Samuel and I met on August 10th, 2022. I was going into my sophomore year at Wheaton, while Samuel was going into his senior year. We both had committed to serving in the college's Office of Ministry and Evangelism on two different cabinets dedicated to the global church and encouraging missions: I was on the cabinet for World Christian Fellowship, and Samuel was on the cabinet for Student Missionary Partners. As such we had to come to campus two weeks earlier than everyone else for leadership training. When we were standing around in our group of student leaders, a friend pointed Samuel out to me and said, "That's Samuel Whatley. He is one of the kindest men who wants to be a missionary and wants to be a doctor so he can have enough money to adopt children." Safe to say, I was immediately smitten and had the conscious thought, "Wow. If I wasn't a sophomore and he wasn't a senior and if I didn't have my year planned out, I would have loved seeing where this could go." Hence commenced my prayer every morning and every night for the next three months that the Lord would take away these feelings from me because "Lord, this could never, ever happen." Following our first coffee "date" (which I, in denial, did not think was a date but he did... but that's another story), I came home to our dorm and told my roommate (and now my maid-of-honor!) Lilliana, "I have never met someone so filled with the Spirit." At this point, I was falling hard and nothing was going to stop me (not even myself, though I tried). After months of learning of and experiencing Samuel's deep empathy, compassion for the underserved, similar calling to medical missions, fervor for the global Church, tender care, intelligent mind that strives for excellence, silly demeanor, heart that encourages my own silliness, and his deep love of nature and creation care, I began to pray that the Lord would keep him around. As early as December, I was telling my friends and family I think he might be it. In February I called my mom crying and told her that I loved him. And every day since, I have prayed that the Lord will either draw us nearer to His heart through each other or take us away from each other, and every day that prayer is more deeply answered by drawing both of us closer to our Lord and to each other. I love ya Samuel Whatley. I cannot believe we get to serve our Lord alongside each other.

Alexis and I met at a student leaders retreat right before classes in August 2022. She was a part of a larger group of newfound friends from different ministries across campus, a group that became very tight as we hung out, planned and attended worship events, and worked in the Office of Ministry and Evangelism (OME). As that group grew closer, Alexis's laughter and kindness and "danceful" demeanor became more and more evident and contagious. A few weeks into classes I asked her to coffee, holding tight to the safety net of "friends from the OME would do this anyways," but wanting to get to know her nonetheless. Although she let slip on that coffee date that she had no intention of dating, we stayed for an hour after the coffee shop had closed and I went home more attracted to her than ever. We continued to spend time together one-on-one, and soon my feelings for her grew so strong that I felt disingenuous not letting her know my intentions. I finally decided in October to ask her on a walk and let her know my feelings towards her. To my complete surprise, she felt the same, though I denied that fact until she suggested we extend our walk. I was in shock. As we talked more in the coming days, we decided that we would continue to hang out but not make any dating relationship official (though these times together were all dates in retrospect, especially our trips to Chicago, and we certainly liked each other). Later that same month, the OME was hosting a worship and prayer night. Staying afterwards to help clean up, I saw Alexis praying fervently over someone in the corner of the room. Although I knew she loved Jesus with her whole being, and that in any space she walked into the veil between heaven and earth was made very thin -- seeing her this time, I desired deeply to be a part of that, to come alongside someone like that. Seeing her this time was the first time I had the thought: "I love this girl." Jumping back a bit, the first word I ever used to describe Alexis was "danceful". Her laughter, exuberant joy, and silliness exhibit an incredible freedom, an assurance and confidence that, even when she is still, causes the air to dance. Her keen compassion never allows a room to grow stagnant, but she breathes words of life and expresses the Spirit's glory like a glistening stream. Like a stream she has no issue plunging downwards, but, dancing in her soul, she breathes the freshness and life she has been given to everyone from a close friend to a young man in prison to a child in the checkout line. Among those she spends the most time with, she pours herself out so generously and yet so gently, keeping her heart's sanctuary safe for those who have the blessing of being comforted by her. This was the glimpse of Alexis I got that night. This is the woman I fell in love with. Our dating relationship, with many friendly eye-rolls, became official in December 2022. Throughout the next semester and into the summer, Alexis and I discovered our shared passions for the medically underserved, healthcare, our concern and love for nature, our often ridiculous and non sequitur humor-- But most importantly, I began to see how she cared for me, that with her I was safe, lavished beyond merit, and pushed towards my first Love. On a rooftop in July 2023 we exchanged our first "I love you." I went to bed that night thinking of a design for a ring... The rest of the story you probably know, but needless to say, it has been my greatest earthly treasure to continue to discover that the glimpse of someone so incredibly filled with the Spirit that I had my senior year at Wheaton has been confirmed and expanded beyond what I ever thought possible. And now that I get to be joined to this person! What a joy! I love you, Alexis Lee.