It has not happened to me as I expected; but You have treated us according to Your great mercy

Tobit 8:16

Elliot and Erika met in beautiful, sunny California after daily mass at St. Martin of Tours, Elliot with his FOCUS team, and Erika with some fellow UCLA seniors. Both avid members of the University Catholic Center (UCC) community, they quickly became good friends often playing spikeball, planning movie/puzzle nights, and attending swing dance nights in the UCC parking garage. It was clear to everyone that their friendship was something special.

At the end of the school year in June 2022, Erika graduated from UCLA and Elliot ended his mission with FOCUS. Erika moved to the swamps of Abbeville, Louisiana to begin her mission with Family Missions Company while Elliot moved to the mountains of Salt Lake City, Utah to study for his upcoming medical school journey. The two continued to keep up with each other here and there both sharing the beautiful things God was doing in their lives.

Fast forward to December of the same year, the California natives were traveling back home and planned a California reunion with all their UCLA friends–except that both “forgot” to invite anyone else besides each other. Erika picked Elliot up in a fancy rental car (she crashed her car in the middle of Texas with her best friend, Macy…but that’s a story for another day!). The two then spent the day worthy of a Hallmark movie montage. The day was filled with Ghirardelli desserts, beach walks, diner jukebox tunes, Christmas lights, and stargazing. Both hearts were fluttering, but it wasn’t until Elliot tried to kiss Erika that she pushed him away and finally said, “Um, shouldn’t we talk about this?!” Elliot totally agreed and then led the two in prayer before their conversation about how they were completely head over heels for each other.

However, there was one problem: Erika was less than a month away from moving to the Philippines to preach the Gospel and serve the poor. Not to mention that she was on a dating fast, meaning she wasn’t supposed to be dating anyone! Over the next few months, the two prayed and sought Jesus’s heart. They understood that their growing love for each other was definitely a gift from the Lord. But what should they do now? The Biblical story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand came to mind. In the story, Jesus and His disciples are tasked with what seems impossible: feeding thousands of people with only 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus asks for everything they have. He then gives thanks, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it back to His disciples to distribute them to the crowd with astonishing abundance. Jesus was asking Elliot and Erika to do the same thing: give to Jesus everything they had, including this newfound love for each other, and trust that Jesus would do the impossible. To do this, the two decided to stop all communication with each other until Erika's dating fast was over.

Erika continued her mission in the Philippines, free to enter completely into this new life halfway across the world. Elliot continued to study fervently for the MCAT, also free to focus on his mind-torturous task. Both continued to stay close to Jesus’s heart and surrender their love for each other to Him every day.

On July 11, 2023, Erika’s dating fast ended. Elliot called her that day, and it was clear to both of them that Jesus wanted to give them their biggest desire: to date each other. They began their relationship that day, however it felt different. It was so special to know that this wasn’t just something they wanted–but something that the Lord wanted for them.

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