Jeffery and I met on the World Race in 2019! From the moment I met him I was attracted to him; not just his good looks but his character, his sense of humor, and his love for all things nerdy. A group of us developed deep friendships from the beginning, so Jeffery and I were constantly around each other. During month 4 on the race we were placed on the same team! Jeffery was the team leader and I was the treasurer, so we worked together a lot as we tried to manage team finances and personalities. On the Race we never talked about dating because we were such good friends, with such strong boundaries. It wasn't until the end of the Race and after coming back to America that I realized how strong my feelings were for him. Fearful of messing up our deep friendship, I opted not to act on my feelings. Our friend Kelsey encouraged me to talk with Jeffery... after she basically set us up. As quickly as we started dating we each realized we had found our person. On the Race we saw so much brokenness, pain, and evil... and it was absolutely heartbreaking. We walked through this together, constantly encouraging and speaking truth to each other. Jeffery has a heart of gold and truly desires to know Jesus. He is an incredibly kind, humble, smart, funny, hard working, Jesus loving, hunk of a man. He is my rock, my encourager, my teammate, my lead, and my truth speaker. He stands up for me and somehow always knows what I need. I could not ask for a more suitable and fun partner as we tackle the rest of this adventure on Earth together!

Tess and I became close friends almost immediately after meeting on the world race. We were part of a great group of likeminded people with the goal of spreading the gospel to all nations; this was what attracted me to Tess the most. It is true that we started out as just friends, but our friendship was based around our relationships with Christ. All throughout the race in many pictures, we somehow ended up right next to each other! Foreshadowing! We pursued a dating relationship soon after the race, and I quickly realized that she is the one that God has for me. She is so strong both emotionally and spiritually and has done much to push me closer to Christ. I cannot imagine my life without her, and I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life and the rest of eternity with my soul mate.