On Sunday, October 29, 2023, I was feeling very ill with flu-like symptoms and, unfortunately, had to stay home from our usual Sunday church service. My family attended the service, and upon their return, told me about a kind family they had met and their beautiful daughter, Sofia.

The following week, as we were heading into church, my mom mentioned that Sofia’s family had said they wouldn't be at the service that day, so I didn't expect to meet her yet. While singing and playing my acoustic guitar during the service, I noticed a family sitting in the front row. Among them was a young woman with a radiant glow, so bright and beautiful that I felt my face and ears turn red. I knew immediately that she was Sofia, and in her glow, I saw my future, knowing it would be special because of her.

After the service, I introduced myself to Sofia and her family, congratulating her and her sister, Melody, on their recent baptism. November 5, 2023, was a day I would never forget.
In the weeks that followed, I saw Sofia at church and spoke to her as often as I could. Each time she spoke, my heart grew fonder. She truly seemed like an angel, and I loved her from the start. We eventually began having conversations during dinners with my family and Bible studies. I always felt a strong pull toward her, and I believed she felt the same, as if we both knew we were meant to be together.

She attended my brother and sister-in-law’s baby shower, and we spent most of the time talking. We had a fun chat while walking to her car, and I asked for her number. We texted about books, songs, and life, always being very sweet to each other. Then came the day when we invited Sofia and Melody to dinner at our house. We cooked together, played UNO, and had a lot of fun. Sofia didn't know that at the end of the night, I would give her a love letter and a single rose, expressing my feelings for her. When I gave her the letter, she hugged me, and we cried as she told me she felt the same way.

Two days later, I took her out on our first date. We talked for four hours at a coffee shop before deciding to grab dinner, having the most beautiful time together. I could feel us immediately falling deeply in love. We went on many dates and had amazing conversations and phone calls over the next five months until I asked her to be my wife. She said yes, and ever since then, we have been planning our future, starting with our wedding. Sofia is a beautiful and precious woman, and I will cherish her for the rest of my days. Meeting her has been the biggest blessing of my life. 
I love you, Sofia, always.








I met Jacob on the first Sunday of November, 2023, in church. My family and I had been so warmly welcomed the week before and I remember going home that day feeling so grateful for this amazing new church God had led me to and for having met the kindest couple, Chris and Penny Harp, who encouraged us to come back next Sunday. On that next Sunday, November 5th, a sermon on baptism was preached and my sister Melody and I were two of seventeen people who were spontaneously baptized that morning. After service, a kind gentleman walked up to us and politely shook our hands as he congratulated us and introduced himself, Jacob Harp. 
That day I met Jacob was the best day of my life and in many ways, the beginning of my life. I was told the truth, baptized in the precious name of Jesus and met the sweetest, most respectful man that I will soon call my husband. From that very first moment of meeting him and seeing his kind and sincere eyes, I loved him. I continued to seek after the Lord, praying for His will to be done, and in January of 2024, God filled me with His Holy Spirit and gave me confirmation that Jacob was my soulmate. Later in the month, Jacob expressed his feelings to me one night with the first letter he would ever write me, the first flower he would ever give me and the first hug we would ever share.
After months of many amazing dates, beautiful love letters and joyful laughter shared together, as well as hundreds of flowers, Jacob asked me to spend the rest of my life with him and I said yes! I am so thankful to have the blessing of being with this amazing man and to love him always, every day, like it is the first day and the last.