the Carigon's for holidays and during school breaks, though while Maile was away at college. When our small missions team arrived to Beijing, Wailepa joined us, and it did not take long before Wai noticed Mai and Mai noticed Wai. It also did not take long for our team to realize something was going on --even the campers were giggling and pointing. The camp was amazing, and the two of them fell in love while serving God together, and yes Maile's dad did have a hunch it might go down like this. Wailepa is from Tonga, an island in the South Pacific. At age 14, he accepted a scholarship to study in Beijing, at St. Paul American School. Upon arriving to China, he had to first learn English, and then Chinese in order to graduate from high school and later Beijing Sports University, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sports Management. Over the past year and a half, Wailepa and Maile's long-distance relationship grew, mainly over FaceTime and video calls. Maile was able to visit Wailepa in Beijing last October, followed by his visit to Hawaii in March and then to Michigan with the Carigon's in July. This allowed Wailepa to meet Maile's grandparents and extended family. As a 4th of July firework display lit up the night sky, Wailepa got down on his knee and asked Maile to marry him in front of a crowd of relatives and friends. All who were there, were honored to witness another step in the journey that God has designed for Wailepa and Maile.